Civil Division
The Civil Division's mission is to protect the interests of the United States by defending against, and pursuing, claims for money damages and declaratory and injunctive relief in cases involving the entire spectrum of civil matters. Most often, the Division accomplishes its mission by litigating on behalf of the United States in federal or state court. However, the Division also routinely engages in attempting to resolve matters before they become litigation. Among the types of defensive cases litigated by the Civil Division are: tort claims seeking money damages from the United States for injuries allegedly caused by federal employee negligence; cases against federal employees for alleged violations of constitutional rights; cases challenging federal agency conduct in administering statutory or regulatory programs; employment discrimination and sexual harassment claims; social security disability appeals; immigration cases; and tax cases. The Division provides affirmative representation on behalf of the United States in fraud cases, forfeiture proceedings, and bankruptcy court.
Affirmitive Litigation
The Division's affirmative caseload includes: enforcement actions under the environmental statutes of the United States; civil rights and fair housing cases; cases under the False Claims Act and other statutes that authorize civil remedies and/or penalties for conduct committed in conjunction with the administration of federal programs; and collecting debts owed to the United States. Much of the Division's affirmative civil casework is handled under the Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) program, by the Division's Financial Litigation Unit (FLU), or by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
Affirmative Civil Enforcement
The ACE program has a high priority in the District of Alaska. The program consists of an AUSA who serves as the ACE and Health Care Fraud Coordinator, other AUSA's whose caseloads include ACE matters, and an ACE investigator. Within the ACE program, significant time and assets are devoted to pursuing civil remedies for Health Care Fraud. Civil ACE attorneys frequently work with their criminal counterparts in the investigation and pursuit of cases where federal health benefits programs have been defrauded by individuals or organizations. The ACE Coordinator is also part of the District's Corporate Fraud Taskforce, which includes a variety of federal and state agencies involved in administering and overseeing programs susceptible to fraud. Civil remedies can be and are pursued even in cases where criminal prosecution has been declined. Federal statutes authorize civil fines, treble damages, and the recovery of investigative costs as part of a civil health care fraud case. In addition to health care fraud, the ACE program also recovers significant amounts of money each year from persons who have otherwise engaged in program-related conduct that subjects them to civil fines and damages on behalf of the United States. These cases typically involve fraudulent use of the mails; foodstamp fraud; procurement fraud; HUD and HHS program and grant violations; financial institution fraud; and obtaining benefits improperly from the entire spectrum of federal agencies present and operating in the District. Quite literally, if someone has improperly obtained money from the United States, with or without fraudulent intent, the ACE program provides a means of recovering that money, and maybe more.
Financial Litigation Unit
The FLU's principal function is to collect debts owed to the United States by persons and/or corporations located within the District of Alaska. The FLU pursues, for example, the collection of defaulted student loans; criminal fines, restitution orders and mandatory special assessments; civil fines and penalties; and any other financial obligation that has been reduced to judgment in favor of the United States. The FLU consists of one AUSA, two full-time paralegals, and a part-time debt collection agent, all of whom handle FLU cases as part of their caseload.
Asset Forfeiture Unit
When a civil or criminal defendant has money or other assets that can be traced to the proceeds of his or her illegal activities, the United States may seek forfeiture of those proceeds or assets. To accomplish this, the Asset Forfeiture Unit files complex civil and criminal asset forfeiture actions against all manner of defendants, including drug dealers, money launderers, and white-collar criminals. The Asset Forfeiture Unit is comprised of one AUSA and one paralegal.
Commercial Bankruptcy
The Civil Division is also responsible for representing government agencies in bankruptcy court. These cases involve the government in the role of creditor seeking to preserve its rights as against corporate or individual debtors who have obtained loans through a variety of federal programs. This caseload has increased due to more debtors filing adversary complaints seeking to discharge such loans in response to recent amendments to the Bankruptcy Code. The Civil Division has undertaken to vigorously oppose these actions.
Defensive Litigation
Defensive litigation accounts for a significant percentage the Civil Division's work. We handle defensive litigation that involves, among other things, tort claims, employment litigation, and social security litigation.
Federal Tort Claims Act Litigation
The Civil Division's Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) work comprises a broad range of personal injury cases. Defense of FTCA cases has always accounted for a large portion of the core caseload and continues to consume a significant amount of most Civil Division attorneys' pretrial discovery and motions practice hours. Our medical malpractice case is particularly heavy due to the number of health care providers that we represent in the District. In addition to several military health care facilities, we provide representation to Native health care providers in Alaska when they are sued in tort. Furthermore, due to the large concentration of government and military facilities relative to the state population, we handle a large volume of other types of tort claims.
Employment Litigation
Our office handles a significant number of cases under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act brought by plaintiffs alleging discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation and other grievances connected with federal employment. Due to the frequently broad chronological scope of the allegations in these cases, pretrial discovery is typically more extensive than the average tort case.
Social Security Litigation
Applicants for Social Security benefits are entitled to seek review in the district court following a denial of benefits by the agency. These cases entail a review of the administrative record compiled by the Social Security Administration and are resolved through cross-summary judgment motions without trial. Recent efforts by the Social Security Administration to clear out a huge backlog of petitions for review has caused a substantial increase in the number of district court actions filed by disappointed applicants. This trend began in 2000 and has created a commensurate growth in the numbers of cases to be handled by Civil Division attorneys working with agency counsel, many of whom have been designated as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
Environmental Litigation
The Civil Division supports the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division by providing lead or support counsel in complex environmental litigation, both affirmative and defensive, in a variety of subject matter areas. These cases include litigation concerning Native Rights issues, fishing and subsistence issues, submerged lands, logging issues, issues related to in-holdings and access to rights-of way in National Parks and other areas, condemnation actions, and all manner of illegal dumping and pollution cases.
Assorted Program Activities
In addition to the affirmative and defensive casework already mentioned, the Civil Division also participates in a wide variety of other cases in which the United States has an interest in the District of Alaska. We monitor and often intervene in qui tam cases initiated by private citizens. We enforce compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. We participate in actions having to do with real property upon which the United States may have a lien or other protected interest. We also respond to or enforce summonses that require execution in the District, to the extent that the United States has an interest in the subject matter of the summons, and we provide assistance to foreign governments upon request. We handle cases involving a wide array of other disciplines, including prisoner's rights, civil rights, the Privacy Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, immigration, constitutional torts, subpoena enforcement, and constitutional law.
The work of the Civil Division is not restricted to litigation. Many files are opened and staffed as prelitigation administrative matters. We support the work of many Internal Revenue Service agents locally by seeking judicial enforcement of I.R.S. subpoenas and writs of entry. The Chief of the Criminal Division serves as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer for the entire office, both Civil and Criminal Divisions. Each FOIA request demands a high priority due to the statutorily-mandated short response time. In addition to their assigned caseloads, Civil AUSAs are responsible for advising and, if needed, litigating on behalf of area federal agencies in response to subpoenas issued by various courts and administrative agencies. Where testimony is authorized, Civil Division attorneys often appear and represent the interests of the government during trials, hearings and depositions.
The Civil Division is staffed by six attorneys, an ACE investigator, four paralegals, a part-time debt collection agent, and two legal assistants. All Civil Division staff are assigned to the main office in Anchorage. However, civil cases are also litigated by the AUSA assigned to the branch office in Fairbanks.