With the appointment of Gurbir Grewal as enforcement director of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 2022 has, as expected, seen more stringent oversight into public companies. Grewal formerly served as attorney general of New Jersey until 2021. The SEC selected Grewal to be tougher on Wall Street than his predecessors.
Between 2019 and 2021, SEC enforcement actions against public companies dropped by nearly half due to the pandemic and changing leadership. Grewal, along with other top SEC officials, outlined a list of new priorities for the agency, many of which focus on deterrence against corporate misconduct. Five main types of SEC enforcement actions have taken center stage with the new administration and are expected to continue to be top priorities throughout the year and beyond. Here, we examine these five main types of enforcement actions.
Read the full article .
Copyright 2022 CEP Magazine, a publication of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE). Read More
Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is pleased to announce that 22 lawyers have been named as 2023 The Best Lawyers in America and 2023 Ones to Watch.
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review.
The following were chosen as The Best Lawyers in America:
Gaetan Alfano
Pamela Coyle Brecht
Phillip R. Earnest
Mark Gordon
James W. Kraus
James F. Marrion
Shelly R. Pagac
Richard J. Parks
William Pietragallo, II
Francis E. Pipak, Jr.
Kevin E. Raphael
Marc Stephen Raspanti
Douglas K. Rosenblum
Eric G. Soller
Clem C. Trischler
Peter St. Tienne Wolff
The following were chosen as The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch:
Lee K. Goldfarb
John Kettering
Alexander M. Owens
Stephen F. Raiola
Mark T. Sottile
Frank H. Stoy
About Pietragallo
Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is a multi-disciplined business and litigation law firm headquartered in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with six offices throughout Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and West Virginia from which we are able to serve our clients in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Read More
Pietragallo partner Marc Raspanti will be joined by speakers Jon May and Gabriel Albu (Europe) to speak at the World Online Lawyers with Excellent Practice’s (WOLEP) webinar on Wednesday, July 13th at 10:30am EST.
They will be taking on the topic of “Whistleblower statutes in the United States and the European Union – regulations, commonalities and differences, perspectives”.
Some of the issues addressed during this WOLEP webinar will be:
The difference between how whistleblowers are viewed in the US and the EU
The origin of whistleblower statutes in the US
The movement toward greater whistleblower protections in the EU
The various programs in the US that reward whistleblowers
Case studies, including the representation of a European whistleblower making a disclosure to US authorities
Please note that, at the end of the event there will be a Q&A session, so we urge you to tune in and join the debate!
Join the webinar here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3019722258?pwd=WHVFdEYwTWtLT2orTVkwYm8wZUZIUT09
Meeting ID: 301 972 2258
Passcode: wolep Read More
The Medicare and Medicaid programs are exceedingly complex, and navigating the myriad statutes, regulations, rules, and guidance presents significant challenges for all healthcare providers and compliance professionals—even the United States Supreme Court has recognized that the Medicare program is a “complex and highly technical regulatory program.”[1] This job is sometimes made even more difficult because program regulations can be ambiguous, and government officials are often unable or unwilling to provide further clarification. Add to the mix that failure to comply with Medicare and Medicaid regulations can result in False Claims Act (FCA) liability, and many healthcare providers can’t help but express frustration. A new battle emerging in the courts may afford healthcare providers some relief when confronted with ambiguous Medicare and Medicaid regulations.
In United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., decided on August 12, 2021, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a defendant does not knowingly submit a false claim “if (a) it has an objectively reasonable reading of the statute or regulation and (b) there was no authoritative guidance warning against its erroneous view.”[2] In it, the Seventh Circuit joined the Third, Eighth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits in endorsing an objective reasonableness standard under the FCA. However, the Seventh Circuit, over a vigorous dissent, went further than the other courts, which have recognized an objective reasonableness standard, setting up a battle that could significantly affect future FCA cases.
Read more here,
Copyright 2022 Compliance Today, a publication of the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA). Read More
Pietragallo partner Pamela Coyle Brecht will be presenting virtually on “She Persisted: How Women Have Shaped False Claims Act Law” at the Federal Bar Association’s (FBA) 2022 Qui Tam Section Roundtable Discussion. This webinar will take place at 12:00pm EST on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
Pam and her fellow panelists will focus on the innovative and critical contributions women attorneys continue to make in the area of False Claims Act Law. This roundtable will highlight the various means through which women trailblazers, including the panelists, led the way for others to apply courageous and creative interpretations of the False Claims Act in complex litigation matters.
To register, visit: https://employmentlawgroup.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cZHBFDXETLq9H3lfEhrCow Read More
Pietragallo is pleased to announce that 23 lawyers have been named as 2022 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, including partner Marc Raspanti who was recognized in the Top 100 in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia.
Super Lawyers is a service of Thomson Reuters legal division which compiles a list of outstanding lawyers from more than 74 practice areas. Each year, a research team at Super Lawyers conducts a multi-phase selection process reviewing independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. With the objective being to provide a reliable, wide-ranging list of attorneys that can be used as a source for finding exceptional legal counsel.
The following were chosen as Pennsylvania Super Lawyers:
Gaetan J. Alfano
Joseph J. Bosick
Mark Gordon
P. Brennan Hart
Christopher A. Iacono
James W. Kraus
Michael A. Morse
Shelly R. Pagac
William Pietragallo, II
Francis E. Pipak, Jr.
Kevin E. Raphael
Marc S. Raspanti (Top 100 in Pennsylvania and Top 100 in Philadelphia)
Lourdes Sánchez Ridge
Douglas K. Rosenblum
Eric G. Soller
Clem C. Trischler
Paul K. Vey
The following were chosen as Pennsylvania Rising Stars:
Jeremy E. Abay
Rebecca Johnson Barksdale
Ashley J. Kenny
John W. Kettering
Alexander Owens
Peter St. Tienne Wolff
About Pietragallo
Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is a multi-disciplined business and commercial litigation firm headquartered in Pittsburgh with six offices throughout Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and West Virginia from which we are able to serve our clients in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Read More
Volumes have been written about the False Claims Act as a tool to pursue fraud against the government in circumstances where the defendant has allegedly made false statements to receive money from the government. For purposes of our discussion here, we refer to this aspect of the False Claims Act as “affirmative false claims.” Westlaw and Lexis are replete with cases addressing the government’s and relators’ claims seeking recovery for affirmative false claims allegedly perpetrated by defendants. While there are still cases exploring the parameters of materiality and “objective falsity,” much about the False Claims Act’s affirmative false claims provisions is settled law.
Not so the reverse false claims provision of the False Claims Act. The reverse false claims provision permits the government or relators to pursue defendants who are alleged to have hidden or reduced an obligation to pay the government through false statements, or who have violated the 60-day payment rule’s obligation to return “identified overpayments.” These claims typically have been raised in the context of cost reporting, Medicare Part C, or related to alleged failures to fulfill obligations under the 60-day payment rule. The government and relators have increasingly relied on the reverse false claims provision to support stand-alone claims or have used it in conjunction with affirmative false claims. However, because the reverse false claims provision is very lightly used compared to affirmative false claims provisions, there is a dearth of case law defining it or exploring its parameters. The case law that does exist is primarily from district courts and, as the survey of case law contained herein illustrates, there is little guidance from the Circuit Courts or the U.S. Supreme Court.[1]
In this chapter, we cover the legislative history of the reverse false claims provision, the impact of the 2009 Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act’s significant amendments to the reverse false claims provision, a survey of relevant reverse false claims cases, and finally, a discussion of the practical implications of the reverse false claims provision of the False Claims Act for members of the healthcare industry and legal practitioners that represent them. Read More
Pietragallo partner Christopher Iacono will be presenting on Privacy, Data and Cyber Security: The Current Legal Landscape for PLAN (Professional Liability Attorney Network) on April 28, 2022.
This webinar will discuss the continually evolving privacy legislation and cyber regulation requiring companies to adapt and comply with collection, use, retention, and disclosure of personal information, and requires the implementation of internal controls, systems, and policies to better protect information from cyber criminals. Martin and Chris will be discussing:
An overview of the current state of U.S. privacy law, including state privacy legislation, breach notification, and enforcement
Overview of the legal framework in data security
Cybersecurity threats and the attendant risk
Regulatory frameworks and the future of managing security in large supply chains
Best practices for companies to launch or improve their security program
For more information, or if you’d like to attend, please visit: https://www.planattorney.org/webinar/52 Read More
This is part 2 of a two-part article series. Part 1 was published in the February 2022 issue of Compliance Today and discussed the issues in the healthcare industry that led to the enactment of The Physician Payments Sunshine Act, it’s key statutory language, the potential penalties, and the Act’s evolution.
The Physician Payments Sunshine Act (PPSA) took effect in 2013.[1] It requires medical product manufacturers to disclose to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) payments or transfers of value made to physicians or teaching hospitals. PPSA also requires manufacturers and group purchasing organizations to disclose any physician’s ownership or financial interest in those companies. The disclosed data is published annually in a publicly searchable database.[2] The rationale behind the public availability of the data is to empower patients through transparency to mitigate the putative effect of financial incentives on clinical behavior and the public and prevent physician-industry conflicts of interest.
Part 1 of this article[3] offers a comprehensive analysis of the major healthcare regulatory enforcement statutes and their continuingly expansive use. First, it considers the issues in the healthcare industry that led to the enactment of the PPSA are relevant to an understanding of the current law and its growing enforcement. Next, it discusses PPSA key statutory language and its evolution and considers the impact from a fraud and abuse standpoint.
Part 2 of this article reviews the significance of the first examples of Department of Justice enforcement of the act, as well as the likely increase of private PPSA enforcement. Other sunshine acts, including state and international acts, are also highlighted. Finally, an examination of the future of transparency statutes, including the Hospital Price Transparency regulation,[4] the newest major transparency statute proposed; the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act; and the Transparency in Coverage statute, which support the notion that transparency is a trend in the healthcare industry that will withstand the test of time. Read More
November 28, 2023
Marc Raspanti and Pamela Coyle Brecht‘s presentation “A Practitioner’s Guide to American Whistleblower Programs” is now available through World Online Lawyers With Excellent Practice (WOLEP). Read More
August 17, 2023
Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is pleased to announce that 27 lawyers have been named as 2024 The Best Lawyers in America® and Ones to Watch. Read More
