MORGAN VERKAMP - Key Persons
Education
Columbia College, Columbia University in the City of New York, AB
University of California-Berkeley School of Law, JD
University of California Goldman School of Public Policy, MPP
Based in California, Anne represents whistleblowers reporting fraud in numerous industries, including healthcare, information technology, defense contracting, commercial products and services, utilities, and finance. She has worked extensively on qui tam lawsuits brought under state false claims laws, including the representation of the whistleblower and numerous California political subdivisions in litigation against major wireless carriers which resulted in the recovery of over $138 million, including a whistleblower reward of $52 million. In another matter involving multiple government agencies, Anne represented the whistleblower in a case alleging the sale of software that failed to meet government cybersecurity standards. Her successful whistleblower matters include cases involving sleep clinics, "sand pirates," military shipping, and municipal utilities.
In addition to her qui tam work, Anne also represents individuals reporting under agency whistleblower reward programs, and has extensive complex commercial litigation and trial experience. She has represented clients in business disputes and the litigation of financial and securities fraud, director and officer liability, professional malpractice, unfair business practices, consumer rights, and antitrust actions. In 2020, she was recognized as one of the Top 100 Women Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, and LawDragon has included her among its 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers every year since 2019.
In school, Anne earned a Master's in Public Policy in addition to her law degree, and has a continuing interest in matters that involve complex regulatory schemes, statistical analysis, and quantitative proof. At Berkeley, she served as a teaching assistant for Quantitative Methods for Policy Analysis, and she enjoys the challenge of making technical topics understandable to different audiences and decision-makers
Anne Hartman joined Morgan Verkamp in 2024, bringing her extensive complex commercial litigation and trial experience to representing whistleblowers reporting fraud in numerous industries…
Education
Goddard College, B.A. in Liberal Arts
University of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D. magna cum laude
Chandra Napora is a partner with Morgan Verkamp, having joined the firm in 2013. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Chandra worked in healthcare management and higher education administration, both of which make her particularly well-suited to working with whistleblowers who report fraud or abuse by government contractors in those arenas. She has worked on cases against large laboratories, hospitals, pharmacies, hospice providers, drug manufacturers, and for-profit nursing schools, resulting in the return to the United States taxpayers of over $250 million.
Chandra's first legal career was in transactional business and finance law with a large regional firm in Louisville, Kentucky. She brings that experience to Morgan Verkamp's tax and securities fraud cases.
Prior to joining Morgan Verkamp, Chandra served for four years as a judicial clerk for the Hon. S. Arthur Spiegel in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, giving her deep and broad experience with federal litigation and a keen understanding of the federal judicial system.
While in law school at the University of Cincinnati, Chandra served on the Law Review, was a fellow of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, was a founding editor of the National Underground Railroad's Freedom Center Journal, and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.
Chandra Napora is a partner with Morgan Verkamp, having joined the firm in 2013. Her first career was in healthcare management, which makes her well-suited to working with whistleblowers who report fraud…
Education
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, BA
University of Cincinnati College of Law, JD
Colleen joined Morgan Verkamp in 2024, having found her passion for False Claims Act advocacy while clerking for the firm during law school. During those clerkships, she handled voluminous e-discovery matters and supported a heavy litigation docket largely relating to corporate and individual liability for kickbacks and related healthcare frauds, as well as fraud in the for-profit education sector.
After graduating magna cum laude from The Ohio State University in just three years with a degree in political science and a minor in business, Colleen attended the University of Cincinnati College of Law. While there, she served as a member of the Law Review and Treasurer of the Student Bar Association. Through her work in varied legal settings during law school, including in-house at a burgeoning start-up, as a summer associate at a large regional defense firm, and as a judicial extern for the Hon. Douglas Cole in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Colleen deepened both her familiarity with the peculiarities of federal litigation and her experience in research and writing, conducting due diligence, drafting pleadings, and synthesizing and reviewing mass quantities of data.
Colleen is presently a member of The Anti-Fraud Coalition and the Federal Bar Association.
Education
Ohio State University, B.A. in Sociology
Ohio University, M.A. in Political Science & Public Administration
Jay Strauch joined Morgan Verkamp in September 2014 following a 35-year career with federal and state law enforcement. At Morgan Verkamp, Jay assesses, investigates, and develops prospective cases involving healthcare, procurement, and SEC frauds. His in-depth government experience and analytical investigative skills help to position Morgan Verkamp's whistleblower cases for the best possible outcomes.
Jay's law enforcement career began at the Ohio Attorney General's Office, where he first worked as an investigator in the Consumer Frauds and Crimes Division. In that Division, he handled all manner of fraud investigations involving consumer transactions. Jay then moved to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, where he was a Special Agent (and later a Special Agent Supervisor) handling environmental crimes investigations.
After ten years with the Ohio Attorney General's Office, Jay joined the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) as a Special Agent. During his 25 years with DCIS, Jay specialized in complex white-collar criminal investigations. His work resulted in significant criminal and civil prosecutions of defense procurement, healthcare, and consumer fraud schemes, counter-proliferation/arms trafficking crimes, and environmental crimes. For five years, Jay was also assigned to the U.S. Attorney Health Care Fraud Task Force for the Southern District of Ohio. As part of that assignment, he led numerous health care fraud investigations that resulted in multiple convictions and the recovery of over $175 million in civil fines, criminal restitution, and forfeiture.
In acknowledgment of his civil false claims work, Jay was recognized as Health Care Fraud Investigator of the Year by the National Health Care Fraud Anti-Fraud Association and received multiple awards for investigative excellence from the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency. In addition, he has been awarded multiple Department of Defense Inspector General service awards, including the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, which is the highest civilian award given to career Inspector General employees. In 2012, Jay was also recognized as the DCIS Headquarters Program Manager of the Year.
Education
Xavier University, B.S. in Biology and Premed
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D.
Jennifer Verkamp is one of the founding partners of Morgan Verkamp. Although Jennifer has handled complex cases ranging from personal injury to commercial disputes during her career, she has focused exclusively on False Claims Act litigation at the trial and appellate levels for the past two decades. Jennifer handles all types of False Claims Act cases, but she has developed a particular expertise in the highly-technical arena of applying the False Claims Act to healthcare fraud.
Since opening Morgan Verkamp, Jennifer has led complex federal cases through investigation and active litigation. She has managed and executed protracted discovery, often lasting over many years and involving hundreds of thousands of documents and extensive depositions. She works closely with government fraud counsel and investigators, as well as co-counsel who have brought Morgan Verkamp in to litigate a case. She has also earned professional respect from defense counsel around the country. Jennifer is adept at managing the complex dynamics of large teams of lawyers and other professionals in big-case prosecution.
In addition to regularly speaking at conferences around the country, Jennifer has authored or co-authored many amicus curiae briefs for circuit courts and the United States Supreme Court. Jennifer's recent amicus briefs submitted on behalf of Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund include a 2015 brief in U.S. ex rel. Escobar v. Universal Health Services, Inc. on appeal to the First Circuit, a 2016 brief filed in the same case on appeal to the United States Supreme Court, a 2017 brief filed in U.S. ex rel. Rose, et al. v. Stephens Institute, et al. on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, a 2018 brief in U.S. ex rel. Ruckh v. Salus Rehabilitation, LLC, et al. on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit, and a 2019 brief in U.S. ex rel. Thrower v. Academy Mortgage Corporation on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
Jennifer has been recognized several times for her accomplishments as a litigator, including being named as an Ohio Super Lawyers "Rising Star" in 2006, receiving the Whistleblower Lawyers of the Year Award along with the Morgan Verkamp team in 2010, and being invited to serve on the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund President's Council in 2017.
Education
University of Florida, B.A. in Criminology, summa cum laude
University of Florida Levin College of Law, cum laude
Jillian was lead counsel on a case against a healthcare system that resulted in an $18 million settlement and improved the landscape of healthcare for high-risk pregnancy care.
Based in Florida, Jillian Estes joined Morgan Verkamp in 2018. Jillian began her career handling class action cases primarily against for-profit colleges. Since 2010, she has exclusively worked on False Claims Act matters. Jillian was lead counsel on one of the first cases to successfully apply the Stark Statute to Medicaid claims, obtained a favorable first-to-file determination (including successfully defending an appeal to the Third Circuit) for a relator following a $192 million settlement, and represented a relator through post-settlement relator's share litigation with the United States. She was also lead counsel on U.S. ex rel. Robinson v. Indiana University Health, et al., which resulted in an $18 million settlement and changed the landscape of healthcare for high-risk pregnant women in Indianapolis. Jillian has worked on cases that have returned more than $400 million to taxpayers.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Jillian worked at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children ("NCMEC") in Alexandria, VA. Because of her experiences at NCMEC, Jillian began volunteering for the U.S. Department of State's Attorney Network once she became a lawyer, taking pro bono cases representing parents whose children were wrongfully brought into or retained in the United States from their home countries. Jillian has successfully handled Hague Convention cases that resulted in the return of children to their custodial families in Denmark, Mexico and Guatemala. For her work on these cases, Jillian received Florida's Thirteenth Judicial Circuit's Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Young Lawyer award and a Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. State Department.
Jillian Estes joined Morgan Verkamp in 2018 as a Senior Attorney. Jillian began her career handling class action cases primarily against for-profit colleges. Since 2010, she has exclusively worked on False Claims Act…
Education
Youngstown State University, B.M. in Education and Psychology
Boston University, M.M. in Education
Boston University, D.M.A. in Education
University of Toledo College of Law, J.D.
Jonathan Lischak joined Morgan Verkamp in June 2019. Prior to joining the firm, he spent ten years as an educator in Ohio's public school system, where he taught junior high and high school coursework. During his tenure in the field of education, Jonathan also worked as a labor relations representative. In that capacity, he defended employees in disciplinary proceedings, engaged in contract negotiations and dispute resolution, and monitored legal compliance.
While in law school, Jonathan completed a Certificate of Concentration in Health Care Law, with honors, and participated in numerous Student Government and Student Bar Association groups. He also interned in Findlay, Ohio in the legal department at Blanchard Valley Hospital, where his work focused on regulatory compliance and risk mitigation policy.
Education
William Mitchell College of Law, Saint Paul, Minnesota
- Juris Doctor-Magna Cum Laude
Based in Minnesota, Nathaniel has been a fierce advocate for whistleblowers and employees for many years, having litigated False Claims Act and related retaliation cases since 2015. Joining Morgan Verkamp in April 2023, he has focused his career on representing whistleblowers reporting fraud against the government under the FCA, as well as whistleblowers reporting securities and commodities fraud under the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs. These cases require a deep understanding of differing areas of the law and complex government agencies, and Nathaniel rises to the challenge of putting all the pieces together to achieve positive results.
As the son of doctors who practiced geriatric and pediatric medicine, Nathaniel's commitment to combating fraud in order to provide the best possible patient care was established at a young age. He later worked on FCA and employment cases as a law clerk while attending William Mitchell College of Law, where he graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors. While at law school, Nathaniel was active in the American Association for Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition, an annual nationwide mock trial competition. He is also an ADR-Rule 114 Qualified Neutral under Rule 114 of the General Rules of Practice, giving him unique insight into mediations and the dispute resolution process for his clients.
Since 2017, Nathaniel has been an active speaker and advocate of whistleblowers issues, including the critical role of the public-private partnership in FCA enforcement and steps to increase government intervention in qui tam actions. He also co-authored the amicus curiae brief, submitted on behalf of The Anti-Fraud Coalition, in U.S. ex rel. Druding v. Care Alternatives appealed to the Third Circuit regarding the proper interpretation of materiality under the False Claims Act.
Nathaniel was selected to the Super Lawyers list as a "Rising Star," a distinction awarded to only 2.5% of Minnesota attorneys who are under the age of 40 or have practiced law less than ten years, and was also a member of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 under 40, composed of the top trial lawyers from each state.
Nathaniel currently serves on the board of The Anti-Fraud Coalition's Young Lawyers Division and has been a member of TAF's Membership Education Committee for several years.
Nathaniel Smith joined Morgan Verkamp in April 2023. Nathaniel has been a fierce advocate for whistleblowers and employees for many years, having litigated False Claims Act and related retaliation cases since…
Job Titles:
- Paralegal
- Senior Litigation Paralegal and Technology Manager
Education
University of Cincinnati, Paralegal Technology
Traci is a trained Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children in Northern Kentucky.
Traci Smith is a paralegal who focuses on case management, document review, and deposition preparation for complex litigation. She began her career at Morgan Verkamp LLC in 2008 as an Administrative Assistant and then graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in Paralegal Technology. While at the University, she was an active member of the University of Cincinnati Association for Paralegal Studies.
Outside of her work with Morgan Verkamp, Traci responded quickly to the Covid-19 crisis and hand-made hundreds of masks for families and essential workers around the country.