David W.S. Lieberman is an experienced commercial litigator focused on complex fraud claims, particularly those involving the False Claims Act. He previously practiced law at both Ropes & Gray LLP and Day & Pitney LLP in Boston, where he represented clients in all aspects of litigation through trial.
Mr. Lieberman represented the whistleblower and numerous intervening government entities in United States ex rel. Hendrix v. J-M Manufacturing Co., No. 5:06-cv-00055 (C.D. Cal.), asserting claims under both federal and state false claims acts against the world’s largest producer of municipal and consumer water pipe. In 2013, he helped them obtain a favorable jury verdict after a seven-week trial in federal court in California. In 2018, he represented them again in the multi-week damages trial. Mr. Lieberman’s clients have also included major defense contractors asserting fraud claims against specialty materials suppliers.
Mr. Lieberman previously served as a criminal prosecutor at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office where he prosecuted fraud and environmental crimes. There he brought one of the first successful prosecutions of environmental crimes under the Massachusetts False Claims Act.
He also served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Bruce M. Selya of the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
David, an experienced complex commercial litigator and former Assistant Attorney General, focuses his practice on representing whistleblowers prosecuting fraud under the False Claims Act and other qui tam statutes. He is experienced in all aspects of litigation through complex trial practice.
Mr. Lieberman is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Stone and Kent Scholar and served as Managing Editor of the Columbia Law Review. He is also a graduate of Tufts University. Before attending Tufts University, he served as a corps member in City Year, the trailblazing public service program that inspired Americorps. In City Year, he worked with underserved students in Boston Public Schools and later helped found a new City Year site in Washington, D.C.
In 2015, Mr. Lieberman was a recipient of the “Up & Coming Excellence in the Law Award” from Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly for his commitment to public service and was recognized as a Massachusetts Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2015-2019. He is an active member of the Boston Bar Association, where he is a Junior Fellow and previously served in the BBA Public Interest Leadership program from 2014 and 2015. He remains active in City Year as a member of the Seven Generations Board and former co-chair of the Alumni Board, and a five-time vice-chair of the City Year Legal Breakfast, among other roles.
He has handled numerous diverse pro bono projects, including assisting an Iraqi refugee to obtain asylum in the U.S. and representing a transgendered petitioner appealing an adverse asylum decision. He serves as an elected member of his Democratic Ward Committee in Somerville.
July 5, 2019
Government intervention, when the government takes over a case, is the key factor for success of a whistleblower case. Under the SEC, CFTC, and IRS, programs a case can only go...February 20, 2019
From its inception in 1863 under President Abraham Lincoln through its amendments in 1943 under President Franklin Roosevelt, in 1986 under President Ronald Reagan, and most recently in 2009 and...December 11, 2018
This week the Supreme Court granted cert in Cochise Consultancy Inc. v. United States, ex rel. Hunt, No. 18-315 (Nov. 16, 2018) to resolve the question of whether the False Claims...
