Jeff Newman has twenty-five years of experience representing whistleblowers under the False Claims Act (qui tam statute). He also represents whistleblowers under the Securities and Exchange Commission, the CFTC, and the FinCEN whistleblower programs. Jeff has guided whistleblower clients through cases that have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements. In addition, he has extensive experience as a trial lawyer, trying scores of cases to jury. 

Jeff attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduating with a B.A. in 1972. He went on to work as a reporter for various newspapers, including the Nantucket Inquirer and The Daily Mirror. It was during this period that he obtained the first interview of Charles Manson in the Vacaville prison in California, after Manson’s conviction. Jeff’s career as a reporter and photographer included coverage of the Gary Gilmore execution in Utah, for which he was mentioned in Norman Mailer’s book The Executioner’s Song, and a period in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970s.

Jeff then went on to attend Boston College Law School from 1979-1982, during which time he worked nearly full time as a law clerk. After graduating, he worked as a prosecuting attorney in the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office where he tried scores of criminal cases to jury.

In 1984, Jeff started his own private practice firm, representing victims of sexual abuse and other violence, obtaining several groundbreaking jury verdicts, some in the millions of dollars for his clients. In addition, for over ten years, he wrote a weekly column for the Boston Herald called “The Legal Adviser,” and authored several articles about representing victims of violence, premises liability, and negligent security. In the early 2000s, he was one of the lead counsel in the Boston Clergy Abuse crises and he litigated cases which helped result in the $85 million settlement with the Boston Archdioceses.

At that point, Jeff made the decision to focus his career on representing whistleblowers as he feels this is a way to help reveal the widespread fraud in the healthcare and financial sectors that threatens our economy. His success in representing whistleblowers is demonstrated by his settlements, including a $125 million settlement against RehabCare.

Jeff is dedicated to pursuing claims against the largest companies across healthcare, pharma, Medicare, finance and securities, and more, to help his clients win in major cases.

WHISTLEBLOWER SETTLEMENTS

United States ex rel. Halpin and Fahey v. RehabCare Group, Inc.- $125 million (one hundred and twenty-five million dollars) – Skilled Nursing Facility Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud

Jeffrey Newman brought this case on behalf of Janet Halpin and Shawn Fahey, two whistleblowers who worked for RehabCare, the nation’s largest provider of rehabilitation therapy services in nursing homes. Ms. Halpin and Ms. Fahey alleged that RehabCare directed its therapists to bill for therapy that was not reasonable and necessary and that RehabCare then caused its nursing home customers to submit false claims to Medicare for the therapy. After the government investigated the allegations, it intervened in the case and then reached a $125 million settlement, from which our clients received a relators’ share of over $23 million. For more information, see our press release.

United States ex rel. Bliss v. Biocompatibles, Inc. and Angiodynamics, Inc. $48.5 million (forty-eight and a half million dollars) – Medical Device Medicare Fraud

Jeffrey Newman represented whistleblower Ryan Bliss in a False Claims Act qui tam case against U.K. medical device maker, Biocompatibles, and its United States distributor, Angiodynamics. Bliss, who was a Senior Product Manager for Biocompatibles, alleged that the two companies marketed a product called LC Bead (or Gelspheres) as a chemotherapy drug delivery device, even though they knew that the United States Food and Drug Administration had refused to approve the device for that use. The companies also allegedly instructed physicians to bill for the device under a separate approved use, even when the physicians used it for its unapproved use. Biocompatibles paid a total of $36 million to resolve criminal and civil charges against it, and Angiodynamics paid $12.5 million to resolve Mr. Bliss’s False Claims Act suit. For more information, see our press releases.

United States and Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. South Bay Mental Health and H.I.G.- Total $29 million (twenty-nine million dollars) – Mental Health Services Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

Jeffrey Newman represented Christine Martino-Fleming, who worked for South Bay Mental Health Center (“South Bay’), an operator of mental health clinics throughout Massachusetts. In her whistleblower complaint, Ms. Martino-Fleming alleged that the ultimate owners of South Bay, private equity firm H.I.G. Growth Partners, LLC, and H.I.G. Capital, LLC (“H.I.G.”), as well as two H.I.G. executives, caused South Bay to submit fraudulent bills to MassHealth (the Massachusetts Medicaid program) and its contractors for services provided by mental health therapists and other professionals who were not licensed or were not properly supervised. H.I.G. and the two executives, Peter Scanlon and Kevin Sheehan, agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the fraud allegations. South Bay previously settled its portion of the case for $4 million. The whistleblower award for this settlement was $6.75 million. For more information, see our press release.

United States ex rel. Schultz v. Liberty Home Pharmacy and Polymedica Corp.- $35 million (thirty-five million dollars) –Pharmacy Medicare Fraud

Polymedica paid $35 million to resolve allegations by our client, whistleblower Claire Schultz, that two of Polymedica’s pharmacy subsidiaries violated the False Claims Act by dispensing and billing Medicare for diabetic and nebulizer products without first obtaining a signed doctor’s order or prescription for the products. Jeffrey Newman represented the whistleblower. For more information, see the DOJ press release about the settlement.

United States ex rel. Meehan v. MedStar Ambulance Inc.- $12.7 million (twelve million, seven thousand dollars) – Ambulance Medicare Fraud

Jeffrey Newman brought this False Claims Act qui tam lawsuit on behalf of whistleblower Dale Meehan, a former billing manager at Medstar Ambulance. Meehan alleged that Medstar and its subsidiaries fraudulently billed Medicare by submitting claims for ambulance transports that were not medically necessary or were for higher levels of ambulance services than were required or provided. Medstar, four of its subsidiaries, and two of its owners paid a total of $12.7 million to resolve the allegations that Ms. Meehan brought forward. The relator’s share was over $3.5 million. For more information, see our press release.

United States ex rel. Wright et al. v. Saber Healthcare Holdings, LLC- $10 million (ten million dollars) –Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud

On behalf of three whistleblowers who worked as rehabilitation therapists and managers at nursing home chain Saber Healthcare, Jeffrey Newman brought suit under the False Claims Act alleging that Saber knowingly caused certain of its skilled nursing facilities to submit false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy services that were not reasonable, necessary, or skilled. Saber paid $10 million to resolve the allegations, and our three whistleblower clients received a relators’ share of $1.75 million. For more information, see our press release.

United States ex rel. Cartier v. CareWell Urgent Care Centers- $2.1 million (two million, one thousand dollars) – Urgent Care Fraud

On behalf of Aileen Cartier, who worked as a Nurse Practitioner for CareWell Urgent Care Centers, Jeffrey Newman filed a False Claims Act suit alleging that CareWell directed its clinicians to conduct more thorough examinations than necessary so that it could upcode claims to a “level 4” office visit billing code and obtain higher reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid. CareWell paid $2.1 million to resolve the allegations. For more information, see our press release and the complaint we filed on behalf of Ms. Cartier.

United States ex rel. Saffarian and Theile v. Encore Rehabilitation Services, LLC- $4 million (four million dollars) – Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud

Jeffrey Newman represented two of the whistleblowers who participated in a Department of Justice’s False Claims Act settlement with Encore Rehabilitation Services, a contract provider of rehabilitation services at skilled nursing facilities in over 30 states. According to the allegations, which Encore paid $4,033,346 to resolve, Encore had policies and practices at three Michigan skilled nursing facilities that resulted in the provision of unreasonable, unnecessary, or unskilled rehabilitation therapy or the recording of therapy minutes as individual therapy when concurrent or group therapy was actually provided. For more information, see our press release.

United States ex rel. Halpin and Fahey v. Wingate Healthcare, Inc.- $3.9 million (three million, nine thousand dollars) – Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud

In connection with their case against RehabCare (see above), Jeffrey Newman also represented Janet Halpin and Shawn Fahey in their suit against Wingate Healthcare, Inc., which operated 16 skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts and New York. Wingate paid $3.9 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy that was not reasonable and necessary. From the settlement, our clients received a relators’ share of $741,000, plus interest and counsel fees. For more information, see our press release.

United States ex rel. Chi Kwan Chan v. RGE Motor Direct Inc.- $3.25 million (three million, two thousand and five hundred dollars) – Customs fraud

In November 2022, our firm settled a case against RGE Motor Direct Inc. for failing to pay proper tariffs on furniture imported from China. In less than 17 months after the case was filed, RGE agreed to pay $3.25 million. The whistleblower, a Hong Kong national, received a reward of 27.5% of the settlement.

United States ex rel. Robins v. Roman & Sunstone LLC, et al.- $1.26 million (one million, two thousand and sex hundred dollars) – Customs Fraud

Jeffrey Newman represented whistleblower Alan Robins, the former controller of jewelry importer Roman & Sunstone (R&S), in this action alleging that R&S underpaid customs duties on sterling silver earrings it imported from China. R&S imported display cards of the earrings for resale at department stores. While the display cards often included multiple pairs of earrings, R&S allegedly concealed the number and value of the earrings by describing on import records the number of display cards imported, rather than the number of individual earrings. The case resulted in settlements totaling over $1.26 million with R&S, its affiliates, and its prior owner. The relator’s share was over $220,000. For more information, see the DOJ press releases here and here.

LITIGATION AND TRIAL EXPERIENCE

In 1983, Jeff left the DA’s Office and began his private practice and representing victims of violence and sexual assault and obtained several major jury verdicts. Below are some of the jury trial verdicts and settlements:

Edmund Narine v. John E Powers and Suffolk County Courthouse Commission – Jury Verdict for $1,630,000- (one million, six hundred and thirty thousand dollars)- Case No. 7781-cv-01457, Middlesex Superior Court

There was a bombing of the Suffolk County courthouse in Boston in which the bombers called the courthouse to warn the administrators to clear the premises. While employees were sent out, no one restricted access. The plaintiff, Mr. Narine, entered just before the explosion and his leg was blown off.

Boston Clergy Abuse settlement- $85 Million (eighty-five million dollars)

In September 2003, after two years of litigation, the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay up to $85 million to over 550 victims of sexual abuse by priests. Jeffrey Newman was one of the lead attorneys in the Boston clergy abuse cases. During this time, his efforts were instrumental in resulting in criminal convictions of offending priests as well as civil settlements.

Suzanne Friday v. Jerome Dangel – $799,000 Verdict- (seven hundred and ninety- nine thousand dollars)- Case No. 84 -cv-3883, Suffolk Superior Court

Jeffrey Newman represented the plaintiff against a commercial building in Boston for negligent security resulting in the rape and beating of the plaintiff in her office. The landlord failed to fix broken lock.

Rena Nisonoff v Glynn Realty – $750,000 Verdict (seven hundred thousand dollars)- Case No. 84-cv-325, Suffolk Superior Court

The assailant entered plaintiff’s apartment in Boston after accessing the fire escape, which had inadequate restriction to intruders. Plaintiff was raped by the assailant.

Joel Argueta v. MBTA – $750,000 Verdict (seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars)- Case 9384-cv-00978, Suffolk Superior Court, May 21, 1994

Victims abducted from MBTA station in Boston and sexually abused by assailant.

Klairmont Administrator v. Gainsboro Restaurant (Case 0784-cv-05373, Suffolk Superior Court)

2013 judgment by Court after trial in total amount of $9,087,112 (nine million, eighty-seven thousand, and one hundred twelve dollars) for negligence of bar and wrongful death.

King V. Natick Hotel Associates Crowne Plaza (Case 9181-cv-00353; Middlesex superior Court) – jury verdict $685,000 (six hundred and eighty five thousand dollars) plus interest

Woman raped in Crowne Plaza Hotel. Her door would not lock when closed, and the assailant tricked the front desk attendant to give him her room number.

Case of power company line installer (name withheld by agreement, 2016, Middlesex Superior Court) – $6,000,000 (six million dollars) settlement

Jeffrey Newman represented the line installer. 2016 settlement in the amount of $6,000,000 (six million dollars) shortly before trial. Worker came in contact with electrical wire owned by the power company. Plaintiff asserted that poles and wires were too low, which cased plaintiff severe damages. 

Publications by Jeffrey A. Newman
  • Whistleblower Protections
  • Qui Tam Whistleblower Provisions
  • OSHA Whistleblower Investigations Manual