False Claims Act and Qui Tam Defense

Haynes Boone has extensive experience defending clients in qui tam and False Claims Act investigations and lawsuits, representing companies and executives in a wide variety of industries, including large healthcare companies, educational institutions, and major defense and government contractors.

Our lawyers include former Department of Justice trial attorneys as well as long-time defense practitioners who understand the unique aspects of False Claims Act litigation. Because False Claims Act and private qui tam actions often arise amid multiple government investigations, we coordinate closely with our attorneys in our government investigations, white collar defense, government contracts, and healthcare practices to develop strategies that address the complex issues that arise in these parallel proceedings. These include conducting internal investigations, persuading the government not to institute an action or intervene in a pending qui tam suit, and defending clients in parallel criminal investigations or government debarment proceedings. When a False Claims Act lawsuit is unsealed, we have the experience to successfully defend it, and we have obtained numerous dismissals of False Claims Act cases in the early stages of litigation.

Expand All

Representative Matters*

Represented SCCI in the False Claims Act action filed by six relators alleging false claims for payment related to the admission and continued hospitalization of patients in a long-term acute care facility. Haynes Boone successfully advocated for the Assistant U.S. Attorney to decline to intervene, which allowed for a favorable settlement to resolve the whistleblower’s claims.
Obtained a favorable resolution for two leading general acute care hospitals in a False Claims Act action filed by a relator in the Central District of California alleging that the clients received excess Medicaid expansion payments from a California public health plan.
When a Florida hospital’s cutting-edge cardiac catheterization laboratory faced concerns about the sufficiency of its medical necessity documentation, Haynes Boone conducted an internal investigation, addressed quality-of-care and voluntary disclosure issues, and advised the hospital on possible legal violations and necessary remedial measures.
Haynes Boone obtained a full declination and dismissal on behalf of a national healthcare provider in sealed False Claims Act qui tam in the Northern District of Texas alleging unnecessary cardiac procedures at hospitals in 10 states.
A whistleblower accused a national healthcare provider and several affiliates of violating the False Claims Act, the Stark Law, and the Anti-Kickback Statute by charging for unsupervised, improperly billed, and improperly coded services, but Haynes Boone negotiated a favorable settlement with both the whistleblower and the U.S. Department of Justice without any public litigation.
Represented national healthcare provider and obtained a full declination and dismissal of a sealed False Claims Act qui tam in the Middle District of Tennessee alleging violations of the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute related to hospital medical directorship agreements.
After a whistleblower accused two hospitals of having physicians perform medically unnecessary implantable loop recorder procedures, improperly admitting patients, and billing for services not provided, Haynes Boone helped the hospitals and their parent corporation investigate the allegations and reach a favorable resolution without public litigation.
After two whistleblowers accused one of the largest independently-owned clinical laboratories in California of violating the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying physicians kickbacks to induce the ordering of Medicare-reimbursed pharmacogenomic testing, Haynes Boone negotiated a favorable settlement to resolve the whistleblowers’ claims as well as related investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. See United States ex rels. Choate and Pyburn v. DNA Stat et al. (N.D. Tex.).
Haynes Boone obtained a favorable resolution for a national healthcare provider in False Claims Act qui tam alleging violations of the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute related to employed physician compensation arrangements and improper coding of evaluation and management procedures.

* All cases vary and none are predictive