A Resource for Government Action
In some states and in the federal government, a dedicated group of attorneys pursues these cases on behalf of the government. Before joining Baron & Budd, attorney Pat O’Connell was head of the Texas Attorney General’s Civil Medicaid Fraud Section, where he supervised a team of ten attorneys who fought to recover money stolen from the Texas Medicaid program, including both the state and federal shares of this jointly-funded program.
Because of the success of Pat and his team in recovering funds for the State of Texas and federal government, he has been called upon to testify before Congressional committees three times on Medicaid fraud issues, and the Texas litigation team Pat led has become a model for other states. For his work on behalf of the State of Texas, Pat received the Honest Abe Integrity in Government Award in September 2007 from Taxpayers Against Fraud, recognizing his leading role in using a state False Claims Act to curb fraud in Texas.
Some states do not have the resources to devote a team of attorneys to pursuing those who defraud the state. With Pat heading up the firm’s Qui Tam practice, Baron & Budd is now able to offer the same service that proved so successful for Texas to assist other states in fighting the fraud that has become a profound drain on public funds.
With the addition of attorney Jan Soifer, who has more than 25 years of experience in litigating cases involving fraud, and a focus on representing whistleblowers or “relators” in False Claims Act cases, Baron & Budd is representing whistleblowers as well as states in these cases.
