AEL celebrates the announcement that Scott R. Landau was named to the The Best Lawyers in America 2022 list. Scott R. Landau was ranked as a “Best Lawyer” for Health Care Law. This most recent accolade continues a string of recognition for AEL’s elite boutique healthcare practice. Earlier this year, AEL was ranked by Chambers USA as a leading U.S. Healthcare law firm for 2021. Congratulations to Scott on this great recognition!
On May 20, 2021, Chambers USA, a world-renowned guide to the legal profession, announced its selection of AEL as a leading U.S. Healthcare law firm for 2021. According to Chambers, AEL is a “well-regarded healthcare boutique” that is “able to practice at the intersection of healthcare and white collar defense;” sources describe AEL as “very attentive and able to get down to the salient facts quickly.”
Chambers also recognized AEL partner Scott R. Landau as a “ranked lawyer” in Healthcare and describes him as “an extraordinarily insightful litigator” and “an incredibly knowledgeable and excellent healthcare lawyer.” Scott is the practice leader for AEL’s Healthcare Regulatory & Compliance Counseling, Data Privacy & Security, and Complex Commercial Litigation & Disputes practice areas.
Each year, Chambers acknowledges firms and specific attorneys following a rigorous review and vetting process that entails extensive interviews with lawyers and their clients. Assessments are based on qualities such as technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, diligence, and commitment. To read more about Chambers and AEL’s firm and individual rankings, please visit https://chambers.com/department/abell-eskew-landau-healthcare-usa-5:62:12806:1:23254203
AEL once again navigated a doctor client out of a federal indicted healthcare fraud case, this time in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY). A pain management doctor with practice locations in Manhattan and Queens pled guilty on Thursday, May 6, 2021, to a misdemeanor superseding information charging him with receiving, without knowledge or intent to defraud, a misbranded drug from a foreign source in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 331(c) and 333(a)(1). In the plea agreement, the Government agreed to dismiss at the time of sentencing an indictment charging the doctor with a multimillion dollar healthcare fraud scheme. The misdemeanor plea resolves all of the conduct charged in the previously-filed criminal complaint, indictment and superseding information. As part of the plea, the Government agreed and the Court order that the bail condition prohibiting the doctor from billing Medicare and Medicaid be lifted, a restriction that had been in place since the outset of the case.
This incredible resolution for the client comes after intensive negotiations and multiple presentations by AEL to the EDNY U.S. Attorney’s Office in the weeks leading up to trial regarding exculpatory evidence that had been uncovered by AEL attorneys in the course of their internal investigation. The exculpatory evidence, of which the Government had previously been unaware, exonerated the defendant of the primary allegations in the indictment.
This is the second time in the past three months that AEL has fought back charges in a federal indicted case on behalf of doctor clients. In March 2021, AEL announced that it had successfully negotiated a global resolution of a parallel criminal and civil cases pending in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) against a Manhattan-based vascular surgeon, which charges sprung from a qui tam complaint filed against the doctor. In that case, the Government agreed to a civil-only resolution, resolving its criminal indictment with a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA).
AEL is a premier litigation boutique that specializes in parallel criminal and civil healthcare cases on behalf of individuals and institutional clients in the SDNY, EDNY and DNJ. AEL Partners Kenneth M. Abell and David M. Eskew, both former federal prosecutors and healthcare Chiefs, handled the case.
Abell Eskew Landau LLP (AEL) successfully negotiated the resolution of parallel criminal and civil cases pending in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) against Dr. Feng Qin, a Manhattan-based vascular surgeon. Dr. Qin was previously indicted on healthcare fraud charges over two years ago and had been sued in a parallel civil qui tam action based upon the same alleged conduct. After years under the cloud of federal investigation and two pending cases, the cases finally concluded yesterday with a remarkable result for Dr. Qin. The SDNY United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) agreed to resolve the criminal indictment with a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). So long as Dr. Qin abides by the terms of the DPA over the next year, the SDNY USAO agreed to dismiss its indictment against Dr. Qin and agreed that no further prosecution would be instituted in the SDNY related to the conduct alleged in the indictment. Separately, Dr. Qin agreed to resolve the civil complaint against him by paying a monetary amount of $783,200, spread out over the course of several years, and by agreeing to a period of Medicare exclusion.
The DPA and civil settlement follow more than a year of intensive negotiations between AEL and the SDNY USAO, which included presentation to the SDNY of several mitigating pieces of evidence on Dr. Qin’s behalf that AEL uncovered as part of its own investigation. As the DPA expressly recognizes, “after a thorough investigation it has been determined that the interest of the United States and [Dr. Qin’s] own interest will best be served by deferring prosecution in this District.” On the civil side, AEL also advocated for a financial inability to pay analysis, which resulted in the substantial reduction of the civil penalty to be paid by Dr. Qin and a lengthy payment plan.
Dr. Qin is a hard-working Chinese immigrant who put himself through medical school in China and again in the United States. Over the years, he built a thriving medical practice that treated largely underserved and needy immigrant communities in Manhattan and Queens. The parallel investigations took a deep emotional and financial toll on Dr. Qin and his family, and he is relieved that the cases have now been finally resolved without the stigma of a criminal conviction and with a potential path, after paying his civil settlement and serving his exclusion period, to resuming his medical practice in the future.
This case once again highlights AEL’s expertise in navigating complex parallel investigations and litigating healthcare fraud cases and matter arising under the federal and state False Claims Act (FCA). The defense case was led by AEL Partners Kenneth M. Abell and David M. Eskew. You can read more about AEL’s Government Investigations and Enforcement Practice Area, White Collar Criminal Defense Practice Area, and FCA and Whistleblower Litigation Practice Area through the links.
AEL partner David M. Eskew co-authored an article with colleague Paul Murphy, a partner at Teitler & Teitler, entitled “Propensity – Persuasion and Prejudice: A Look at “Other Acts” Evidence and What the Defense Can Do About It.” The article was originally published in the American Bar Association’s Litigation Journal, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Winter 2021). The article focuses on the practical challenges presented by the admission of propensity evidence in state and federal criminal cases and offers analysis of real-life cases in which such evidence had a featured role. In the article, David and Paul offer practical tips on defending against the dreaded propensity evidence. The article can be read through the link below, in its entirety on our blog, or in the latest edition of the ABA Litigation Journal.
Abell Eskew Landau LLP (AEL) is proud to announce that it has obtained for its client, Dr. Feng Qin, a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) from the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Southern District (SDNY). Dr. Qin was previously indicted over two years ago with one felony count of health care fraud. So long as Dr. Qin complies with the terms of the DPA, which include entering into a civil settlement agreement and refraining from violating the law, the government has agreed to dismiss the indictment and no further prosecution will be instituted in the SDNY related to the conduct alleged in the indictment.
The DPA follows more than a year of intensive discussions, during which AEL presented mitigating and exculpatory evidence to the SDNY, and expressly recognizes that the government ultimately “determined that the interest of the United States and [Dr. Qin’s] own interest [are] best served by deferring prosecution in this District.” Dr. Qin is happy to move on with his life and career without a criminal conviction.
AEL founding partners Kenneth M. Abell and David M. Eskew, who served as lead counsel on Dr. Qin’s case, previously served as federal prosecutors and chiefs of the civil healthcare fraud unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) and the criminal healthcare fraud unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey (DNJ), respectively, and are expert at handling parallel investigations and cases. As these results show, AEL is uniquely positioned to navigate parallel investigations and prevail upon the government that in appropriate circumstances civil resolutions can best serve justice. AEL currently represents multiple institutions and individuals (including physicians) in the midst of parallel federal investigations (both pre and post-charge), and in every case works tirelessly to achieve favorable outcomes for our clients.
AEL is proud to announce the successful resolution of a multi-year investigation involving one of its individual clients, a prominent New York-based obstetrician/gynecologist. On November 16, 2020, AEL finalized a highly favorable civil resolution with the New York Attorney General’s Office (NYAG). The case arose from a years-long investigation by the NYAG under the New York State version of the False Claims Act. After years of investigation and months of negotiation, AEL ultimately convinced the State to resolve the matter as a relatively small overpayment, instead of a False Claims Act violation, with no admissions by the client of wrongdoing, no penalties, and no exclusion from billing the Medicaid program. The client stated, “Ken Abell and his team recently represented me in a case brought against me by a government agency. I must say his representation of me went above and beyond your typical law firm. He understood my concerns that I was being treated unfairly and went the extra mile to settle the case in my favor. I am sure I would have had a much worse result with other legal representation. I highly recommend him and his team if you need his field of law. I know I will call him for my next legal need. I have already recommended his firm to another friend.” AEL prides itself of client-focused representation and excels at representing both institutions and individuals in parallel civil/criminal enforcement actions and investigations, especially in the healthcare industry. AEL Partner Ken Abell was lead counsel on the case.
Abell Eskew Landau LLP partner Scott R. Landau commented today in a Law360 article concerning the upcoming trial of ex-Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes. Defense counsel has asserted a mental health defense in the upcoming and much-anticipated March trial in the Northern District of California federal court. In this article, Scott R. Landau weighs in on the difficult question of the fiduciary duties of a general counsel to a company’s board of directors when the CEO is in crisis. Read the full article through the link below.
AEL Partner Kenneth M. Abell was quoted in an August 18, 2020 article in Law360 regarding the Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in U.S. ex rel CIMZNHCA LLC v. UCB, Inc., et al, which laid out a new way to assess DOJ motions to dismiss qui tam / whistleblower actions under the federal False Claims Act (FCA). AEL routinely represents hospitals and other providers in government investigations and enforcement actions and qui tam / whistleblower litigation, and are experts in the federal False Claims Act.
On June 6, 2020, Law360 featured an Article by AEL founding partner Kenneth M. Abell in their Expert Analysis Section. The Article, entitled “FCA Ruling Shows Importance Of Relator As Original Source” dissects the recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in U.S. ex rel. Hanks v. Florida Cancer Specialists, which reversed and remanded a decision by the District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In the Hanks decision, the Second Circuit analyzed the well-tread (and still highly important) False Claims Act (FCA) concepts of the public disclosure bar, the first-to-file rule, and the original source exception. Follow this link to read the Article. AEL’s three founding partners all served as Assistant U.S. Attorneys and each conducted multiple, sophisticated, high stakes parallel investigations under the False Claims Act (FCA). As a result, AEL has extensive expertise in the False Claims Act and white collar civil and criminal government investigations and enforcement actions. AEL represents major hospital systems and other private companies in high stakes qui tam / whistleblower actions and commercial litigation.
On May 18, 2020, Law360 featured an Article by AEL founding partner David M. Eskew in their Expert Analysis Section. The Article, entitled “Managing Paycheck Protection Program Loan Compliance” highlights potential headaches for business owners when applying for and using PPP loan funds. Follow this link to read the Article. AEL is currently counseling clients on issues related to the PPP, including its eligibility and use restrictions, and is helping clients to navigate the complicated rules and forms related to the critical aspect of PPP loan forgiveness.
