Legal Definitions - informer

An informer, in a specific legal context, refers to a private citizen who initiates a legal action to recover a penalty for a statutory violation. This individual brings the lawsuit not necessarily because they were personally harmed, but to enforce a public law, often with the understanding that they may receive a portion of any recovered fines or penalties.

Here are some examples illustrating the role of an informer:

• Example 1: Whistleblower under a False Claims Act

  Imagine a former medical billing specialist, Sarah, discovers that her previous employer, a large hospital, has been systematically submitting fraudulent claims to government healthcare programs for services never rendered. Sarah decides to file a lawsuit under a federal or state False Claims Act. These laws allow private citizens (often called "relators" or "whistleblowers") to sue on behalf of the government for fraud committed against it. If Sarah's lawsuit is successful, the government recovers significant damages and penalties from the hospital, and Sarah, as the informer, is entitled to receive a percentage of that recovery as a reward for bringing the fraud to light.

  This illustrates the term because Sarah, a private citizen, is initiating a legal action (a "penal action" in this context) to recover penalties and damages for a violation of law, and she stands to personally recover a portion of those funds.

• Example 2: Environmental Protection Lawsuit

  Consider a local resident, Mark, who lives near a factory. A specific state environmental statute prohibits factories from discharging certain pollutants into a nearby river and imposes a daily fine for each violation. The statute also contains a provision allowing any private citizen to sue a violator to enforce these fines, with a portion of the collected penalties going to the citizen who successfully brings the action. Mark, observing the factory's repeated violations, decides to file a lawsuit against the factory to compel compliance and recover the statutory penalties.

  In this scenario, Mark acts as an informer because he is a private citizen bringing a legal action to enforce a public statute and recover a penalty, part of which he is entitled to receive, even though he may not have suffered direct personal harm beyond living in the affected area.