New DOJ National Fraud Enforcement Division: Healthcare Impact, High-Tech Resources, Extensive Prosecutorial Authority

Mr. Jaworski is an accomplished trial attorney who spent more than 17 years at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), most recently serving as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, a district recognized as the country's health care hub. Clients benefit from his insider knowledge of how prosecutors and law enforcement officers think, investigate, and try their cases. Mr. Jaworski defends clients in white-collar criminal matters, health care fraud cases, and False Claims Act matters, including qui tam litigation alleging Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute violations and billing and coding issues. He has handled a broad range of white-collar cases, including contract disputes, tax violations, financial fraud, public corruption, international sanctions, money laundering, and computer crimes. Clients also look to Mr. Jaworski to lead sensitive corporate and workplace internal investigations, including those involving allegations of senior executive misconduct, compliance failures, or potential federal regulatory violations. As the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Mr. Jaworski directed efforts to combat fraud, waste, and abuse in the health care sector and successfully resolved numerous high-profile health care fraud enforcement cases involving hospitals, academic medical centers, nursing facilities, Medicare Advantage organizations, and other health care providers. He previously held other prominent leadership roles within the DOJ in Nashville, including First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney in the White Collar and Economic Crime Unit, and served on the White Collar Fraud Subcommittee of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee.

Mr. O'Connell is Managing Shareholder in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office and a member of the Government Enforcement and Investigations Group. He represents corporate and individual clients in white collar and regulatory defense matters, including claims involving health care fraud, tax, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and the False Claims Act (FCA). Mr. O'Connell frequently represents his clients before the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, state attorneys general, and other regulatory agencies. Having directed both criminal and civil Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations, he is uniquely situated to provide compliance counseling, conduct internal investigations, navigate and counter government investigations and – if need be – defend government allegations at every stage of litigation. Mr. O'Connell also regularly advises companies about the effectiveness of their compliance programs and assists companies that are facing investigations by enforcement agencies outside of the U.S. He has represented several large health care clients in responding to investigations of potential violations of the FCA, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and related regulations. Mr. O'Connell's experience includes more than 13 years serving as a trial attorney with the DOJ's Criminal Fraud Section and the Criminal Tax Division, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the District of Maryland and the Western District of Texas, and as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He joined the DOJ as a trial attorney through the Attorney General's Honors Program and led investigations and prosecutions into a wide variety of white collar crimes, including health care, tax, bank, wire, mail, and securities fraud; money laundering; public corruption; and the FCPA.

Mr. Porter focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, with an emphasis on matters within the healthcare industry. As a former federal prosecutor with the DOJ, he was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and prosecuted a series of high-profile financial crime cases. Mr. Porter also handled major civil investigations and litigation against companies and individuals under the False Claims Act, resulting in record-breaking settlements and judgments. He now uses that experience to guide clients through federal investigations of all kinds, to litigate cases against and involving the government, and to run effective and right-sized internal investigations for corporations. Many of Mr. Porter’s clients are in the healthcare industry, including health systems, physician groups, and other healthcare companies, along with medical professionals and executives. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group.