Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A federal judge in Dallas on Wednesday ordered four healthcare professionals to pay the federal government $339.4 million in a whistleblower action tied to one of the largest home healthcare fraud cases in U.S. history.
In separate pleadings filed last week, six of the defendants found guilty in the spring for their roles in a bribery and kickback scheme at the now-defunct Forest Park Medical Center are asking the U.S. District Court in Dallas for judgments of acquittal or, alternatively, new trials. Texas Lawbook correspondent Bruce Tomaso provides a summary of the arguments.
Three federal appeals court judges got it all wrong six weeks ago when they invalidated a $65 million settlement in the eight-year litigation battle over the Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme, according to motions filed Wednesday by Stanford receiver Ralph Janvey, who wants the Fifth Circuit to reconsider the case en banc.
A prominent Dallas spinal surgeon convicted in the Forest Park Medical Center fraud case is seeking a new trial. The filing on Monday by David Gerger of Houston-based Gerger Khalil & Hennessy, claims a string of harmful errors by federal prosecutors and the trial judge requires that the conviction in April of Dr. Michael Rimlawi be vacated. Bruce Tomaso has the story.
After close to a decade at the SEC's Fort Worth Regional Office, Chris Davis has returned to private practice. Davis was involved in the high profile cases and first-impression matters against AriseBank and 1Broker at the regulatory agency.
Three former executives of the Federal Home Loan Bank in Dallas – including its ex-president – have pleaded guilty to charges that they conspired to make false statements and filed bogus reimbursement requests to the government-sponsored mortgage lender in a $1.2 million fraudulent scam.
The former HD Vest Financial GC started his new job as the regional director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Fort Worth office last Monday. In an exclusive interview, Peavler says he faces significant challenges but people need to know about one change from his predecessor.
Surgeon Nick Nicholson was one of 22 Forest Park Medical officials indicted in one of the largest and most complex healthcare bribery and kickback schemes in Texas history. But Dr. Nick was the only one a jury found not guilty. In an exclusive, in-depth interview, Nicholson and his lawyer, Tom Melsheimer, take readers inside the confidential sanctuary of the attorney-client relationship to discuss in vivid detail every aspect of the case and the decisions they made that led to the dramatic acquittal earlier this year. This is their story.
Melsheimer and his legal team worked more than 4,000 hours defending Forest Park Medical Center Surgeon Nick Nicholson against allegations of bribery and kickbacks. In a joint interview, the pair provide The Texas Lawbook insights into their relationship, how the use of mock juries helped them develop a successful legal strategy, the decision whether to quote from the King James Version or a modern Bible translation and their opinions of the prosecutors, judge and other defendants. Here they are in their own words.
Twenty-two medical professionals, including nine surgeons, were indicted by federal prosecutors in Texas in a bribery/kickback scheme that rocked the health care community. Nine went to trial. Only one person, Dr. Nick Nicholson, was found not guilty. On Monday, Texas Lawbook correspondent Bruce Tomaso gives readers an exclusive, in-depth look into the groundbreaking case and trial through the eyes of Dr. Nicholson and Tom Melsheimer, the lawyer who defended him. Click here for a video preview.
The Texas Securities Commission issued an emergency cease-and-desist order late Wednesday against a Fort Worth oil executive for allegedly providing misleading and incomplete information to potential investors about so-called “offset wells.”
Carli Adele Hempel, the former director of bariatric services at Forest Park Medical Center, has agreed to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to misapply property of a health care benefit program. Mark Curriden has the breaking details.
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