Overview

David Douglass is a partner in the Governmental Practice. He defends companies in criminal and civil investigations and litigation. David is a leader of the firm's Organizational Integrity Group. He is the former Managing Partner of the firm's 100-lawyer Washington, D.C. office.

Areas of Practice

For more than three decades, David has drawn on his criminal and civil trial experience to advise and represent healthcare and life sciences companies, government contractors and other highly regulated business in government investigations, litigation and, of course, trial. David is often lead trial counsel in federal courts, including Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and New York. He defends companies and individuals in criminal and civil, False Claims Act (whistleblower), investigations and litigation.

Highly regulated companies face special challenges when confronted with a government investigation. The regulatory flexibility that characterizes administrative law clashes sharply with the rigid standards of civil and criminal laws, especially fraud laws. A practice that is well understood and recognized in the regulatory arena can become challenging to recreate and prove in response to a whistleblower action or a grand jury subpoena. David is experienced in developing the evidence companies need to demonstrate their legal compliance, in intent and in fact. 

David draws upon his experience to partner with his clients to develop and implement cost-effective and practical compliance and risk management programs. When investigations or litigation arise, however, his prosecutorial and trial experience enables him to diagnose the nature of the investigation, triage the immediate needs, and develop a sound litigation plan based on the company's resources, needs and business objectives.

David is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. The College is composed of the best of the trial bar from the U.S. and Canada. Fellowship is extended by invitation only and only after careful investigation to those experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality. Membership in the College cannot exceed one percent of the total lawyer population of any state or province.

David also leads complex, high-profile government investigations. In 2013, David was appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana as deputy federal monitor over the New Orleans Police Department to guide and monitor the department's compliance with a Consent Decree obligating the department to transform its policing practices. In 1994, he served as executive director of the White House Security Review, which resulted in the closing of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. In 1993, he served as assistant director of the Treasury Department's investigation of the raid on the David Koresh compound in Waco, Texas. David also served as a DOJ Trial Attorney in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division. Prior to that, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

David taught Advanced Evidence as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School and Trial Advocacy at Harvard Law School. He has written and lectured on government enforcement issues as they affect healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.

David serves on the Board of the Washington Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, which deploys the best legal talent to fight discrimination, repair the damage of racial inequity and break down barriers to opportunity. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession, a organization comprised of corporations, law firms and attorneys devoted to driving real progress toward creating a more inclusive legal profession through comprehensive outreach and original programming to replace barriers with bridges between legal, judicial, professional, educational and governmental institutions. He previously served on the Board of Appleseed Foundation, a nonprofit network of 17 public interest justice centers in the U.S. and Mexico dedicated to building a society in which opportunities are genuine, access to the law is universal and equal, and government advances the public interest.

Experience

Experience

Representative Matters

  • Counsel for Boston Scientific in defense of False Claims Act litigation against predecessor company.
  • Successful defense of corporate executive who was a target in investigation of alleged export control violations.
  • 2006: Successful trial defense of defendant in the first qui tam trial arising from contracting in Iraq. (Federal Court, Eastern District of Virginia)
  • 2005: Jury verdict on behalf of Health Care Services Corporation in the first indirect-purchaser antitrust case to proceed to trial. (Federal Court, District of Columbia)
  • 2003: Successful defense of a national healthcare provider against allegations of violations of the Medicaid Rebate Statute. (No indictment sought)
  • 2002: Trial defense of individual charged with violation of the Arms Export Control Act. (Federal Court, District of Maryland, Baltimore Division)

Representative Clients

  • MedImmune
  • Guidant Corporation
  • Kaiser Foundation Health Plans
  • Health Care Services Corporation (formerly Blue Cross Blue Shield Texas)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans
  • Aetna
  • Cigna

Honors

Honors

Recipient, Inaugural ABA Healthcare Section’s Champion of Diversity and Inclusion Award, 2015

Leading U.S. Litigator, Lawdragon, 2022-2023

Super Lawyers, 2007, 2010, 2014-2023

Recommended Lawyer - Government Contracts, Legal 500, 2022-2023

  • Legal500 US Recommended Attorney

Insights

Articles

False Claims Act Defense Blog Posts

Government Contracts, Investigations & International Trade Blog Posts

Healthcare Law Blog Posts

Organizational Integrity Group Blog Posts

Media Mentions

Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, "The Ethical Case for Diversity,”  Embracing Diversity and Strengthening Communities for a Better Kentucky - Governor’s LEAD Conference, November 18-20, 2020
  • Speaker, "Procurement Collusion Strike Force Webinar," The Coalition for Government Procurement Webinar, January 8, 2020
  • Moderator, "The Impact of DOJ's New Corporate Healthcare Fraud Enforcement Strategies on Providers and Defense Counsel," American Bar Association Washington Health Law Summit, Washington D.C., December 13, 2016
  • Moderator, Implementation of Police Department Consent Decrees: Working Together Toward Institutional Change Conference, Tarleton State University, Texas, November 4-5, 2016
  • Speaker, "Diversity as an Ethical Obligation for Lawyers," Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession's International Program, Lausanne, Switzerland, March 29, 2016
  • Speaker, “Emerging Trends in False Claims Act (FCA) Damages Settlements," ABA Health Law Section’s “Emerging Issues” conference, San Diego, California, March 2-5, 2016
  • Moderator, "Women and Minorities: Willing Partners or Reluctant Allies?" Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession and the National Association of Women Lawyers, Washington, D.C., July 15, 2014
  • Panelist, "A Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting an Internal Investigation of a False Claims Allegation: Scoping Your Action Plan from A to Z," American Conference Institute Inaugural Executive Forum on False Claims and Qui Tam Enforcement, New York, New York, January 29, 2014
  • Panelist, "Lessons from the Trenches: Trial of a Healthcare Case," 31st Annual National CLE Conference, Vail, Colorado, January 9, 2014
  • Panelist, "The Evolution of the OIG," American Bar Association 2013 Washington Health Law Summit, Washington, D.C., December 10, 2013
  • Panelist, "Obtaining and Using Discovery from the Government," American Bar Association National False Claims Act and Qui Tam Trial Institute, June 5-7, 2013
  • Panelist, "Qui Tam Actions: Managing Whistleblower Suits for Class Action Counsel," Strafford Webinars, February 7, 2013
  • "Fraud and Abuse Enforcement Update," American Bar Association Health Law Section’s 12th Annual Conference on Emerging Issues in Healthcare Law, February 2011
  • "Qui Tam Litigation Defense: Three Dimensional Chess," American Bar Association's Litigating FCA Cases Teleconference, February 2011
  • "Healthcare Reform in Practice: Federal and State Health Care Fraud Prosecutions,” Law Education Institute’s 28th Annual National CLE Conference, January 2011
  • "Managing the New Threat that Individual Corporate Officer Liability Poses to Pharmaceutical Companies," American Conference Institute’s 15th Anniversary Drug & Medical Device Litigation Program, December 2010
  • "Litigating Civil Cases in the Shadow of a Criminal Investigation," DRI's Business Litigation and Intellectual Property Seminar, April 2010
  • "Key issues in establishing compliance protocols to manage risk in volatile environments," IPOA EuroConference 2010: Risk Management in Conflict and Post-Conflict Zones, April 2010
  • Panelist, “Mediating Health Care Fraud Cases," ABA National Institute on Health Care Fraud, May 2009
  • Panelist, National Institute on Internal Corporate Investigations and In-House Counsel, May 2009
  • Panelist, “Aftermath of the Financial Meltdown: - Analyzing Future Litigation and Compliance Issues," ABA Business Law Section, April 2009
  • “Representing Medical Device and Other Supplier Companies," Law Education Institute, Health Law Program, January 2009

Memberships

Memberships

Vice Chair, Fraud and Abuse Interest Group, Health Law Section, American Bar Association

Member and Former Co-Chair, Criminal Process Committee, Administrative Law Section, American Bar Association

Member, Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, American Bar Association

Foundation Fellow, American Bar Association

Chair, Government Enforcement and Corporate Compliance Committee, DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar

Member, The Bar Association of the District of Columbia

Member, Advisory Board, Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession

Member, National Bar Association

Member, Litigation Counsel of America

Digital Media

Education

J.D., Harvard Law School, 1985, cum laude

B.A., Yale University, 1981

Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Federal Claims
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