Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC co-founders Bob Thomas and Suzanne Durrell have several upcoming whistleblower law speaking engagements and events.
Starting in September, Mr. Thomas will be teaching his Health Care Fraud and Abuse for the tenth year at Boston University School of Law, covering the substantive areas of health care fraud prosecuted by government and plaintiffs’ attorneys. The course provides a survey of healthcare fraud enforcement to second and third-year law students.
In early October, Ms. Durrell will be moderating a panel on Emerging Practice Areas on the opening day of the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Nineteenth Annual Conference in Washington, DC. This panel will discuss developing strategic areas of the law, including the interplay between antitrust enforcement and the False Claims Act, customs fraud, and enforcing civil rights protections in conjunction with the False Claims Act.
On October 9, 2019, Mr. Thomas and Ms. Durrell will join forces as guest speakers at the Health Care Fraud and Abuse course taught by Robert Sherman and Eric Christofferson of DLA Piper LLP at Northeastern University School of Law. They have been asked to give the students a perspective on whistleblower law in the pharmaceutical space, how one builds a whistleblower case, and the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Escobar decision on FCA litigation.
Ms. Durrell’s and Mr. Thomas’ upcoming speaking and educational engagements follow whistleblower law speaking events earlier this year in which they and other members of the WLC participated, including:
- The American Bar Association False Claims Act and Qui Tam Trial Institute 2019 in June 2019 where WLC attorney David W.S. Lieberman spoke on The Practice of Litigating FCA Cases in 2019: Insiders’ Views on How to Best Investigate, Prosecute and Defend FCA Cases.
- The Fourth Annual Mintz Levin Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Industry Summit in April 2019, at which WLC attorney Erica Blachman Hitchings addressed the topic of Federal Enforcement Targeting the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain.
- The Boston Bar Association’s White Collar Crime conference in March 2019, where Ms. Durrell participated on the False Claims Act panel. She was joined by attorneys from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Department of Justice, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and the defense bar.
- On April 11, 2019 WLC attorney Bob Thomas visited Ropes & Gray in New York City to discuss FCA enforcement and whistleblower and compliance issues as part of a panel with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Kaufman.
“We are firm believers in the value of teaching and speaking at conferences as it enables us to stay up to date on cutting-edge issues and connect with colleagues from around the country,” said attorneys Durrell and Thomas.
