Civil Division
The Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas represents the United States in a wide variety of defensive and affirmative civil lawsuits arising primarily in the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Northern District of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and Texas State courts.
The Civil Division defends United States government agencies and personnel in various civil suits. These include tort actions, medical malpractice claims arising out of treatment of Veterans Hospitals or other federally-supported health facilities, challenges to federal agency determinations, such as denial of social security disability benefits, and decisions made by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to exclude or deport aliens. Among other areas of its defense practice are suits involving claims of discrimination in federal employment and actions challenging federal statutes, regulations and agency procedures.
In addition to defensive cases, the Civil Division has affirmatively brought a board array of civil prosecutions to enforce important federal laws and programs, including environmental, labor, food stamp, aviation, and postal matters. In fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, the Civil Division recovered $11.5 million dollars owed to the United States as a result of fraudulent billing of federally-funded health care programs by providers, including nursing homes, hospitals, laboratories, and physicians. The Civil Division has likewise recovered millions of dollars from defense contractors that defrauded the United States.
The office has also been at the forefront in filing a series of complex asset forfeiture actions, both civil and criminal, against national and international money launderers, drug cartels, and white-collar criminals. In the past two years alone, this office has successfully obtained over $13.5 million in forfeiture awards.
The Civil Division also is responsible for the collection of fines, forfeitures, restitutions awards, and other penalties. During fiscal year 2002, the Civil Division's Financial Litigation Unit collected $30.2 million dollars.