On Wednesday, November 20, 2024, Lieff Cabraser attorneys Edward Baker and Emily Harwell will co-moderate a virtual roundtable discussion hosted by the Federal Bar Association’s Qui Tam Section on “The False Claims Act and the Protection of Tribal Funds.”
(Qui tam is a Latin phrase that means “who sues on behalf of the king as well as for himself”. It’s used to describe a legal action where a private citizen, called a qui tam relator, sues on behalf of the United States government against a person or company that has defrauded the government.)
The distinguished panelists include:
- Jonodev Chaudhuri: Principal at Chaudhuri Law, Ambassador for the Muscogee Creek Nation, former Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, and Senior Counselor to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
- Perrin Rynders: Partner at Varnum Law, who has represented the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe against BCBS Michigan for ERISA/Michigan FCA violations.
The event is free, and open to the public. For more details and to register, visit the FBA’s website.
About Edward Baker
Edward Baker is Of Counsel at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. He previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of California, where he was the Civil Healthcare Fraud Coordinator, as well as the Elder Justice Coordinator, within the Affirmative Civil Enforcement practice group. As an AUSA, Mr. Baker investigated numerous FCA cases, including allegations against physicians for medically unnecessary procedures, pharmacies for kickbacks to nursing homes, defense contractors and federal grant recipients for fraudulent billing, and hospitals for up-coding. He was the lead attorney for the United States in an FCA settlement against a group of Fresno cardiologists for performing medically unnecessary nuclear scans, and in a qui tam settlement against Omnicare, Inc., a national long-term care pharmacy, for improperly submitting claims for prescription drugs dispensed to patients in skilled nursing facilities. He worked closely with criminal prosecutors to enhance the district’s parallel proceedings practice and coordinated regular meetings of the EDCA Healthcare Fraud Task Force.
Prior to serving as an AUSA, Mr. Baker was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Vermont, where he was the Director of the Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit. He was a member of the litigation table team for thirty-six states in a qui tam lawsuit against Wyeth and Pfizer for Medicaid pharmaceutical “best price” violations that ultimately resulted in a $785 million settlement. He also laid the groundwork for the enactment of the Vermont False Claims Act and held leadership positions within the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
About Emily Harwell
Emily Harwell is an associate in Lieff Cabraser’s New York office. She works in all areas of the firm’s practice, with a particular focus on and interest in representing tribes and tribal governments as plaintiffs.
Ms. Harwell grew up on the Sac and Fox Reservation in Oklahoma. She is a member of the Mvskoke (Muscogee) Creek Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from Cornell Law School in 2022. While in law school, she served as Executive Editor for the Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy and clerked at the Native American Rights Fund (“NARF”). As a clerk, Ms. Harwell focused on Native American voting rights litigation against state governments.
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