WASHINGTON, DC, Dec. 18, 2019 – Lawdragon magazine has named 10 Phillips & Cohen attorneys to its list of the “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” for 2019.
Phillips & Cohen partners John Phillips, Mary Louise Cohen, Erika Kelton, Peter Chatfield, Colette Matzzie, Stephen Hasegawa, Claire Sylvia, Amy Easton, Sean McKessy and Jeffrey Dickstein are all included in Lawdragon’s elite list, highlighted as “whistleblower standouts.”
Lawdragon builds its elite list of legal standouts using a combination of editorial research, law firm submissions and online nominations to select attorneys to its rankings. The “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” list specifically focuses on US attorneys representing investors, shareholders and others “harmed by corporate misconduct or other failures.”
- John Phillips, a founding partner of the firm, was a key driver of the passage of the False Claims Act Amendments in 1986, which established the modern False Claims Act as a powerful, contemporary fraud-fighting tool. Mr. Phillips served as the US Ambassador to Italy from 2013 to 2017.
- Mary Louise Cohen – one of the firm’s founding partners – was previously named “a legend for creating [the] qui tam/whistleblower practice,” by Lawdragon. She has represented whistleblowers for more than 25 years in False Claims Act cases, including noteworthy cases like the $875 million settlement with TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc.
- Erika Kelton is an internationally recognized whistleblower lawyer who has represented whistleblowers in record-setting cases, including two of the largest healthcare fraud settlements ever: $3 billion by GlaxoSmithKline and $2.3 billion by Pfizer. She also represented a whistleblower who received one of the largest awards under the SEC whistleblower program, more than $32 million.
- Peter Chatfield is a leader in the whistleblower bar, both in terms of his successes over more than two decades with qui tam cases and in his work advising qui tam attorneys on False Claims Act procedures and strategies. His more recent cases have focused on large-scale healthcare fraud schemes.
- Colette Matzzie has represented whistleblowers in a number of significant whistleblower cases, including the landmark eClinicalWorks case that has helped to ensure that doctors and patients can rely on critical information in electronic health records (EHR).
- Stephen Hasegawa represents whistleblowers in a broad variety of large-scale cases. Most recently, he was a lead attorney in a whistleblower case against Freedom Health that was the largest settlement so far of a False Claims Act case against a Medicare Advantage plan.
- Claire Sylvia is a nationally recognized expert in qui tam discourse and a respected authority on the False Claims Act. Her book, The False Claims Act: Fraud Against The Government (West 2016), is a critical contribution to the field, used by judges and attorneys since its initial publication in 2004.
- Amy Easton was a lead prosecutor in healthcare fraud cases for the US Department of Justice before joining Phillips & Cohen, where she represents whistleblowers in qui tam cases. One of her most significant case involved charges of fraud involving surgeries to implant cardiac devices, which more than 500 hospitals across the country paid a total of $280 million resolve.
- Sean McKessy is the former Chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower and now represents whistleblowers. He is widely considered one of the top experts on corporate whistleblower cases and his views are frequently sought out by journalists.
- Jeffrey Dickstein is a former Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of Florida and brings over 30 years of litigation experience in healthcare matters to his work representing whistleblowers. His exemplary work as a prosecutor was recognized by awards from both the US Department of Justice and the nonprofit whistleblower advocacy group, Taxpayers Against Fraud.
The recent published list also highlights Phillips & Cohen founding partner John Phillips previous selection to Lawdragon’s “Hall of Fame.” Mr. Phillips is one of only 13 members of the plaintiff financial bar with this honor selected to this list.
Five Phillips & Cohen partners were named to Lawdragon’s annual “500 Leading Lawyers in America” list earlier this year for their work representing whistleblowers: Mary Louise Cohen, Erika Kelton, Peter Chatfield, Stephen Hasegawa and Colette Matzzie.
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 securities or commodity law violations and would like a free, confidential review of your matter by an attorney, contact Phillips & Cohen.