Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto
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Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in employment law, represents whistleblowers in the United States. Washingtonian Magazine, in its December 2004 issue, named the firm the top whistleblower within the Beltway. The three partners are Stephen M. Kohn, Michael D. Kohn, and David K. Colapinto. The firm's most famous client was Department of Defense employee Linda Tripp.
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[edit] The Linda Tripp matter
Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto has ties to the progressive community on the left side of the political spectrum. The firm gained nationwide attention representing whistleblower Linda Tripp. Tripp's exposure of a different kind of whistleblower, Monica Lewinsky, touched off the sex scandal that brought about the impeachment of Bill Clinton, who was indicted by the House of Representatives for lying during a civil lawsuit brought against him by Paula Jones.
Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto handled Tripp's Privacy Act lawsuit against the Justice Department and the Department of Defense under the Privacy Act. Tripp had sued the government for violating her rights under the Privacy Act when the Clinton Administration leaked confidential details of her employment record to the press. The government eventually settled with Tripp, including agreeing to a one-time payment of more than $595,000, a retroactive promotion, and retroactive pay at the highest salary for 1998, 1999 and 2000. She also received a pension and was cleared to work for the federal government again. Her rights to remain part of a class action lawsuit against the government were also preserved.
[edit] Qui tam actions
The firm also handles suits filed under the Qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.[1] These provisions allow persons and entities with knowledge of fraud committed against the federal governemnt to sue the perpetrator on behalf of the United States, either with the government joining the action or, if the government declines, as a private plaintiff on their own. Qui tam has its roots in the Abraham Lincoln administration, as Lincoln was concerned with fraud by government contractors during the Civil War.
[edit] The Murphy tax case
One of the firm's clients recently received a setback after a preliminary victory in the major tax case of Murphy v. IRS[2], in which the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia originally held 26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(2) unconstitutional to the extent the statute purports to tax emotional distress awards unrelated to lost wages. On December 22, 2006, the Court vacated its own judgment in that case.
According to the Web site Tax Analysts, Murphy v. IRS "is not only one of the most significant tax decisions in decades, it is one of the most important constitutional cases in decades as well". The now-voided ruling had shaken up the tax community as it is rare for a federal court to hold that a tax law is unconstitutional. The case was argued for the appellants by Colapinto, who was assisted on the briefs by S. Kohn.
A rehearing in the Murphy case is set for April 23, 2007.
