We have substantial experience handling False Claims Act investigations and litigation, including actions initiated by the government or by whistleblowers. We have successfully advised a range of clients, from emerging companies to Fortune 50 global brands, in all aspects of their business activities with the government, including False Claims Act litigation and the defense of civil and criminal fraud investigations and prosecutions. Our experience crosses a wide array of business sectors, including pharmaceuticals, aerospace, biotechnology, defense, information technology, telecommunications, healthcare, consumer products and services, higher education and transportation.
Following is a representative sample of our work:
- Represented a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in federal multidistrict litigation involving allegations of Medicare and Medicaid pricing fraud and False Claims Act violations and in analogous state actions brought by numerous state attorneys general.
- We represented Yale University in a qui tam action brought by a former medical school professor who claimed that the University and codefendant Yale-New Haven Hospital improperly billed Medicare for radiology services. In a reported decision, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut dismissed the False Claims Act claims for lack of subject–matter jurisdiction under the public disclosure bar. The Court alternatively dismissed the claims for failure to plead the submission of false claims with particularity.
- We represented McKesson Corporation, a national drug wholesaler, in a qui tam suit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act and various state false claims statutes based on predicate violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. After we moved to dismiss the case, the relator voluntarily dropped McKesson as a defendant without filing an opposing motion.
- We represented a prominent New York investment bank in a California False Claims Act suit filed by the State of California and the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). This complex case centered on allegations that representatives of the investment bank made fraudulent statements and omissions that induced OSHPD to insure bonds that secured financing for the acquisition of several Los Angeles hospitals at an excessive purchase price. The claimants sought more than $130 million in damages. After litigating the matter for more than four years, it settled on terms favorable to our client.
- We successfully defended two predecessor corporate entities of multinational telecommunications companies in a federal False Claims Act qui tam action filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The claimant sought more than $50 million in damages and named approximately 50 defendants. Our clients were dismissed from the action as a result of a successful strategy to pursue dismissal under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the federal False Claims Act.
- We represented McKesson in a unique case, predicated on alleged pharmaceutical pricing fraud, filed under the California False Claims Act by the city attorney of San Francisco on behalf of the State of California's Medicaid program. After we moved for summary judgment challenging the city attorney's standing to bring the case, the city attorney voluntarily dismissed its action.
- We tried a False Claims Act case in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in which we represented the former CFO of a physician practice management company, who was terminated after he raised concerns about the company's Medicare billing practices. The jury rendered a $4.6 million verdict in favor of our client on state law claims, but hung 6 to 1 in favor of the client on the False Claims Act claims. The day before the retrial of those, the case settled for $1.5 million.
- We represented Yale University in a qui tam action brought by a former medical school professor who claimed that the University and co-defendant Yale-New Haven Hospital improperly billed Medicare for radiology services. In a reported decision, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut dismissed the False Claims Act claims for lack of subjectmatter jurisdiction under the public disclosure bar. The Court alternatively dismissed the claims for failure to plead the submission of false claims with particularity.
- The firm represents McKesson in almost a dozen suits filed by state attorneys general in federal and state courts across the country alleging that McKesson defrauded their respective Medicaid programs in violation of state false claims statutes by artificially inflating the average wholesale price of more than 400 brand-name pharmaceuticals. The suits are pending.
- We represented a health maintenance organization in litigation under the California False Claims Act arising from a business license tax dispute commenced by the City of Modesto. After conducting an audit, the City determined that the HMO owed additional taxes and penalties exceeding $1 million and brought an action seeking an additional $6 million in damages under the Municipal Code and the California False Claims Act. We succeeded in having all of the claims dismissed in a motion for summary adjudication.
- We represented a defendant in a False Claims Act case commenced against two major research universities and a principal investigator who had received federal research grants. The DOJ intervened and the case proceeded through extensive discovery before reaching a settlement.
- We have represented numerous individuals in qui tam cases. For example, we obtained dismissals of civil actions against several individual defendants in the multidistrict litigation involving Columbia/HCA. We also represented numerous employees of a major aerospace company, first in connection with a grand jury investigation prior to the unsealing of a qui tam complaint, and then in connection with subsequent civil litigation against the company in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
- We successfully represented a plaintiff in a major qui tam action against New York City and the State of New York alleging violations of the False Claims Act relating to foster care payments. After four years of litigation, the case settled for $49 million. Although the DOJ intervened in the case relatively early on, we handled the bulk of the litigation for the four-year period.