Bringing wide ranging government experience to her work at Foley Hoag, Ara Gershengorn counsels clients in connection with government investigations, internal company audits, and complex civil litigation. Ara has represented a variety of companies and officers in criminal, civil, congressional, and regulatory investigations. She has extensive experience defending clients against allegations involving whistleblower actions, such as the federal False Claims Act, healthcare fraud, including off-label promotion, kickbacks, and product safety, and antitrust, environmental crimes, and securities fraud. She also conducts internal investigations for clients and advises clients in connection with compliance issues, including export issues and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") as well as data security and privacy issues. Ara also represents clients in a wide range of complex civil litigation, including employment law, contracts, torts, software licensing, and trademark violations.
Prior to joining Foley Hoag, Ara was an Assistant United States Attorney, where she successfully prosecuted federal criminal trials and conducted investigations of health care fraud, securities fraud, tax crimes, and education fraud. Ara also briefed and edited dozens of appellate briefs and argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Before becoming a federal prosecutor, Ara was an attorney with the Civil Division of the Department of Justice which she joined through the Attorney General's Honors Program. While at DOJ, Ara briefed appeals involving various government agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), the Food & Drug Administration ("FDA"), the Department of Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA"), the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA"), and the Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA"), and she was awarded the John Marshall Award for her work defending federal campaign finance legislation. Ara also briefed bankruptcy and constitutional law cases in the United States Supreme Court. Ara has briefed more than 30 civil and criminal appellate cases in U.S. Courts of Appeals across the country and has argued cases in nearly every federal circuit court of appeals.
Ara served as a law clerk for the Honorable Amalya L. Kearse of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Representative Experience
The following is a brief summary of Ara's experience and accomplishments:
· Successfully defended medical device companies in federal False Claims Act lawsuit in both district court and on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
· Defended executives of medical device companies in federal criminal investigations.
· Conducted investigations concerning pharmaceutical and medical device company sales and marketing practices, clinical trial activities, and allegations of fraud in connection with obtaining FDA approvals.
· Conducted investigations for companies regarding accounting practices, allegations of embezzlement, and allegations of fraud.
· Represented clients in federal antitrust investigations.
· Counseled companies regarding data security and privacy practices and policies and advised clients in connection with data security breaches.
· Represented companies in connection with export regulation violations.
· Counseled clients in connection with government contracting.
· Successfully sought summary judgment in employment-related litigation involving financial services company.
Speeches and Conferences
· Co-presenter: "Data Security and Privacy: Managing HIPAA Obligations and the HITECH Act," Elsevier Business Intelligence Webinar, March 2011
· Co-presenter: "What Does Health Care Reform Change for Hospitals and their Physicians?," Massachusetts Hospital Association 2011 Fraud and Abuse Update, December 2010
Publications
· Contributing Author, Documentary Evidence, A Practical Guide to Introducing Evidence, 2nd Edition, MCLE (2011)
· Rule 502: Does It Deliver on Its Promise?, Antitrust, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Summer 2010)
· Private Party Standing to Raise Tenth Amendment Challenges, 100 Colum. L. Rev. 1065 (2000)
Honors/Awards
Listed as a "Rising Star" in New England Super Lawyers for Criminal Defense: White Collar (2009, 2010)
John Marshall Award for outstanding legal achievement of trial of litigation
Special Commendation Award for Outstanding Service from the United States Department of Justice
Awarded certificates of appreciation from the Internal Revenue Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Editor, Columbia Law Review at Columbia University School of Law