Do You Need an SEC Whistleblower Lawyer?

The whistleblower attorneys at The Employment Law Group® law firm have deep experience helping employees in Dodd-Frank Act cases — both at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for reward claims, and in federal court seeking protection and financial damages for whistleblowers. Indeed, our cases have been on the cutting edge of this law ever since its passage.

Representing an employee before a U.S. district court, for instance, our attorneys obtained one of the first judicial decisions to establish a broad definition of who gets whistleblower protection under the Dodd-Frank Act. In another case, we obtained a decision that created a favorable standard for whistleblowers when a court agreed it should defer to decisions made by the Department of Labor, which enforces one of the law’s anti-retaliation provisions.

The Dodd-Frank Act allows whistleblowers to claim a reward of 10 to 30 percent of the amount above $1 million that the SEC recovers as a result of a tip. Rewards so far have reached up to $30 million. If you're the victim of retaliation for blowing the whistle on fraud, you may be entitled to reinstatement in your job, lost wages or benefits, attorney fees, and other litigation expenses.

As with all legal claims, deadlines are crucial. The Dodd-Frank Act has a six-year statute of limitations, which is fairly generous. Waiting to bring a retaliation case, however, may jeopardize your protection under related laws, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which has a much shorter deadline. Failing to act promptly also could hurt your chances of getting a reward from the SEC's whistleblower program.