Apr 3, 2023 | federal investigations
On Friday, March 24, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill H.B. 837, which enacts major tort reform within the state. Supporters of the legislation say that the reforms were necessary to reduce frivolous lawsuits and limit the hidden costs...
Mar 27, 2023 | Health Care Fraud
On March 23, 2023, The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Dr. William Lawrence Siefert and Dr. Timothy Ehn were convicted of health care fraud. Dr. Ehn was also convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. According to the government, Dr....
Mar 21, 2023 | Cyber Law, False Claims Act
Chilivis Grubman attorneys warned that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative would use the False Claims Act (FCA) to pursue cybersecurity-related fraud. The FCA prohibits any person from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a...
Mar 21, 2023 | Criminal Matters
On March 15, 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court issued an opinion holding that a lower court, which had enjoined the Gwinnett County District Attorney from engaging in any enforcement measures concerning the sale of Delta-8, should have instead dismissed the lawsuit. A...
Mar 21, 2023 | Civil Matters
On March 15, 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the state’s $250,000 punitive damages cap in a closely watched case. The appeal stemmed from a jury’s award of $50 million in punitive damages to the estate of Tia McGee, who was sexually...
Mar 17, 2023 | Government Contract
On March 9, 2023, the Georgia Court of Appeals remanded to the Superior Court of DeKalb County the unresolved aspects of a tumultuous case that had originally resulted in a more than $6 million verdict against the City of Brookhaven, its Mayor and City Manager. The...
Mar 13, 2023 | Criminal Matters
On March 8, 2023, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a former Georgia police officer’s sexual harassment lawsuit because the complaint was drafted as a “shotgun pleading.” The Eleventh Circuit is well known for its disapproval of and...
Mar 13, 2023 | Health Care Fraud
On March 10, a federal jury convicted former physician, Frederick Gooding, 71, of Wilmington, Delaware, for his role in a $5 million health care fraud scheme. Gooding first worked as a medical practitioner in Delaware from 1996 to 2013. In 2010, the Delaware medical...
Mar 8, 2023 | False Claims Act
Due to inflationary pressures, on January 30, 2023, the Department of Justice increased penalties for violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) for the second time in less than a year. As of January 30, 2023, the minimum penalty for a FCA violation is now $13,508, up...
Mar 8, 2023 | White Collar Crime
On March 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the first insider trading prosecution based exclusively on Rule 10b5-1 Trading plans. As stated plainly in a Harvard Law School post, “Rule 10b5-1 plans are passive investment schemes (plan holders relinquish...
