Civil Division

The primary responsibility of the Civil Division is to represent the United States in all civil actions brought by or against the United States, primarily in federal courts of law.  Cases handled by the Civil Division include, but are not limited to, bankruptcy cases, environmental cases, employment and labor law cases, social security cases, medical malpractice cases, tort cases, actions brought by individuals in federal custody, actions brought under the Freedom of Information Act, actions seeking review of administrative actions of federal agencies, actions challenging deportation decisions of the Department of Homeland Security, and actions to defend or enforce subpoenas.

The District’s Financial Litigation Unit (FLU) is part of the Civil Division. The FLU is actively involved in the collection of civil judgments and criminal debts, such as fines, restitution and penalties, owed to the United States or individual crime victims.

The Civil Division also prosecutes civil actions to recover money damages and monetary penalties for fraud and other acts of misconduct committed against the United States.  Such cases are typically initiated by federal investigation, citizen complaints, or by “whistle blowers” under applicable law.  Globally, these cases are referred to as Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) cases; they often arise in the context of healthcare fraud.  ACE cases are closely coordinated with Criminal Division and often result in parallel investigations/ cases arising from the same or related circumstances.