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UK Whistleblower Solicitor Stephen Kohn

Stephen M. Kohn

Founding Partner
KKC LLP

Celebrated as a world-renowned whistleblower attorney and pioneer of whistleblower law and advocacy.

Doctor of Jurisprudence
Northeastern University 84′

Master of Arts
Brown University 81′

Bachelor of Science
Boston University 79′
Magna Cum Laude

State Bar
District of Columbia

Federal Bar
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and other Federal District Courts

Stephen M. Kohn

Stephen M. Kohn, with 38 years of experience, was peer-review rated by the National Law Journal as one of the 50-top Plaintiff’s Lawyers in the United States, the only whistleblower rights lawyer to achieve this distinction. In March of 2024 Forbes named Kohn as one of the top 200 attorneys in the United States.

In 1988 he helped found the National Whistleblower Center, where is currently serves, pro bono, as Chairman of the Board. He is the author of the first legal treatise on whistleblowing and is the world’s most published author on whistleblower protection. His most recent book is Rules for Whistleblowers: A Handbook for Doing What’s Right (Lyons Press 2023).

Kohn has spearheaded several of the largest whistleblower cases in the U.S. and internationally. He is known for his successful strategies, leveraging whistleblower protection and reward laws, many of which he played a significant role in authoring.

In honoring Kohn as among the Top 200 Attorneys in the United States, Forbes Magazine noted that he “helped change the legal landscape” protecting whistleblowers, and helped “draft key whistleblower legislation and regulation, including those incorporated into the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank acts.”

He won $104 million for UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, among the largest-ever individual tax whistleblower reward payments, and currently represents Danske Bank whistleblower Howard Wilkinson in its massive money-laundering scandal.

Key Whistleblower Legislation

Steve helped draft key whistleblower legislation and regulatory rules, including those incorporated into the following:

In addition to being added to the inaugural list of Top 50 White Collar Crime Trailblazers, Kohn has been a major contributor to whistleblower law, including the following:

  • Chief attorney in Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower case finding restrictive nondisclosure agreements illegal under U.S. securities laws.
  • Over $125 million in awards to his SEC whistleblower clients under Dodd-Frank.
  • Three whistleblower awards of over $100 million based on IRS and DOJ enforcement actions.
  • Represented whistleblower who successfully exposed and stopped the largest money laundering scheme in history (over $200 billion laundered from Russia to Western banks).
  • Successfully represented key Swiss banking whistleblowers who triggered the historic prosecutions of Swiss banks (resulting in over $15 billion in sanctions, fines and settlements).
  • Represented False Claims Act whistleblower who exposed illegal sales of defective body armor to U.S. military and local police departments. All defective vests pulled from the market; Companies involved sanctioned over $100 million; whistleblower awarded over $6.5 million.
  • Argued case establishing nationwide precedent under the First Amendment recognizing the right of federal employees to publicly blow the whistle on their employing agencies.
  • Chief attorney in national precedent-setting cases establishing strict rules prohibiting settlement agreements restricting the right of employees to report safety violations to government regulators.
  • Successfully represented first nationally recognized FBI whistleblower, causing President Clinton to order the Attorney General to establish whistleblower protections for all FBI employees.
  • Represented whistleblowers in numerous qui tam federal contracting or whistleblower reward cases resulting in billions of dollars in recoveries for the United States.
  • Recommended language to strengthen whistleblower protections for corporate employees incorporated into the final Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower reward regulations approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Presented key proposals directly to all five SEC Commissioners that were ultimately incorporated into the final whistleblower-reward rules approved by the Commission.
  • Successfully advocated for key reforms protecting federal employees incorporated into the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act.
  • Represented top FBI laboratory official who “blew the whistle” on forensic misconduct within the FBI crime lab. Disclosures resulted in numerous reforms, including the accreditation of the FBI crime lab, the re-opening and/or review of thousands of criminal cases tainted by fraudulent laboratory procedures and the release of persons improperly convicted of crimes.