Brian French is a partner and member of the firm’s Government Investigations and White Collar Defense team. He represents clients in government enforcement and internal compliance matters, primarily involving the life sciences and health care industries.
I represent a wide range of health care organizations, life sciences companies, executives, and employees in government investigations and related criminal and civil litigation initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Offices, state attorneys general, and qui tam relators. I’ve represented hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis providers, home health care and hospice companies, anesthesia providers, pain clinics, physician groups, and individuals in federal grand jury investigations, False Claims Act litigation, audits by Medicare and Medicaid contractors, and voluntary self-disclosures relating to alleged billing fraud, improper coding, Medicare and Medicaid overpayments, and Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law violations. I’ve also represented numerous pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies, as well as individuals, in government enforcement matters and litigation involving alleged off-label promotion, Anti-Kickback Statute violations, consumer protection, and pricing and reimbursement issues.
An important part of my practice involves providing proactive compliance advice to clients in the health care and life sciences industries. I assist clients in assessing their key risk areas and help them to develop strategies and programs that reflect the particular needs and goals of their organizations. I advise health care providers in establishing and maintaining compliant business arrangements and billing practices. In the life sciences field, I advise clients on a wide range of issues, such as appropriate product and service promotion, co-payment assistance programs, appropriate financial arrangements and collaborations between and among industry and providers, and the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (Open Payments) and related transparency issues.
Law360 | September 13, 2018
Boston Government Investigations & White Collar Defense partners Mark Seltzer and Brian French are mentioned in this article for their ongoing representation of GlaxoSmithKline in a suit regarding their drug Zofran.
Law360 | April 25, 2018
Boston government investigations and white collar defense partners Mark Seltzer and Brian French are mentioned in this story for their representation of pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline in a lawsuit brought by users of its anti-nausea medication Zofran.
Reuters | January 25, 2018
Boston government investigations and white-collar defense partner Brian French is quoted in this article for his outlook on how the Department of Justice will act upon a memo encouraging its attorneys to seek dismissal of “meritless” whistleblower suits filed under the False Claims Act.
Westlaw Journal Government Contract | July 18, 2016
This column discussing an important United States Supreme Court decision regarding False Claims Act liability was co-authored by Boston partners Brian French and Fred Kelly, Boston associates Hannah Bornstein and Sydney Pritchett, and Washington, DC, associate Emily Harlan.
Law360 | July 13, 2016
Boston Government Investigations & White Collar Defense partner Brian French, a member of the Life Sciences team, is quoted in this story looking at important cases the industry is monitoring for the remainder of the calendar year. Brian is quoted discussing False Claims Act matters.
Boston College Law School, J.D.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, B.A., cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Massachusetts
Florida
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
Brian has earned an AV Preeminent Rating® from Martindale-Hubbell®, the highest rating available for legal ability and professional ethics, in the areas of Litigation, White Collar Crime, and Health Care. He has been recognized in the Legal 500 United States Editorial (2013) for life sciences. In 2005 and 2007, Brian was recognized by Boston Magazine for inclusion in the annual “Massachusetts Super Lawyers – Rising Stars”® list, a designation granted to just 2.5 percent of attorneys in the state.
Brian is a Co-Chair of the Health Care Fraud Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Litigation Committee, as well as a member of the Summer Jobs Program Steering Committee and the Public Policy Subcommittee of the Criminal Law Section of the Boston Bar Association. He was a founding member, and served as Regional Vice-Chair, of the Public Schools Committee of the ABA’s Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities. He was also a contributing author to the Criminal and Enforcement Litigation section of the ABA’s 2006, 2007, and 2008 editions of the Annual Review of Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation.
In the community, Brian serves on the Advisory Board for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston’s YouthConnect program, an advocacy and intervention program for at-risk youth, and is a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of Brookline Youth Hockey. Brian is a past member of the Dana-Farber Leadership Council, where he served for four years as Co-Chair of the DFLC Walk Committee. He also previously served on the Board of Directors of both the Silvio O. Conte Education Foundation and Families for Depression Awareness.