“After 30 years, I still get a thrill from the power, reach, and flexibility of the False Claims Act. I love wielding the law to help clients, the government, and the public.”
Suzanne Durrell has extensive experience handling False Claims Act cases over the past thirty years, first representing the government and then representing whistleblowers. She and Robert M. Thomas, Jr., are the co-founders and managing members of the Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC. Recognized as “an incomparable team,” Ms. Durrell and Mr. Thomas were named the 2017 Lawyers of the Year by the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund for “an extraordinarily successful year in careers devoted to fighting fraud.”
Suzanne Durrell served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and as Deputy Chief, and then Chief, Civil Division, U. S. Attorney’s Office, Boston, supervising and prosecuting the office’s burgeoning qui tam and False Claims Act cases from 1989 to 2002. Most notably, she was the lead civil attorney on the five qui tam cases and investigation against National Medical Care, Inc./Fresenius that, in 2000, resulted in a then record $486 million health care fraud settlement. She also served as Deputy Associate Attorney General at the U. S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (1991-1992) and was a national leader in developing strategies and policies for enforcing the False Claims Act. During her tenure with the Department of Justice, she received numerous awards from the Department and other agencies, including the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the most prestigious recognition bestowed by the Department.
SED MLW WOL 2022“What you’ve accomplished is amazing, but it is who you are—brilliant, tireless, honorable, creative, modest (and so much fun)—that has changed the lives of everyone you’ve worked with or against or represented, including me. Thank you.”
— Client
Following her distinguished career with the Department of Justice, Suzanne Durrell established Durrell Law Office in 2003 representing whistleblowers and handling False Claims Act litigation in collaboration with Mr. Thomas, then of Thomas & Associates in Boston. Later, they founded the Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC. She is a frequent speaker at national and regional conferences and has authored articles on the False Claims Act and other whistleblower laws.
Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Durrell served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1984-1989) and was an associate at the law firm of Hill & Barlow in Boston (1978-1984). During this period of her career, she litigated dozens of civil cases and briefed and argued multiple appeals in both state and federal courts. She also was a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics (1984 – 1991).
Suzanne Durrell is a 1978 cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and a 1975 graduate with honors from Swarthmore College. During law school she was a Notes Editor on the American Criminal Law Review and served on the staff of the Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, United States Senator (D-VT).
Listen to Suzanne describe her life and career for Women’s History Month in March 2021.