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Denise Barnes counsels clients in high-stakes matters related to fraud allegations, including in healthcare, federal contract procurement, and securities and financial services. A former trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), she has extensive experience handling issues related to compliance, white-collar and regulatory investigations, and complex commercial litigation. Denise represents businesses in public and non-public investigations, regulatory inquiries, and proceedings involving federal and state agencies. She frequently assists clients navigating government investigations related to allegations arising under the False Claims Act (FCA), Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), Stark Law, and Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA). Notably, during her tenure at the DOJ, she spearheaded numerous multi-district investigations that resulted in over $2.7 billion in recoveries for federal taxpayers.

We recently authored an article for The Federal Lawyer exploring the causation standard under the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the increasing difference between the circuit courts’ interpretation of this standard. “At its core, the question is whether evidence of kickbacks sullies the entirety of the claims related to that transgressor, or whether the government must demonstrate more,” we explained.Continue Reading Growing Divide for Causation Standard Under the Anti-Kickback Statute

I provided insight for a Bloomberg Law article on the False Claims Act allegations brought against Lyft in a worker classification suit. A recent Nevada lawsuit claims Lyft misclassified drivers as independent contractors and defrauded the government. Continue Reading False Claims Act Application in Nevada Worker Classification Fight Against Lyft

On August 22, the United States filed its complaint-in-intervention (Complaint) against the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Georgia Tech Research Corp. (GTRC, collectively, defendants), asserting claims that the defendants knowingly failed to meet cybersecurity requirements in connection with certain Department of Defense (DoD) contracts in violation of the False Claims Act.Continue Reading United States Files First Complaint Under the Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative

Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $12 million settlement with spinal device manufacturer, Innovasis Inc. (Innovasis) and senior executives Brent Felix and Garth Felix related to allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by paying kickbacks to surgeons to induce their use of its spinal devices. Continue Reading The Tale of an AKS Self-Disclosure