Laura McLane

Practice Areas

Partner Laura McLane heads the Boston Litigation Practice Group and is a nationally renowned False Claims Act (FCA) litigator in healthcare and life sciences enforcement matters. For more than 20 years, Laura has represented clients in healthcare, securities and other government investigations and litigation. Clients call Laura “an exquisite lawyer, very smart and incisive” (Chambers USA).

A significant part of Laura’s practice is devoted to representing healthcare and other companies, including private equity firms, in government investigations and qui tam litigation based on the FCA and related statutes, including the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law. Laura represents clients in FCA cases pending in federal district courts throughout the country, as well as in federal courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. Laura has extensively litigated the myriad issues that typically arise in FCA cases, including representing her client in the landmark Escobar case in the Supreme Court. She routinely advises clients concerning all aspects of parallel civil and criminal investigations relating to Medicare and Medicaid billing and other government contracting issues, including negotiating with the government and managing clients’ responses to civil investigative demands and large-scale investigative subpoenas. Clients state that Laura is “fantastic, . . . efficient and able to pull in knowledgeable resources right to the issue” (Legal 500 US). Laura also conducts internal investigations for clients and works with them on a day-to-day basis to help enhance their internal FCA compliance processes and programs.

Laura represents individual and corporate clients in securities fraud investigations and civil enforcement actions brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at both the trial and appellate levels. For example, she tried a multi-week case before the SEC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and won, defeating the SEC’s Division of Enforcement in connection with a litany of securities fraud charges arising from the sub-prime mortgage crisis. When the Commission later reversed the ALJ’s decision, Laura appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which vacated the Commission and exonerated her client. Laura has also achieved successful pre-litigation results for clients in SEC investigations, including convincing the SEC to decline to pursue charges as a result of the Wells process.

View more at: https://www.mwe.com/people/laura-mclane/

Work Highlights

Laura McLane heads the Boston Litigation Practice Group and is a nationally renowned False Claims Act (FCA) litigator. For more than 20 years, Laura has defended companies touching all aspects of the healthcare and life sciences industries in government investigations, qui tam litigation under the FCA, and related matters. Clients call Laura “an exquisite lawyer, very smart and incisive” and a “fierce advocate for her clients” (Chambers USA).

Laura’s experience spans the spectrum of government oversight in healthcare and life sciences. Her clients include healthcare providers of all types as well as laboratories, pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, private equity investors, and an array of other entities that reach the healthcare space. Laura represents clients in FCA matters throughout the country, as well as in federal courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. She has extensively litigated the myriad issues that typically arise in FCA cases, including representing her client in the landmark Escobar case in the Supreme Court. Clients state that Laura is “fantastic, . . . efficient and able to pull in knowledgeable resources right to the issue” (Legal 500 US). Her recent experience includes guiding multiple clients through government investigations and related matters arising from the novel issues presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, including issues relating to testing, vaccination and treatment. In addition to her healthcare experience, Laura defends clients facing FCA and other forms of government scrutiny in other industries, such as defense contracting and technology.

Beyond defending clients in investigations and litigation, Laura’s practice includes working closely with clients on FCA risk management and compliance assessments, and counseling buyers and sellers in transactions involving enforcement issues.