Global Enforcement & Compliance Program, Part 3

WWCDA hosted its third session of the Global Enforcement & Compliance Series. The esteemed panel of government and defense professionals covered the latest developments and trends in False Claims Act litigation. The panelists discussed the recent Supreme Court cases United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. and United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., and related legal issues that could arise in the wake of these cases as well as the DOJ’s current civil priorities.

Date: Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Time: 12:00 pm EDT Panel Discussion followed by Lunch

Location: Blank Rome LLP, 1825 Eye Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20006 with a Virtual Option via Zoom

CLE Applied (DC, VA, NY, CA) information will be provided at the event

The Good, the Bad, the [Arguably] Fraudulent:
False Claims Act Developments

Panelists

Denise Barnes

Partner, Honigman LLP

Denise Barnes is a former U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Trial Attorney. During Denise’s time at DOJ, she led a myriad of multi-district investigations resulting in over $2.7 Billion in recoveries to federal taxpayers.

Her practice is focused on compliance, white collar and regulatory investigations, and complex commercial litigation. But, at her core, she is a “fraud attorney.” She represents clients in both public and non-public investigations, regulatory inquiries, and other proceedings involving federal and state agencies as well as commercial litigation with an emphasis on matters involving fraud allegations. She has extensive experience in matters involving the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, and FIRREA, which enables her to provide effective, yet pragmatic, counsel to clients in a broad range of practice areas.

Jennifer Short

Partner, Blank Rome LLP

Jennifer Short is a partner in Blank Rome’s White Collar Defense & Investigations practice in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. She has broad experience in the public and private sectors with government and internal investigations, particularly related to government contractors and healthcare providers. As a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jennifer was responsible for hundreds of millions in recoveries through settlements and judgments that addressed nationwide healthcare and procurement fraud schemes. She brings to her clients a deep understanding of False Claims Act issues, investigations, and litigation.

Jamie Ann Yavelberg

Director of the Fraud Section in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the DOJ Civil Division

Jamie Ann Yavelberg works in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice. She is the Director of the Fraud Section in the Commercial Litigation Branch. Over the course of her career, she has handled a wide range of civil enforcement matters under the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act, including matters involving health care providers, pharmaceutical and device companies, government contractors, and financial institutions.

Moderator

Ellen London

Shareholder, London & Stout

Ellen London served as an AUSA for almost a decade in the Civil Divisions of the Southern District of New York and the Northern District of California. As an AUSA, Ellen handled a wide variety of complex and high-stakes matters. Ellen successfully prosecuted multiple billion-dollar cases, including serving as trial counsel in a FIRREA action resulting in a $1.2 billion judgment and as one of the lead counsel in the Wells Fargo sales practices investigation resulting in a $3 billion settlement. Ellen has led False Claims Act cases resulting in large recoveries for the government, successfully prosecuted health care fraud and anti-kickback matters, and obtained large recoveries for the government in tax cases. She has also argued and won multiple appeals in the Second and Ninth Circuits. In 2015, Ellen was a recipient of a Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney as well as the Award for Excellence from the Council of the Inspector General on Integrity and Efficiency.

In private practice, Ellen has represented both individuals and entities in a range of matters, including in responding to government requests for information, defending against fraud charges by the government, running internal investigations, as well as handling various commercial disputes.

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