BOSTON, Feb. 5, 2019 — Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC (WLC) wrapped up a busy 2018, settling the largest False Claims Act case of the year, adding two more attorneys, participating in multiple educational programs and events. The firm looks forward to an exciting 2019.
WLC represented the whistleblower responsible for the largest False Claims Act (FCA) settlement of 2018. After a multi-year investigation, the government announced a $625 million FCA settlement against defendants AmerisourceBergen Corporation and others over false claims submitted for unapproved and adulterated drugs, double billing from exploiting overfill, and kickbacks to physicians. WLC’s client, Michael Mullen, was the former Chief Operating Officer of an AmerisourceBergen subsidiary. His whistleblowing was also critical in the government’s criminal investigation of the company, which led to its conviction for violating the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and criminal fines totaling $260 million, bringing the total government recovery to $885 million.
For the second year in a row, WLC was at the heart of the largest FCA settlement of the year. In 2017, WLC co-founders Suzanne E. Durrell and Robert M. Thomas, Jr. represented the whistleblower in the government’s $465 millionsettlement against Mylan, and were named Whistleblower Lawyers of the Year by the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund.
WLC added two more attorneys in 2018, with Linda C. Severin and Bruce C. Judge joining Thomas, Durrell, and attorney David Lieberman as members of WLC. Both Severin and Judge are former Assistant U.S. Attorneys with deep experience in fraud prosecutions. Their addition brings even more firepower to WLC’s efforts to combat fraud costing taxpayers billions of dollars each year.
The firm’s attorneys were part of numerous speaking and educational engagements, including:
- Mr. Thomas spoke on the False Claims Act panel at the Boston Bar Association’s inaugural White Collar Crime Conference in Boston.
- Ms. Durrell spoke on a panel discussing Government Enforcement Targeting Financial Relationships at Mintz Levin’s 3rd Annual Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Industry Summit in Boston.
- Attorneys Lieberman, Judge, and Thomas attended the American Bar Association’s 12th Annual National Institute on the Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement in Washington D.C.
- Ms. Durrell spoke at the Federal Bar Association’s program in Boston on The U.S. Supreme Court’s Escobar Ruling on False Claims Act Cases – Trends and Developments Since the June 2016 Decision.
- Attorneys Severin, Judge, Thomas, and Durrell attended the 2018 Taxpayers Against Fraud Educational Fund 18thAnnual Conference in Washington, D.C., where Ms. Severin spoke on a panel discussing Gender and Diversity in the Qui Tam Bar and Ms. Durrell participated on a panel discussing FCA Liability in Patient Assistance Programs. WLC was a sponsor of the conference, and Ms. Durrell was on its planning committee.
- Mr. Thomas taught Health Care Fraud and Abuse for the ninth year at Boston University School of Law, covering the areas of health care fraud prosecuted by government and plaintiffs’ attorneys.
- Ms. Durrell was part of the Qui Tam Roundtable at the Nineteenth Annual Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Compliance Congress in Washington, D.C.
WLC is off to a strong start in 2019 and looks forward to another exciting, productive, and educational year! WLC sponsored the Health Law Advocates Annual Benefit Breakfast on January 11, 2019, and is sponsoring the City Year Boston Legal Community Breakfast on March 1, 2019. Mr. Thomas spoke to attorneys at Choate Hall & Stewart LLP in Boston on January 23, 2019 and is scheduled to speak to attorneys at Ropes & Gray on April 11, 2019 in New York City. Ms. Durrell will be speaking on the False Claims Act at the Boston Bar Association’s White Collar Crime Conference on April 22, 2019. WLC also plans to add yet another new experienced fraud attorney to handle its growing whistleblower caseload.
Based in Boston, the Whistleblower Law Collaborative is a nationwide practice handling cases involving the federal and state False Claims Acts, as well as cases under the SEC, IRS, and CFTC whistleblower laws.
For more information, contact Melissa Tremblay at 617.371.1072.
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www.WhistleblowerLawCollaborative.com
