Pietragallo recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms®

2023/11/02

Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP has been recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms®, receiving fourteen Tier 1 Metro rankings in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. These fourteen rankings include: Commercial Litigation (PGH & PHL) Employment Law – Individuals (PHL) Health Care Law (PHL) Insurance Law (PGH) Litigation – Insurance (PGH) Litigation – Labor & Employment (PGH & PHL) Litigation – Real Estate (PGH) Litigation – Trusts & Estates (PGH) Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs (PGH) Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants (PGH) Product Liability Litigation – Defendants (PGH) Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers (PGH) In addition to the Tier 1 Metro rankings, Pietragallo also received ten Tier 2 and Tier 3 Metro rankings: Tier 2 Metro firm in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and West Palm Beach in the respective practice areas of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Criminal Defense: General Practice, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Employment Law – Management, and Litigation – Intellectual Property. Tier 3 Metro firm in Pittsburgh and West Palm Beach in the respective practice areas of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Construction Law, Litigation – Construction, and Criminal Defense: White-Collar Pietragallo has also been named as a Tier 2 National firm in Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Labor & Employment and a Tier 3 National firm for our work in Health Care Law. Prior to merging with Pietragallo, Gentile Horoho & Avalli P.C. (GHA) was slated to be ranked as a Tier 1 Metro firm in Pittsburgh for their work in Family Law and a Tier 3 Metro firm in Pittsburgh for their work in Litigation – Trusts & Estates, and Trusts & Estates Law. All seven GHA attorneys, well-known for their experience in complex and high net-worth divorce and custody disputes as well as intricate estate/trust cases, have joined Pietragallo. Best Law Firms rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. Read More

Michael Morse to present at the American Bar Association’s 21st Annual Washington Health Law Summit

2023/12/11

Pietragallo partner Michael Morse will be presenting at the American Bar Association’s 21st Annual Washington Health Law Summit, on December 11-12, 2023 in Washington D.C.. Mr. Morse will be presenting “Health Care and Private Equity: Compliance, Control, and Mission Risks” alongside James Sheehan, Chief of the Charities Bureau, Office of the New York Attorney General. This session will address the scope, trends and potential benefits of private equity and healthcare, detailing the legal risks of private equity and joint venture models using literature and media analysis on some adverse patient impacts of private equity models and upstream individual liability claims. For more information and to register, click here. Read More

“Investigations,” Medicare and Medicaid Fraud and Abuse, 2023 ed.

2023/10/12

Pietragallo partner Kevin Raphael has revised Chapter 6 “Investigations” in Medicare and Medicaid Fraud and Abuse, 2023-2024 ed.. This is the 20th edition of the publication, which is a part of Thomson Reuters’ Health Law Series. Mr. Raphael has reviewed and updated this chapter annually for the past seventeen years. Medicare and Medicaid Fraud and Abuse introduces fundamental concepts as well as detailed analysis of the aspects of Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse, including regulation, caselaw, advisory opinions, and more. In this revised edition, Mr. Raphael focuses on cross-agency collaboration on enforcement, an 11th circuit opinion on privacy protection in face of search warrants, and the scaling back of general search warrants. The chapter also provides a more general update, featuring a discussion of recent amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines. Interested in reading the chapter? You can find the book here. Read More

Doug Rosenblum raises funds for three charities through cycling events

2023/10/09

Partner Doug Rosenblum and his fellow cyclists helped to raise over $5.8 million dollars for three different causes. Doug has been completing cycling fundraisers each summer for years, this year he rode over 100 miles and raised funds for rides benefiting the American Cancer Society (Bike-a-Thon), Multiple Sclerosis Society (Bike MS: City to Shore Ride), and Families Behind the Badge Children’s Foundation (The Ben to The Shore) which supports the families of first responders who died in the line of duty. Read More

Tama Beth Kudman Recognized as a 2023 Top Lawyer by Palm Beach Illustrated

2023/09/25

Pietragallo partner Tama Beth Kudman has once again been recognized by Palm Beach Illustrated as a Top Lawyer in the areas of Criminal Defense White-Collar and Criminal Defense Non White-Collar in Palm Beach County. This recognition is a result of other Palm Beach County attorneys who recommended Ms. Kudman as a top lawyer in the area. Attorneys are vigorously vetted and only the top qualifying attorneys receive this recognition. Ms. Kudman is the co-chair of the firm’s Government Enforcement, Compliance, and White Collar Litigation practice group and a top rated White Collar Crimes attorney in Palm Beach Gardens. She has represented reputed organized crime figures, executives, lawyers, accountants, sports figures, religious clergy, politicians, healthcare providers, and other well-known individuals and corporations. In addition to this recognition, Ms. Kudman has been recognized by Chambers USA in the area of Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations in Florida, named to the Florida Super Lawyers list since 2015 and named to The Best Lawyers in America®  since 2018, honored as “Lawyer of the Year” in West Palm Beach in 2020 and 2023 for White-Collar Criminal Defense and again in 2022 and 2024 for General Criminal Defense. Read More

Marc Stephen Raspanti to present Mackrell International Webinar

2023/09/14

Pietragallo partner Marc Stephen Raspanti will present “American whistleblowing and how it differs from the rest of the world,” a webinar through Mackrell International on September 14, 2023 at 10:00am EST. Mackrell International is a legal network connecting attorneys across 60 countries with trusted counsel in different regions and jurisdictions. Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is the member firm serving both Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Mr. Raspanti will use his considerable domestic and international expertise to provide international member firms with a high-level overview of American whistleblowing, and how this affects anyone doing business in or with the United States. Dividing time between statutory whistleblowing and reward programs, Mr. Raspanti will share what makes American whistleblowing unlike anything else in in the world. Learn more about Mackrell here. Read More

28 Pietragallo Lawyers Named in 2024 The Best Lawyers in America® and Ones to Watch

2023/08/17

Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is pleased to announce that 28 lawyers have been named as 2024 The Best Lawyers in America® and Ones to Watch. In addition, partners Marc Stephen Raspanti and Tama Beth Kudman have received “Lawyer of the Year” awards. Mr. Raspanti received his award for his work in Health Care Law in Philadelphia, and Ms. Kudman received her award for Criminal Defense: General Practice in West Palm Beach. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Their process is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. The following were chosen as The Best Lawyers in America: Gaetan Alfano Bet-the-Company Litigation Commercial Litigation Employment Law – Individuals Employment Law – Management Litigation – Labor and Employment Charles Avalli Family Law Litigation – Trusts and Estates Trusts and Estates Joseph J. Bosick Construction Law Pamela Coyle Brecht Qui Tam Law Kerri Lee Cappella Family Law Robert J. D’Anniballe, Jr. Litigation – ERISA Phillip R. Earnest Construction Law Insurance Law Litigation – Construction Mark Gordon Insurance Law Litigation-Insurance Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers Kenneth Horoho, Jr. Family Law Tama Beth Kudman Criminal Defense: General Practice – Lawyer of the Year Criminal Defense: White-Collar David E. Lamm Product Liability Litigation – Defendants James F. Marrion Product Liability Litigation – Defendants Shelly R. Pagac Employment Law-Management Litigation – Labor and Employment Richard J. Parks Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law Corporate Law Litigation – Real Estate William Pietragallo, II Bet-the-Company Litigation Commercial Litigation Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants Francis E. Pipak, Jr. Workers’ Compensation Law – Employer Kevin E. Raphael Criminal Defense: White-Collar Health Care Law Marc Stephen Raspanti Criminal Defense: White-Collar Health Care Law – Lawyer of the Year Qui Tam Law Lourdes Sánchez Ridge Criminal Defense: White-Collar Douglas K. Read More

Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP and Gentile, Horoho & Avalli, P.C. to Merge

2023/08/01

Business and Commercial Litigation Firm Adds Family Law and Estate Administration/Orphans’ Court Practice AUGUST 1, 2023 – Two established Pittsburgh law firms have agreed to merge, bringing a highly-experienced family law and estate planning, administration, and litigation practice to a nationally-recognized business and litigation firm. Effective August 1, 2023, Gentile, Horoho & Avalli, P.C (GHA) will merge with Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP (Pietragallo). All seven GHA attorneys, well-known for their experience in complex and high net-worth divorce and custody disputes as well as intricate estate/trust cases will now join Pietragallo, a multi-disciplined business and commercial litigation firm, with offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Sharon, PA, Steubenville, OH, Weirton, WV, and Palm Beach Gardens, FL. The merger comes on the heels of Pietragallo’s expansion into Palm Beach Gardens in 2022. Pietragallo’s clients range from Fortune 200 and large privately-held companies to municipal entities and entrepreneurial businesses in a broad diversity of industries and business sectors. Gentile, Horoho & Avalli brings to Pietragallo more than 30 years of experience in providing exceptional legal counsel in the areas of family law and estates and trusts as well as complex orphans’ court litigation. “We are excited to engage with these outstanding practitioners in a new sphere of domestic-business litigation,” said Pietragallo chairman William Pietragallo II. “Our practices share a common commitment to achieving results.” “The lawyers at Pietragallo have distinguished themselves as leaders in our profession and in the communities they serve,” said Kenneth J. Horoho, Jr. “The blending of our two firms will provide our current clients with experienced business litigation attorneys who are known for problem-solving and results.” The family law/estate litigation attorneys joining Pietragallo include: Kenneth Horoho, Jr., Partner Charles Avalli, Partner Kerri Lee Cappella, Partner Carla Schiff Donnelly, Partner Lorraine W. Mervan, Special Counsel Robert D. Weinberg, Associate Adam J. Read More

Part Two of World Online Lawyers with Excellent Practice’s Interview with Pamela Coyle Brecht Released

2023/06/06

Pietragallo partner Pamela Coyle Brecht sat down with World Online Lawyers with Excellent Practice (WOLEP) for their interview series “WOLEP Talks” which features distinguished lawyers from across the globe. This is part two of Ms. Brecht’s interview, with part one available here. In the second installment, Ms. Brecht discusses the Federal False Claims Act abroad, stating the Act is not limited to American citizens or conduct occurring in America. She shares that her process for litigating these cases involves travelling to where the conduct occurred, to gain context for the matter. Later in the discussion, she talks about her success as a woman in health care law, and her passion for using her skillset to face new challenges and help people. She attributes this success to giving 110% to everything she does and having the right mentor, which she strives to be for young lawyers. To read part two of Ms. Brecht’s interview, click here. Read More

Laboratory Fraud: What Was Old is New Again

2023/06/05

Nearly every American has received some type of laboratory testing, many regularly. Lab tests are at the base of the healthcare pyramid. That fact, as well as how easily new tests are brought to consumers, may explain why laboratory fraud persists. Blood testing almost always requires a healthcare provider’s order. The interdependence between the healthcare provider, the testing, and the laboratory has often caused criminal, civil, and compliance problems. This article will discuss the pervasiveness of fraud in the behemoth laboratory industry from the 1990s to the present, as well as the False Claims Act (FCA) jurisprudence developed through the joint efforts of the government and whistleblowers to rein in new and old lab fraud schemes. Due to a series of innovative whistleblower cases, “Operation LabScam” was launched in the 1990s. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and multiple U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the country settled some of the largest laboratory fraud cases at the time. For example, the DOJ entered into settlements with Laboratory Corporation of America Inc. (Labcorp), for $187 million, Damon Clinical Laboratories Inc. for $119 million, and National Health Laboratories for $111 million. One of the largest FCA recoveries in a lab case at the time was United States ex rel. Robert J. Merena v. SmithKline Beecham Corporation resulted in a then-ground-breaking recovery of $325 million.[1] In Operation LabScam, the FCA served as an effective tool for exposing overbilling lab schemes. In the wake of these sizeable recoveries, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued robust guidance on how labs should interact with healthcare providers in a position to refer patients for testing in 1997 and 1998.[2] Additionally, the industry also published articles and held seminars providing compliance guidance. OIG, the lab industry, and other industry stakeholders believed this well-published compliance framework would curb future laboratory fraud. Read More