Over the last year, McCarthy focused primarily on plaintiff-side qui tam cases involving fraud against the government.
"It's a tremendously rewarding area to practice in because you're not only representing your client, you're really representing the taxpayers and exposing corporate greed," McCarthy said.
He pointed to an ongoing case set for trial in January in which British Petroleum is accused of selling natural gas to the California Department of General Services at artificially inflated prices, using derivatives markets to obfuscate what they were charging the state. State of California et al. v. BP America Production Company et al., CGC-12-522063, (S.F. Super. Ct., filed March 15, 2013).
McCarthy represents Christopher Schroen, a former BP employee who exposed the alleged fraud. The case involves internal company memos discussing the routine practice of charging the state significantly higher rates for natural gas. According to the original suit, the plaintiffs allege that BP overcharged the state by $150 million to $300 million between 2004 and 2012.
"They're openly recognizing the fact that California is charged many multiples of anyone else," McCarthy said. "When you have a memo where California is described as the golden goose, it's pretty hard to explain to a jury."
He said the practice of qui tam law is booming and more whistleblowers are coming forward to expose fraud against the government. "The problem with both the United States and the state governments is that you have billions and billions of dollars flowing through the system and there's simply not enough people to watch where the money is going."
McCarthy said he tries to work on cases that have an impact beyond the individual case or the dollar recovery for the client.
He pointed to a recently filed case in which he is representing a Vietnam War veteran who fell and died in a Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto after being left unattended while incapacitated after a surgery. Ross et al. v. United States of America, CV-02775 (N.D. Cal., filed May 15, 2017).
"In speaking with the family about this case, it's not just an individual recovery," McCarthy said. "The most important thing about this case is we need to shed some light on the way the VA operates."
McCarthy said he plans to subpoena the VA's national policies and operating procedures to establish how they are flawed. "One of the results the family wants is change in policies and procedures at the VA. The relief is not going to be, 'Pay us x amount of dollars and we'll go away.' The relief is going to be you're going to change the way you operate so this doesn't happen to the next veteran."
McCarthy said he is also active as the co-chair of the Open Courts Coalition and spends time in Sacramento lobbying for increased court funding through California's yearly budgetary process.
— Chase DiFeliciantonio
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