David is an accomplished trial attorney, a tenacious litigator in criminal and civil cases, and a trusted counselor to individual and institutional clients. He combines a practical, evidence-based, no-nonsense approach with deep expertise in criminal and civil investigations, with a particular focus on parallel investigations; False Claims Act litigation; healthcare fraud; bank and wire fraud; government fraud (including COVID-19 and SBA loan fraud cases); bribery and corruption cases; securities fraud; computer fraud and abuse; tax fraud; and, identity theft cases. David has a track record of success on the defense side, having obtained multiple dismissals and deferred prosecutions in both the federal and state systems. In every case, David brings exceptional subject matter expertise following a 12-year career as a federal prosecutor at two U.S. Attorney Offices where he held multiple supervisory positions and led some of the country’s most significant criminal and civil prosecutions.
For his work on the defense side, David has been repeatedly recognized by peers and clients. He is ranked by Chambers USA , the prestigious independent legal industry ranking organization, as a leading attorney in the categories of White Collar Crime and Government Investigations in both New York and New Jersey and for Healthcare. David has also been selected as a Top Attorney by Super Lawyers in the area of White Collar Criminal Defense. Clients describe David “as practical and smart” with “great judgment” and “a deep knowledge of government investigations relating to healthcare and the False Claims Act” who “delivers consistently excellent results.” As one client stated:
“David is outstanding on the defense side. He cuts through issues, understands ridiculously complex material and applies his judgment to carve out a path.”
David has handled numerous high-profile fraud cases, including charged individuals, investigative targets and subjects, and subpoenaed persons and entities. David navigates his clients through high-stakes investigations with zealous advocacy, honesty, and compassion. He uses an evidence-based approach and crafts careful strategic plans for his clients and cases. He routinely serves as pool counsel or individual counsel in complex federal investigations of institutional clients. And he has a particular expertise in parallel criminal and civil healthcare fraud investigations and qui tam (whistleblower) actions, in which he has extensive experience representing institutional and individual clients. David represents professionals–including doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and attorneys–as well as c-suite executives, boards of directors and board members, and current and former employee groups. David’s institutional clients have included large publicly-traded companies, hospital systems, laboratories, medical practice groups, pharmaceutical companies, and pharmacies, among others. David also has a robust civil practice where he handles commercial disputes mainly on behalf of healthcare clients.
“In every case, my goal is to forge a strong relationship of trust with my client, formulate a realistic, evidence-based strategy without unnecessary expense and inefficiency, and always provide common sense, no-nonsense answers to the hard questions.”
Before co-founding AEL, David had a distinguished career as a federal prosecutor in two different U.S. Attorneys’ Offices – the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) and the District of New Jersey (DNJ). He held multiple supervisory positions, including Chief of the Healthcare and Government Fraud Unit and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. David also served in both the Civil and Criminal Divisions and supervised both civil and criminal investigations, giving him unique expertise and insight in federal parallel investigations and cases.
Representative Matters
David’s exceptional results and representative matters include:
Dismissals and Other Notable Resolutions:
- Dismissal of all federal criminal charges alleging violations of the Antikickback Statute (AKS) against client operating a mobile COVID-19 testing business. Read more about the case here.
- Dismissal of federal healthcare fraud indictment against physician, who pled guilty to a superseding information charging him with a non-intent misdemeanor offense related to misbranded drugs. Doctor received a sentence of 1 year probation. Read more about the case here.
- Deferred prosecution and dismissal of federal criminal indictment alleging healthcare fraud against physician and negotiated civil-only global resolution of the charges. AEL also resolved the underlying qui tam complaint. Read more about the case here.
- Deferred prosecution and dismissal of federal assault charges filed against Special Agent with federal law enforcement.
- Obtained an administrative civil-only resolution in a New York State Department of Health investigation related to fraud in the reporting of vaccinations for school-age children.
- Negotiated stipulated plea and probationary sentence in a several years-long state healthcare fraud indictment. Doctor pled to a lesser included offense on a single count of an 878-count indictment and received a sentence of probation. The State also returned approximately $1 million in restrained assets and negotiated a contemporaneous resolution with NY OPMC regarding the doctor’s continued use of his NY State Medical License. Read more about the case here.
- Dismissal of all charges in an SBA loan fraud case on behalf of healthcare client.
- Probationary sentence for defendant charged in sprawling federal computer fraud conspiracy involving hundreds of millions of dollars of stolen credit card data.
- Probationary sentence for pharmacist charged in broad conspiracy involving allegations of kickbacks and billing fraud.
- Obtained a substantial downward variance for doctor charged in large-scale laboratory genetic testing fraud conspiracy.
- Civil-only resolution of parallel criminal/civil fraud and False Claims Act (FCA) investigation involving LI-based chiropractic practice.
- Civil-only resolution of parallel criminal/civil fraud and False Claims Act (FCA) investigation regarding NJ-based medical practice.
- Obtained no charges related to client’s participation in alleged pharmacy wholesale conspiracy.
Notable Representations
- Representing hospital system defendant in declined civil qui tam lawsuit alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) and Antikickback Statute (AKS) in DNJ.
- Representing individual client in intervened civil qui tam lawsuit alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) in SDNY.
- Pool counsel in federal parallel criminal and civil investigation of publicly-traded diagnostic laboratory company regarding alleged violations of the Antikickback Statute (AKS) in DNJ.
- Pool counsel in federal parallel criminal and civil investigation of national hospital system regarding alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) and Antikickback Statute (AKS) in DNJ.
- Representing COVID-19 testing laboratory in federal criminal investigation in SDNY
- Representing c-suite executive in indicted healthcare fraud case related to compounding pharmacy alleging healthcare fraud conspiracy and violations of the Antikickback Statute (AKS) in DNJ.
- Representing pharmacy owner in federal criminal healthcare fraud indictment in the SDNY.
- Representing ophthalmologist and his medical practice in federal parallel criminal and civil investigation in DNJ.
- Represented client in securities fraud investigation conducted by the SEC related to cannabis investment startup.
- Served as testifying expert witness in an arbitration proceeding related to matters arising under the False Claims Act (FCA) and Antikickback Statute (AKS).
Prior Government Service and Community Engagement
Prior to co-founding AEL, David had a distinguished 12-year career with two separate U.S. Attorney’s Offices – as a civil AUSA in the EDNY and a criminal AUSA in the DNJ. Over the course of his career in public service, David held multiple supervisory positions, including Chief of the General Crimes Unit, where he was responsible for supervising and training all new AUSAs in DNJ; Chief of the Health Care & Government Fraud Unit, where he supervised a team of both criminal and civil AUSAs investigating and prosecuting healthcare and government fraud cases; and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, the number two position in the Criminal Division in DNJ. During his tenure as an AUSA, David tried over a dozen jury trials to verdict and prosecuted and supervised nationally-recognized fraud cases. He specialized in healthcare, cybercrime, bank/wire fraud, securities fraud, tax fraud and other major fraud cases. Among his many highlights as a prosecutor, he was one of a team of prosecutors that investigated and charged the “Newswire” case, a cutting edge “hacking and trading” conspiracy in which cybercriminals infiltrated major newswire agencies and then sold stolen material nonpublic information to securities traders before press releases were made public. He also investigated, prosecuted and tried one of the largest ever “brick and mortar” ATM skimming cases. And, he investigated and prosecuted the largest ever government fraud against the GI Bill. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, David was an associate at a prestigious international law firm in New York City where he focused on creditors’ rights and restructuring matters. He also served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Stuart M. Bernstein, Chief Judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York.
Professional life aside, David is a devoted dad and an active member of his community. He serves as the Vice President of the Montclair Baseball Softball Club (MBSC), a non-profit youth travel baseball organization that provides highly competitive youth baseball and softball opportunities within Montclair, New Jersey. He has served as head coach for the 8U through 12U teams.