Michael A. Morse
MICHAEL A. MORSE is a partner of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP, where he serves as Chair of the Federal and State Whistleblower (Qui Tam) Litigation Practice Group.
Mr. Morse also practices in the areas of white collar criminal defense, criminal and civil health care fraud litigation, health care law, complex commercial litigation disputes and intellectual property litigation.
He served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office from 1997-2000. As an Assistant District Attorney, Mr. Morse handled hundreds of felony cases, and briefed and argued numerous cases before the Pennsylvania Supreme and Superior Courts.
Mr. Morse has developed a nationwide practice representing whistleblowers, under federal and state false claims acts, who report fraud committed against the government by corporations and individuals. He recently represented the two lead whistleblowers in a case brought under federal and state False Claims Acts against one of the largest Pharmacy Benefits Managers in the U.S., which resulted in a $185 million recovery for taxpayers. He has also represented whistleblowers in some of the most ground-breaking false claims cases in the country, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in recoveries for federal and state taxpayers.
In addition, Mr. Morse defends corporations, executives, hospitals, and health care providers in criminal and civil fraud matters in federal and state courts across the U.S. He recently defended a physician charged with 82 counts of health care fraud, who was acquitted of all charges following a three-week jury trial in federal court. He has also defended the director of a multi-billion dollar financing company against securities fraud claims levied by shareholders, bondholders, financial institutions and unsecured creditors.
Mr. Morse advises hospitals, health systems, medical schools, physicians, health care practices, device manufacturers and executives of pharmaceutical companies throughout the U.S. in contracting, compliance, regulatory, antitrust and fraud and abuse matters. He regularly conducts internal fraud and compliance investigations for private and publicly-traded corporations. Mr. Morse also speaks to audiences across the country on fraud, abuse and compliance matters.
Mr. Morse is recognized as an authority in the area of mandatory federal and state laws requiring hospitals and other medical providers to report medical errors, adverse events, near misses and device failures. He has written numerous articles and chapters on this emerging area of health care law and has presented this topic to hundreds of compliance officers, attorneys, and medical professionals across the United States.
He also practices in the area of complex commercial disputes. Mr. Morse recently teamed-up with an internationally recognized intellectual property law firm to successfully defend a multi-billion dollar semi-conductor manufacturing company against numerous claims of patent infringement. In that case, the jury not only exonerated our client, but also invalidated all of the plaintiff's accused patents.
Mr. Morse received his J.D. from the Emory University School of Law, where he was awarded the Order of Courts and Order of Barristers, and named the law school’s Best Oralist. He earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Morse is a member of the American, Federal Circuit, Pennsylvania, New York and Philadelphia Bar Associations, as well as the American Health Lawyers Association, the Health Care Compliance Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is also a member of the editorial board of the American Bar Association's Criminal Litigation newsletter, and a member of the Steering Committee of the American Bar Association's Mid-Atlantic White Collar Crime Committee.
Mr. Morse has been selected by Law and Politics magazine as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Rising Star for 2005, 2006 and 2007 in the area of White Collar Criminal Defense.
Mr. Morse is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New York.
Representative Cases, Publications and Speaking Engagements