WASHINGTON, DC, April 18, 2016 – Whistleblower lawyers Mary Louise Cohen, Erika A. Kelton and Colette G. Matzzie – all partners at Phillips & Cohen LLP – were named to Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America” list for 2016 for their successful whistleblower cases and continued leadership in the area of whistleblower law.
Lawdragon has credited Cohen for her key role in establishing the practice of “qui tam” (whistleblower) law and her success with major whistleblower cases, once dubbing her the “queen of qui tam.” Most notably in recent years, Cohen brought a qui tam (whistleblower) lawsuit against Quest diagnostics that resulted in a $302 million settlement with the government.
Kelton has won many record-setting whistleblower lawsuits. She represented the leading whistleblowers in cases that resulted in the largest and second largest healthcare fraud settlements: GlaxoSmithKline’s $3 billion settlement in 2012 and Pfizer’s $2.3 billion settlement in 2009. She also secured for clients the largest and third largest Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower awards in the agency’s history.
This year’s nomination marks Matzzie’s fifth consecutive appearance on the “Leading Lawyers” list. Her success litigating whistleblower cases led Lawdragon to previously call her a “brilliant advocate for whistleblowers.” One of her most recent successful whistleblower cases resulted in a settlement with hospital giant HCA for allegedly performing medically unnecessary and substandard heart procedures at a hospital in Georgia.