Foley & Lardner LLP
Mike is a trial lawyer and counselor in Foley & Lardner LLP’s Boston office. He has spent nearly 40 years litigating and trying cases and arguing appeals in both civil and criminal courts around the country. He has a broad range of clients, with a particular focus on health care litigation, False Claims Act defense, government and internal investigations, and scientific and research misconduct. Mike has recently been involved in FCA matters involving Medicare Advantage as well as assisting various health care entities, including “High Impact Target” hospitals, avoid FCA liability in connection with the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program and the Health Care Enhancement Act.
Mike served as chair of Foley’s national Litigation Department from 2009 to 2015, as well as chair of its Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice. He now serves on the firm’s national Management Committee and is a member of the Government Enforcement Defense & Investigation Practice.
Mike’s expertise includes ERISA and RICO class actions, False Claims Act (FCA) litigation, and the defense of both organizations and individuals in Justice Department and SEC investigations. He has particular expertise investigating and defending academic institutions in connection with claims of scientific misconduct and research misconduct. And he was named “Lawyer of the Year” in Boston for Bet-the-Company Litigation in both 2018 and 2020 by Best Lawyers in America.
Earlier in his career, Mike served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Major Crimes and Organized Crime Strike Force units of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston. Between his prosecutorial experience and his private practice, Mike has tried more than 20 cases to decision. He has also argued nearly 20 appeals in state and federal appellate courts across the country.
Mike has been appointed a Special Assistant Attorney General on several occasions, including four appointments to represent Massachusetts Govs. William F. Weld and A. Paul Cellucci in constitutional cases involving the scope and effect of the governor’s veto power. A U.S. District Judge appointed Mike to investigate allegations of document destruction and attorney misconduct. Mike also served as an expert witness to the Royal Courts of Justice in London to give opinion evidence on the application of U.S. law to the Latin American syndicated debt market.
Mike received his AB from Harvard College, summa cum laude, and his JD from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude. He now serves as a trial adviser at Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop and judges its Ames Moot Court program. He also has taught at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Continuing Education Program on Corporate Compliance, and is a frequent writer and speaker on civil and criminal jurisprudence, with a special emphasis on the law of research and scientific misconduct.
Mike has devoted significant time to litigating special education cases on a pro bono basis. He has helped make new law in the First Circuit on behalf of special needs families who have been forced by financial constraints to leave their place of residence. For his pro bono work, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services awarded Mike its Certificate of Recognition in 2007.
Mike chairs the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, a component of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.