The Civil Division is staffed by three Assistant United States Attorneys, two paralegals, and three secretaries. Our Civil Division represents the United States and Government Agencies in federal and state courts in a wide variety of defensive and affirmative cases by defending claims brought against client agencies and also by filing lawsuits on behalf of client agencies. A list of some of the client agencies our office represents includes:
- Environmental Protection Agency;
- Internal Revenue Service;
- Social Security Administration;
- United States Department of Agriculture;
- United States Department of the Army;
- United States Department of Education;
- United States Department of Health and Human Services;
- United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;
- United States Department of the Interior;
- United States Department of Labor;
- United States Postal Service;
- United States Department of Transportation; and
- Department of Veterans Affairs.
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The majority of the cases we handle in our office are brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (Title 28 of the United States Code Sections 2671-80). In those types of cases, we defend the government's interests in actions involving:
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medical malpractice;
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automobile accidents;
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slip and fall; and
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other types of personal injury cases.
We also defend federal agency actions and decisions in cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title 42 of the United States Code Sections 2000e, et. seq.) alleging discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and we defend constitutional tort actions brought against federal employees. We represent individual federal employees in state court in non-felony, criminal cases which arise from incidents related to the employee's work for a federal agency. Additionally, we assist federal agencies in defending and resisting subpoenas for federal agents whose testimony is sought in state or federal cases in which the government is not a party.
Our attorneys also are responsible for cases in a wide array of other disciplines including:
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Social Security;
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the Administrative Procedures Act;
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the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act;
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Immigration;
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summons, subpoena, and lien enforcement; and
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prisoner litigation.
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On the affirmative side, we file cases against defendants who commit civil wrongs against the United States under the False Claims Act (Title 31 of the United States Code Section 3729). In these actions, we seek to recover damages and penalties, or to obtain injunctive relief. Among the kinds of cases we handle under the False Claims Act are:
- health care fraud;
- consumer product safety; and
- contract and other fraud perpetrated against government agencies.
We have seen a marked increase in the filing of qui tam (Title 31 of the United States Code Section 3730), or whistleblower, cases recently, and have been able to work closely with attorneys in the DOJ Civil Division in investigating and resolving these cases.
Located in our district are two National Forests, a National Recreation Area, the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway. We handle condemnation proceedings for the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior when more land is required to meet the Forest Service's or Park Service's park and recreational needs. We also file eminent domain actions on behalf of the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control projects as well as the Federal Aviation Administration for communication-tower projects.
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The Civil Division is also responsible for representing government agencies in bankruptcy court. In these cases, we seek to preserve the government's rights against entities or individuals who have obtained loans through a variety of federal programs. Our primary clients are the IRS, Department of Agriculture and Department of Education. We have one attorney, assisted by a paralegal, assigned to handle these cases and to cover bankruptcy court in the seven divisions which comprise our district. The filing of bankruptcy cases in this district has steadily increased over the last few years.