Peter Wilson Chatfield

Peter W. Chatfield, a partner at Phillips & Cohen, has more than two decades of experience working with whistleblowers on a wide variety of qui tam cases against defense contractors, healthcare providers, FEMA contractors and other government contractors that engage in fraud.

He also represents whistleblowers in claims filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the IRS whistleblower programs.

A number of Mr. Chatfield’s whistleblower cases have resulted in significant outcomes, including those against:

• HCA, one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers. Phillips & Cohen represented two whistleblowers in qui tam lawsuits that alleged HCA routinely engaged in Medicare cost-report fraud. The cases were the basis for the bulk of an $881 million settlement HCA paid.
• Cephalon Inc., which paid a total of $425 million to settle four qui tam lawsuits – including one brought by Phillips & Cohen – and a criminal charge involving its off-label marketing practices.
• The ringleaders of an ongoing Ponzi scheme that collected $394 million from unknowing investors and was on the verge of collecting $260 million more.
• Several blood testing labs, a former lab CEO and two healthcare marketing consultants in a qui tam case where government funds recovered could total more than $168 million. Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Singulex, Berkeley Heartlab, and Quest Diagnostics agreed to pay a combined total of $54.5 million to settle kickback allegations. In addition, a district court ordered a $114 million judgment against the two co-owners of a marketing firm and a former CEO of HDL following a jury trial on Medicare billing fraud and kickback charges.
• Adventist Health Systems, which paid $118.7 million to the federal government and four states to settle alleged Stark violations. It was the largest healthcare fraud settlement ever made involving physician referrals to hospitals.
• Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. The pharma company paid $95 million to settle “off-label” marketing charges.
• Community Health Systems, which agreed to pay a settlement of $75 million for allegations that it donated funds to New Mexico counties in order to boost federal payments.
• Louis Berger Group, which paid $69.3 million to settle whistleblower allegations that it had billed the government for fraudulent overhead charges that affected USAID’s war-zone contractor work in Afghanistan and Ira
• C.R. Bard Inc., a medical device manufacturer. Bard paid $48.2 million to settle the whistleblower case, which alleged the company offered kickbacks to boost its sales

The people playing by the rules get shut out … and it’s costing the taxpayers a huge amount.

Mr. Chatfield played a key role in a groundbreaking court battle that boosted a client’s whistleblower award to 24 percent of the settlement. It was the largest share of a qui tam settlement that a court has awarded to a whistleblower in a False Claims Act case the government has joined.

He has been a leader among the qui tam bar in supporting whistleblowers and their attorneys in precedent-setting court cases, as well as in evaluating potential case theories and advising qui tam attorneys on False Claims Act procedures and strategies.

In addition, Mr. Chatfield served as a representative of the whistleblowers’ legal bar in negotiations with the Department of Justice on policies and standard agreements that affect qui tam cases. He played an advisory role in the development and drafting of the 2009 and 2010 amendments to the False Claims Act to correct misinterpretations and improper application of the current statute that reduced its effectiveness. He is a regular speaker at conferences on whistleblowers, fraud against the government and qui tam lawsuits.

Mr. Chatfield has been named one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon magazine for his work representing whistleblowers.

Martindale-Hubbell awarded him its highest possible peer review rating, “AV Preeminent attorney” and included Mr. Chatfield in its highly selective roster of “Top Rated Lawyers.”  Mr. Chatfield also was listed among the top whistleblower lawyers in Washington, D.C., by Washingtonian magazine in its most recent rankings and included in Super Lawyers’ list of “exceptional attorneys” for Washington, DC.

Mr. Chatfield graduated from Yale Law School, where he was a Coker fellow and senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. He then served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alvin B. Rubin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

From 1987 to 1994, Mr. Chatfield was associated with Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C. His practice there centered on complex civil and commercial matters, including business torts and fraud, medical malpractice defense, civil RICO, products liability, and labor and employment matters.

Mr. Chatfield is admitted to the bar in Washington, DC and Maryland.