WHISTLEBLOWER LAW COLLABORATIVE - Key Persons
Suzanne Durrell is the former Chief, Civil Division, of the United States Attorney's Office in Boston, Massachusetts.
Bruce brings the drive, focus, and tenacity of his time at the U.S. Justice Department to the representation of his whistleblower clients in false claims actions around the country and in official matters pending before the SEC, the CFTC, and the IRS.
Job Titles:
- Member of His Democratic Ward Committee
- Member of the Boston Bar Association
David Lieberman is an experienced litigator of complex fraud claims, with a focus on those involving the False Claims Act.
A former environmental crime prosecutor with the Massachusetts Attorney General's office, Mr. Lieberman has represented whistleblowers and governments in major false claims act cases. These include United States ex rel. Hendrix v. J-M Manufacturing Co. filed against the world's largest municipal water pipe maker. In that case, David Lieberman helped obtain a favorable jury verdict after a multi-week trial.
Previously, Mr. Lieberman served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Bruce M. Selya of the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Before joining Whistleblower Law Collaborative, Mr. Lieberman practiced law at Ropes & Gray and Day & Pitney in Boston.
Earlier, Mr. Lieberman graduated from 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. Mr. Lieberman 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 City Year, Washington, D.C.
An active member of the Boston Bar Association, Mr. Lieberman is a BBA Junior Fellow and previously served in the BBA Public Interest Leadership program. He is active as a member of the City Year Seven Generations Board, and a five-time vice-chair of the City Year Legal Breakfast.
David Lieberman serves as an elected member of his Democratic Ward Committee in Somerville and is a contributing writer for the legal podcast Talking Feds.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Prestigious Attorney General 's Honors Program
- Member of the Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC
Erica Blachman Hitchings became a member of the Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC after nearly nine years in the U.S. Department of Justice where she successfully investigated, litigated, and settled a wide range of False Claims Act cases.
Ms. Hitchings joined the Department of Justice as a member of the prestigious Attorney General's Honors Program in 2009, after spending two years clerking for the Honorable Patti B. Saris, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She first served as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Fraud section in Washington, D.C. and then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of California. Over the course of her career at DOJ, Erica B Hitchings conducted dozens of health care, procurement, and other fraud investigations that resulted in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars by the United States.
In the health care fraud arena, for example, Ms. Hitchings investigated and successfully resolved allegations that a nationwide skilled nursing home chain submitted false claims for skilled therapy services; that a large hospital system admitted patients who could have been treated on a less costly, outpatient basis; and that sleep centers used unlicensed technicians to administer overnight tests to unwitting patients. Ms. Hitchings also has significant expertise in the area of Medicare Advantage, Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback statute, and pharmaceutical off-label marketing schemes. More specifically, Erica simultaneously ran two cutting-edge Medicare Advantage fraud investigations while at the U.S. Attorney's Office, one of which recently resulted in a $90 million recovery and another in which the government has intervened and alleged over a billion in false claims.
Erica has taken False Claims Act cases from start to finish and brings this experience to bear each day-whether analyzing challenging legal issues, counseling a client, or meeting with government counsel.
Ms. Hitchings was a member of a procurement fraud litigation team that recovered over $250 million from numerous technology and consulting companies, including Accenture LLP and EMC Corporation, for allegedly defrauding the government through pricing and kickback schemes.
In addition to her fraud enforcement work, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Erica B. Hitchings coordinated the civil rights enforcement program of her division and defended government agencies in an array of civil litigation, including administrative, constitutional, and environmental matters. She was also a member of the Office's Diversity Committee.
Ms. Hitchings has been a frequent speaker on topics of health care fraud and False Claims Act developments, and she designed a training curriculum that will boost the affirmative investigation and litigation skills of government attorneys throughout the country.
Erica B. Hitchings was a member of the Dartmouth College women's soccer team and spent four years prior to law school teaching history, coaching soccer and basketball, and serving as a social justice program coordinator for teens.
Linda Severin has decades of experience in criminal and civil enforcement actions, investigations, and complex litigation. Her background as a federal prosecutor, a white-collar defense attorney, and an in-house litigation attorney at a Fortune 100 corporation enables her to analyze whistleblower fraud matters from multiple perspectives.
Ms. Severin became a member of the Whistleblower Law Collaborative in 2018. Before joining the firm full-time, she had been a solo practitioner working on False Claims Act matters with Bob Thomas and Suzanne Durrell, most notably United States ex rel. Westmoreland v. Amgen, Inc., 707 F. Supp. 2d 123 (D. Mass. 2010), which was part of the global criminal and civil settlement against Amgen.
Linda C. Severin served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. As a federal prosecutor, she investigated and tried cases involving fraud, racketeering, drug trafficking, money laundering, and extortion, and she briefed and argued criminal appeals before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Her supervisory positions included Deputy Chief of the Appeals Unit, Deputy Chief and Acting Chief of the Narcotics Unit, and Chief of the New York/New Jersey Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
From my first meeting with Linda, I knew I had found the best attorney to represent me. Though I was inexperienced with the process, she guided me through with professionalism, integrity and caring. I cannot recommend her strongly enough.
Suzanne Durrell has extensive experience handling False Claims Act cases over the past thirty years, first representing the government and then representing whistleblowers. She and Robert M. Thomas, Jr., are the co-founders and managing members of the Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC. Recognized as "an incomparable team," Ms. Durrell and Mr. Thomas were named the 2017 Lawyers of the Year by the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund for "an extraordinarily successful year in careers devoted to fighting fraud."
Suzanne Durrell served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and as Deputy Chief, and then Chief, Civil Division, U. S. Attorney's Office, Boston, supervising and prosecuting the office's burgeoning qui tam and False Claims Act cases from 1989 to 2002. Most notably, she was the lead civil attorney on the five qui tam cases and investigation against National Medical Care, Inc./Fresenius that, in 2000, resulted in a then record $486 million health care fraud settlement. She also served as Deputy Associate Attorney General at the U. S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (1991-1992) and was a national leader in developing strategies and policies for enforcing the False Claims Act. During her tenure with the Department of Justice, she received numerous awards from the Department and other agencies, including the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service, the most prestigious recognition bestowed by the Department.
Suzanne Durrell is a 1978 cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and a 1975 graduate with honors from Swarthmore College. During law school she was a Notes Editor on the American Criminal Law Review and served on the staff of the Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, United States Senator (D-VT).
Whistleblower Law Collaborative co-founders Suzanne E. Durrell and Robert M. Thomas, Jr., joined forces in 2003 to represent whistleblowers in qui tam actions under the False Claims Act. Ms. Durrell was the former Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, where she spent twelve years supervising and prosecuting False Claims Act cases. Mr. Thomas was a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who spent eight years in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland, where he prosecuted white-collar fraud and tried dozens of cases. Their combination of civil and criminal experience give them a unique perspective on how to build a successful whistleblower case.
Suzanne Durrell is the former Chief, Civil Division, of the United States Attorney's Office in Boston, Massachusetts.