Nicholas Harbist concentrates his practice in complex criminal and commercial litigation. Mr. Harbist represents clients in many industries in matters related to:

· healthcare fraud and abuse, defense contract fraud, securities and tax fraud, environmental crimes, antitrust and FCPA crimes, export crimes, and general business fraud

· RICO, antitrust, securities, trade secrets, healthcare, and professional licensing litigation

· corporate internal investigations

· corporate compliance programs

· Qui Tam / False Claims Act and whistleblower litigation

Mr. Harbist is a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1984-1996), where he served as the special fraud coordinator; and special assistant U.S. attorney involving litigation under the Classified Information Procedures Act.

Mr. Harbist is consistently recognized by The International Who's Who of Business Crime Defense Lawyers and The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers.He has received the highest possible rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Representative Matters

· Defended an Industry Association in a Civil RICO suit alleging fraud and antitrust violations involving cell phone cloning and obtained a dismissal.

· Defended a developer in a civil RICO suit alleging a scheme to divest an investor from his interests in a company and obtained a dismissal.

· Represented a high technology company in connection with a federal investigation of an employee who destroyed the company's computer design and production programs.

· Defended an international company in an investigation involving unlawful exports of defense articles, resulting in a declination of criminal charges.

· Represented a Relator in a qui tam whistleblower litigation and obtaining a declination of criminal charges for the largest Relator award in the District of New Jersey in a postal rate fraud case.

· Defended a large New Jersey nursing company in a federal qui tam whistleblower lawsuit.

· Obtained a $265,000,000 settlement in a qui tam lawsuit alleging healthcare fraud violations.

Community Service & Affiliations

Mr. Harbist is a member of numerous community and professional organizations. In 2010, Mr. Harbist was appointed to serve as National Co-Chair of the American Bar Association's White Collar Crime Committee. He was recently appointed as Co-Executive Director of the ABA Criminal Justice Section White Collar Crime Division and is the former Vice-Chair of the ABA White Collar Crime Committee for the Mid-Atlantic Region. Mr. Harbist is also a Former Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association Criminal Law Section and serves as a Trustee for the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers for New Jersey. Mr. Harbist also serves as a board member of the Long-Range Planning Committee for the Justinian Society. He regularly writes and speaks on white collar criminal law topics.

Memberships

American Bar Association

American Health Lawyers Association

Association of the Federal Bar of the State of New Jersey

Burlington County Bar Association

Camden County Bar Association

Health Care Compliance Association

New Jersey State Bar Association

Pennsylvania Bar Association

Philadelphia Bar Association

New Jersey Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

 (Also at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Office)