Whistleblower Law Collaborative LLC attorney Erica Blachman Hitchings, a former Department of Justice civil fraud prosecutor, will be speaking about the False Claims Act and other tools to combat fraud at several upcoming events this fall.
On September 25, 2019, Ms. Hitchings will speak at the American Health Lawyer’s Association (AHLA) Fraud and Compliance Forum in Baltimore, Maryland. Ms. Hitchings will draw on her decade of experience conducting False Claims Act (FCA) case evaluations, investigations, and litigation to present a primer on the FCA for attorneys, compliance officers, and other health law practitioners. She will be joined in her presentation by an experienced defense counsel from Arnold & Porter. The three-day conference will also cover key healthcare enforcement statutes and address emerging regulatory trends, recent case law, and legislative developments.
On October 3, 2019, Erica Blachman Hitchings will speak on a panel addressing FCA Trial Skills at the Taxpayers Against Fraud Educational Fund Annual Conference events in Washington, DC. She will be joined by experienced whistleblower attorneys from other firms. Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund is a nonprofit public interest organization dedicated to combating fraud against the government and protecting taxpayer funds through private public partnerships.
In addition, Ms. Hitchings – along with three other seasoned federal civil prosecutors and Practising Law Institute (PLI) – will produce a series of briefings providing insight into government investigations, litigation, and settlements for FCA and other fraud matters. The briefings will be available from PLI later this year.
Rounding out her engagements this fall, Ms. Hitchings, who was recently appointed an Adjunct Professor at Boston University School of Law, will be joining fellow Whistleblower Law Collaborative attorney Bob Thomas in teaching Health Care Fraud and Abuse, a seminar covering the substantive areas of health care fraud prosecuted by government and plaintiffs’ attorneys. In teaching this popular course, Ms. Hitchings will blend her past experience as a teacher and mentor with the substantive and practical knowledge that she has gained as a government and whistleblower counsel to provide a survey of healthcare fraud enforcement to second and third-year law students.
These upcoming speaking and educational engagements follow Ms. Hitchings’ appearance this past April at the Fourth Annual Mintz Levin Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Industry Summit in Boston, Massachusetts. Ms. Hitchings addressed the topic of Federal Enforcement Targeting the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain. She was joined on the panel by speakers from the pharmaceutical company Sunovian, Mintz Levin, and the former Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey’s Health Care and Government Fraud Unit.
