health care fraud Matters

United States v. Gurry. The firm represented the former Vice President of Managed Markets at Insys Therapeutics at trial and on appeal. Mr. Gurry was charged with RICO conspiracy for his role in seeking prior authorizations for an FDA-approved fentanyl spray.  Our team successfully obtained an acquittal on the top predicates alleging violations of the Controlled Substances Act and the honest services mail and wire fraud statutes.

Autism Behavior Analysis Providers. We represent a number of providers of Applied Behavior Analysis for clients on the Autism Spectrum in investigations for false claims to public and private insurers and  HIPAA violations being conducted by federal and state governmental entities as well as private insurers.  We also have conducted internal investigations for our clients when issues are identified by our providers clients or employees, before governmental involvement.  We have successfully negotiated settlement resolutions and have avoided governmental enforcement actions that could have effectively put the clients out of business.

Representation of Employees in Co-Pay Anti-Kickback Investigation. Our firm represents multiple employees of two pharmaceutical companies in an ongoing anti-kickback investigation into donations made to several co-pay patient assistance charities.  

Anti-kickback Investigation Concerning Electronic Health Records. Our attorneys represented numerous employees of a pathology services company under investigation for alleged kickbacks in the form of donations for the purchase of EHR/EMR (Electronic Health Records or Electronic Medical Records) software.  We successfully persuaded the Department of Justice to forego a civil lawsuit against an individual employed in the sales division of the company. 

Financial Crimes and Securities Fraud matters

College Admissions Scandal. We currently represent several defendants in a wide-ranging investigation and prosecution concerning bribes allegedly paid to college coaches facilitate the admission of students to elite universities as purported athletic recruits.

United States v. Murakami. Our attorneys successfully persuaded the government to recommend a sentence below the Federal Sentencing Guidelines range on behalf of the manager of a hedge fund who pled guilty to wire fraud in a Ponzi scheme case. Our attorneys also resolved enforcement actions initiated by state and federal securities regulators without additional financial penalties for our client.

Representation of the manager of a financial advisory firm. After an investigation by both federal criminal authorities and the SEC for alleged unauthorized use of client funds, our client was not charged with any crimes.

Construction and Procurement Fraud Matters

United States v. Gorski. Our firm represented the CEO of a government contractor in a three-week trial for conspiring to defraud the United States by improperly certifying company as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (“SDVOSB”).

United States v. Palie. Our attorneys represent the owner and CEO of a specialty metals company who pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with his company’s provision of titanium for a major military aircraft builder.

Commonwealth v. Bisignani. Our attorneys obtained a sentence of probation, house arrest, and a fine for a former town manager charged with multiple offenses in connection with bid-rigging of municipal contracts in two Massachusetts towns and related federal tax charges. 

Scientific research misconduct matters

Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School doctor found not responsible. Our client, a doctor at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was found not responsible for engaging in research misconduct on allegations of plagiarism by a competing author.

Postdoc found not responsible for research misconduct. Our team represented a postdoc against allegations of plagiarism made by a former supervisor after a journal found textual overlap between a manuscript and other published work. Our client was found not responsible.

Harvard principal investigator exonerated. Our attorneys represented a prominent principal investigator in research misconduct allegations made by postdoctoral fellows, obtaining a full exoneration. We also represented the principal investigator in parallel civil litigation filed by the postdocs in federal court, obtaining a complete dismissal of the action.

Former Harvard principal investigator found not responsible on majority of allegations. Former Harvard principal investigator accused of research misconduct allegations and facing a civil false claims act investigation by the Department of Justice was found not responsible on the majority of the allegations. Our attorneys also settled the civil FCA investigation on favorable terms with no admission of liability and with the DOJ dropping the investigation with respect to two of the three grants.

Representation of Harvard M.D./Ph.D. student accused of research misconduct. We represented a Harvard M.D./Ph.D. student in a university research misconduct. The student successfully transitioned to a Ph.D. program at Oxford.

Anversa et al. v. Partners HealthCare System, Inc. et al. Our attorneys pursued an aggressive and creative legal strategy on behalf of two former Harvard researchers subjected to numerous due process violations during the course of an investigation into allegations of research misconduct committed by a subordinate at their innovative stem cell laboratory.  

appellate matters

United States v. Gurry. The firm represented the former Vice President of Managed Markets at Insys Therapeutics at trial and on appeal. Mr. Gurry was charged with RICO conspiracy for his role in seeking prior authorizations for an FDA-approved fentanyl spray. After successfully obtaining an acquittal on the top predicates against Mr. Gurry, our team continued to challenge his conviction before the First Circuit.

United States v. Tucker. Our team was brought in to represent Mr. Tucker at sentencing and on appeal after his conviction for human trafficking. Our attorneys successfully advocated for a sentence 19 years lower than the government’s requested sentence. Mr. Tucker’s appeal is pending before the First Circuit.

Commonwealth v. Hayes. Our team was brought in on appeal to challenge Mr. Hayes’s conviction for human trafficking. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently decided to hear a challenge to the jury instructions raised by both Mr. Hayes and his co-defendant.

Commonwealth v. Lucey. Our team was brought in on appeal to challenge our client’s conviction after he was denied his right to confront the critical witness against him at trial when the Commonwealth’s cooperating witness was excused before cross-examination was complete.

Commonwealth v. Ray. Our team was brought in on appeal to challenge our client’s conviction for negligent operation of a motor vehicle. Our appeal addressed multiple issues, including the denial of his motion to dismiss under the Massachusetts no-fix statute.

United States v. Alphas. In a case of first impression, our attorneys won an appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit establishing the method of calculating loss under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines in insurance fraud cases. 

Commonwealth v. John Doe. In a case of first impression, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court agreed that our client, who had a continuance without a finding, could not be compelled to wear a GPS monitoring device under a statute that provides for monitoring after a conviction.

criminal defense matters

United States v. Ramires. Our attorneys obtained a favorable plea agreement in favor of a member of MS-13 who was charged with RICO conspiracy with a first degree murder predicate.  Our client faced a potential life sentence but, as a result of our advocacy, he looks forward to a future as a free man.

Commonwealth v. Rosenberg Hefner. Our client, the spouse of the former President of the Massachusetts Senate, avoided a sentence of incarceration after pleading guilty to three charges relating to alleged sexual misconduct. Our team secured dismissal of one charge for lack of probable cause, and the Commonwealth nolle prossed the remaining six charges.

Commonwealth v. McPhee. Our team obtained an acquittal in Quincy District Court for a client charged with a second OUI.

Title IX and university disciplinary matters

Representation of client found not responsible for alleged violation of Dartmouth’s Sexual Misconduct Policy. Our team secured a not-responsible finding for a Dartmouth student accused of non-consensual sex. The panel found that it was not reasonably apparent to our client if the complainant was inebriated.

Representation of client accused of sexual assault at Harvard University in Title IX investigation. Our attorneys secured a not-responsible finding for a Harvard student who was accused of non-consensual sexual contact following a party where both participants had been drinking alcohol.

Representation of survivor of sexual assault at Colby College in Title IX investigation. Our attorneys represented a survivor of sexual assault at Colby College and assisted her in filing a Title IX complaint and criminal charges against the student who assaulted her.

Representation of client accused of sexual assault at Connecticut College. Our team represented a student at Connecticut College accused of sexually assaulting a classmate. The student was acquitted of all charges and was not subjected to any disciplinary sanctions by the college.

Representation of students at Northeastern University. Our attorneys have represented students at Northeastern University charged with violations of various school policies, including the school’s Covid-19 social distancing policies and the school’s alcohol policies. In both cases our attorneys obtained a better result than what was initially requested by the University.

Representation of student accused of plagiarism at Harvard University in college disciplinary matter. We represented a Ph.D. student accused of plagiarizing a scientific paper from another lab by submitting it to a prestigious scientific journal.

Tax fraud and
BENEFITS FRaud matters

Representation of owner of construction firm accused of union benefits fraud. We represented the owner of an asbestos remediation company in connection of allegations of overtime and union benefits fraud.

Tax Fraud Investigation. Our client, the president of a paving company, is under investigation for tax fraud in connection with employee wages. 

Taxi Company. Our attorneys represented the owner of a taxi cab company accused of making illegal cash payments to employees and benefits fraud. Our client was sentenced to serve time in a halfway house, and avoided prison time.

internal investigation and compliance advice matters

Internal investigation for Cement and Concrete Manufacturer. Our firm conducted a compliance review at several offices of a major cement and concrete producer concerning its use of minority-owned small businesses (“MBEs”).

civil litigation matters

Johansen v. SLS Invest, et. al. Our attorneys represented plaintiffs in a complex shareholder dispute. Our team defeated motions to dismiss and for summary judgment. We also successfully navigated several rounds of discovery motion practice involving complicated cross-border issues.

Holcim.  We represent Aggregate Industries, a subsidiary of LaFarge Holcim, in a class action suit brought by residents surrounding one of the company’s asphalt plants for damages allegedly caused by odors coming from the plant.  The case is pending in Suffolk Superior Court.

Zhao.  We represent Long Zhao, the daughter of the founder of Lunan Pharmaceuticals and one of its largest shareholders in a suit where the company alleges that Ms. Zhao obtained and used the company’s trade secrets and violated the computer fraud statutes.  Ms. Zhao has counterclaimed to seek to recover a multi-million verdict she obtained in a shareholder suit brought in the British Virgin Islands.  The case is pending in federal court in Massachusetts.

Nursing Homes.  We represent a consortium of nursing homes seeking to enjoin the Commonwealth from enforcing recently promulgated regulations requiring dedensification of patients in long term care facilities.  The case is pending in the Business Litigation Section of the Massachusetts Superior Court.

Farahmand v. Quirk Works, Inc., d/b/a Quirk Volkswagen. In a significant win, our attorneys defeated class certification in an action concerning document preparation fees. Importantly, the Court confirmed that Quirk's advertising disclaimers are not false or deceptive under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Statute.

Long v. City of Malden. Our attorneys successfully sued the City of Malden after it refused to stand by a police sergeant who was involved in a motor vehicle accident while on duty.  After obtaining a jury verdict in favor of our client in May 2018, the court issued a declaratory judgment requiring the City to indemnify our client, and awarded our client attorneys’ fees.