Washington, DC, February 26, 2019 – Lawdragon has named five partners with Phillips & Cohen LLP to its annual “500 Leading Lawyers in America” list based on their work representing whistleblowers.
Mary Louise Cohen, Erika Kelton, Peter Chatfield, Colette Matzzie and Stephen Hasegawa were selected for Lawdragon’s elite 2019 list. They are the only attorneys on the list whose law practice focuses exclusively on representing whistleblowers.
- Mary Louise Cohen, whom Lawdragon has referred to as“the queen of qui tam,” is a co-founder of Phillips & Cohen. Her important contributions to the field of whistleblower law have been recognized with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the nonprofit, Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund.
- Erika Kelton is a celebrated whistleblower lawyer recognized internationally for her record-breaking fraud cases and whistleblower rewards, including one of the largest whistleblower awards from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. She represented whistleblowers in the largest healthcare fraud settlements ever (GlaxoSmithKline, $3 billion settlement, and Pfizer, $2.3 billion).
- Peter Chatfield is a “qui tam” (whistleblower) heavy-weight, achieving success in significant cases. A champion in the healthcare sector, Chatfield’s more recent cases have resulted in large settlements from hospitals and blood-testing laboratories allegedly involved in massive kickback schemes.
- Colette Matzzie’s ground-breaking qui tam lawsuit against the electronic health records (EHR) vendor, eClinicalWorks, marked the first time that an EHR vendor was held responsible for violating federal standards designed to protect patients. The lawsuit settled for $155 million in 2017. Matzzie was featured on the CBS “Whistleblower” series in 2018 for her work in that case and a separate one that exposed alleged overpayments and poor food quality in Washington, DC’s school lunch program.
- Stephen Hasegawa, making his debut on Lawdragon’s 2019 list, has represented whistleblowers across numerous industries. His cases have recovered considerable sums for the federal government and state and local governments, such as a qui tam lawsuit that resulted in the largest settlement so far by a Medicare Advantage plan ($32.5 million) and one against Office Depot, which settled for $68.5 million.
This is the 14th year that Lawdragon has published its list of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America.” Two or more attorneys from Phillips & Cohen have been included in every list. Lawdragon uses a combination of editorial research, law firm submissions and online nominations to select attorneys to its annual list.
Phillips & Cohen LLP is the nation’s most successful law firm representing whistleblowers, having recovered over $12.3 billion in civil settlements and criminal fines with its cases. The firm represents whistleblowers in qui tam cases brought under the False Claims Act as well as in cases brought under the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission whistleblower programs.
If you are aware of fraud against the government or corporate wrongdoing that violates securities or commodities laws and would like a free, confidential review of your matter by an attorney, contact Phillips & Cohen.