A recent Law 360 story by Micah Danney, “Judge Divvies Up Atty Fees From $785M FCA Deal”, reports that a Massachusetts federal judge issued a more than 70-page finding of facts settling an attorney fee dispute over $21 million from a seven-year-old judgment, saying two firms earned portions of what they sought for their early work on the case.  U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock held that Sakla Law Firm in New Orleans gets 55% while the two firms, Vezina & Gattuso of Louisiana and Boone & Stone of Georgia, pushed out before a Pfizer subsidiary's $785 settlement, get 30% and 15% respectively. 

While Sakla had argued the firms were absent from eight years of litigation that followed their exit, the judge determined their efforts contributed to the federal government's intervention on behalf of one of the qui tam case's relators.  "In this respect, the work performed here to get the government to intervene, particularly after an initial declination when the original complaint was filed, was a significant and important development to the overall success of the case," Judge Woodlock said.

The judge cited U.S. Department of Justice statistics showing a 90% success rate for cases where the government intervenes, taking primary responsibility for the litigation, compared to a success rate of 25-30% without its intervention.  Vezina & Gattuso and Boone & Stone had accused Sakla of trying to take credit for the initial research and legal foundation they provided, saying they were promised a three-way fee split in a contract that was still enforceable.

Sakla had countered that it was solely responsible for convincing Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. of its exposure, and said it "pinned down" witnesses, argued and won motions in court, and calculated damages in a tedious endeavor that required hospital invoices to be individually analyzed.  Relator William St. John LaCorte, a hospital physician, fired Vezina & Gattuso and Boone & Stone in 2008.

LaCorte had claimed that Wyeth overbilled Medicare and Medicaid from 2001 to 2006 in violation of the government's "best price" provisions.  Pfizer acquired Wyeth in 2009 and took over its defense and settlement.  The companies argued that Wyeth reasonably interpreted the law and believed that its rebate program was legal.

The federal government and 36 states intervened in LaCorte's suit as well as a similar claim from a hospital sales representative, Lauren Kieff. Their claims ended in the 2016 settlement, of which nearly $120 million went to the whistleblowers and about $24 million has already been paid to attorneys.  The government had initially declined to intervene in support of LaCorte's allegations but was always on board with Kieff's claims, Judge Woodland said. He also noted that the complaints were "not fighting in the same weight class."

"Nevertheless, I find Dr. LaCorte's team, including V&G and B&S, was eventually able to capture the government's attention and sufficiently present the merits of the case so that the government intervened largely because of their efforts," the judge said.