Divisions
Civil
The Civil Division represents the United States, its agencies and employees at the trial and appellate levels in a wide variety of both defensive and affirmative civil actions in federal and state courts. The Civil Division is comprised of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement, Financial Litigation Unit, and Asset Forfeiture.
Attorneys
in the Civil Division engage in the full range of civil litigation
from the filing and answering of complaints through discovery,
motions, trials, and appeals. The Division has offices in
Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton, and is comprised of seventeen Assistant
United States Attorneys.
There are also numerous Special Assistant United States Attorneys
designated to assist in litigating the civil caseload.
Our attorneys frequently defend employment discrimination
cases, personal injury actions, medical malpractice claims
arising out of treatment at a Veterans' Hospital or the Wright
Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center or other federally-supported
health facilities, challenges to agency determinations such
as the denial of social security disability benefits, and
decisions by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to
deport or detain aliens. The Division is also responsible
for a broad range of other matters including requests to obtain
records under the Freedom of Information Act, allegations
of violations of the Privacy Act, appeals and challenges under
the Administrative Procedure Act, defense of government officials
sued in their individual capacities, and motions to quash
subpoenas that fail to comply with applicable federal regulations.
Affirmatively, the Civil Division has a direct impact upon
criminal behavior and fraudulent practices through civil enforcement
of fraud statutes as well as an impact upon the federal budget
through fair and reasonable, yet vigorous, debt collection
and the defense of monetary claims against the United States
and its agencies.
Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE)
The Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) unit prosecutes civil
actions to recover damages for fraud and other offenses and
imposes civil penalties for violations of the nation's health,
safety and economic welfare laws. Investigations or cases
may be initiated by a federal agency's investigation or by
claims presented by "whistleblowers" under applicable
federal statutes. Typical cases involve claims for payment
submitted by contractors for government contracts, claims
for payment submitted to Medicare by health care providers,
and claims by individuals for certain federal benefits. The
Assistant United States Attorneys and support handling these
cases work closely with Criminal Division Assistant United
States Attorneys and federal, state, and local agencies to
share information and coordinate parallel investigations and
cases arising from the same or related facts and circumstances.
The ACE unit also actively participates in a health care fraud
task force to improve coordination among the various agencies
involved in the fight against health care fraud.
Financial Litigation Unit (FLU)
The Financial Litigation unit (FLU) litigates debt collection
issues and collects criminal and civil debts owed to the United
States, including judgments, fines, restitution and penalties.
The United States and its agencies seek recoveries from corporate
or individual debtors who have obtained loans through many
federal programs, such as student loan, Small Business Administration,
and Housing and Urban Development loan programs. All FLU work
is conducted from our Columbus office. The work of this unit
is important to the taxpayer and to victims of crime who depend
heavily upon its dedicated pursuit of monetary restitution
for criminal losses.
The Division is also involved in numerous state and bankruptcy
court cases. Our attorneys aggressively pursue the government's
right to restitution for medical expenses paid by Medicare
or federal agencies from third party tortfeasors in state
court personal injury suits, and defend the United States'
right to payment in state court foreclosure actions where
federal agencies have liens of record. In addition, we actively
participate in representing the interests of federal agencies
in bankruptcy court proceedings.
Asset Forfeiture
The final area in which the Civil Division is extremely active
is Asset Forfeiture. Federal forfeiture laws are designed
to disrupt and deter criminal activity, to dismantle criminal
enterprises, and to separate criminals and their associates
from their ill-gotten gains. Assistant United States Attorneys
and support staff pursue all civil forfeiture matters and
cases and assist Criminal Division Assistant United States
Attorneys with forfeiture related issues in criminal prosecutions.
Forfeited assets are used to fund federal, state, and local
law enforcement activities to the extent permitted by federal
law, and, similarly in appropriate cases, to provide full
or partial restitution to victims of criminal activity. The
office presides over a multi-agency asset forfeiture working
group that meets quarterly to coordinate forfeiture activities
among the various federal agencies, and to consider and attempt
to resolve issues that arise in the course of forfeiture proceedings.