From federal and state enforcement actions to government contract work, Nicole has spent most of her time as a lawyer representing clients on the opposite side of the table of government regulators and prosecutors. She has worked on matters involving the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service, Offices of Inspector General of several federal agencies, and Attorneys General of numerous states. Nicole also has worked on many matters in which clients have proactively opposed government action – before administrative as well as judicial bodies. When necessary, she has taken policy issues to congressional offices and committees.

Her years at Greenberg Traurig and Dewey & LeBoeuf afforded Nicole the opportunity to work on large investigative and media-rich cases – from the representation of a former inspector general in his unlawful termination suit against the federal government to the representation of a large multinational insurer in an extensive bid-rigging probe by several state attorneys general.

While working with Jeff Ifrah (both at Greenberg Traurig and Ifrah Law), Nicole has enjoyed building on her experience in federal government contracts and federal and state regulatory and investigative matters.

Professional + Community

• American Bar Association
• New York Bar Association

Securing Dismissal of a False Claims Qui Tam Suit

Jeff Ifrah successfully represented global healthcare leader Merck in a False Claims Act qui tam suit and got the case dismissed.

The suit involved a whistleblower that worked for a healthcare buying company (a group purchasing organization that purchases supplies and drugs). Terminated from the buying group, the employee alleged she was retaliated against because of issues she raised about the buying process.

The case was brought before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and 18 drug companies were named as defendants in an alleged bribery scheme. Jeff represented Merck, which was one of the named defendants. He filed a successful motion to dismiss the complaint, based on the former employee’s alarming lack of specificity in her claim.

Not only was our motion to dismiss successful, it was efficient: Jeff won the dismissal roughly one year after Merck and the other defendants were originally served.

(United States ex rel. Fitzgerald v. Novation LLC, et al., S.D. Tex., No. 3:03-CV-01589)