Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Ryan Patrick has landed at Haynes and Boone exactly one month after announcing his resignation as the chief law enforcement officer of one of the largest districts in the country.
Patrick, a President Trump appointee and the son of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, began his tenure at the beginning of 2018 and oversaw an office that charged nearly 25,000 defendants in almost 22,000 cases during his three years as U.S Attorney.
He said in a statement that he was attracted to Haynes and Boone’s national footprint, deep roots in Texas and expertise in the oil and gas, aviation, biotech and healthcare sectors.
“I know how the DOJ and federal prosecutors handle investigations, and I know many of the key players involved, both in Texas and in Washington, D.C.,” Patrick said. “I look forward to putting this knowledge to use on behalf of Haynes and Boone’s clients.”
Patrick’s office had a particularly active healthcare fraud unit, consistently ranking as one of the highest in the nation in healthcare fraud prosecutions, according to the U.S. Department of Justice announcement of his resignation last month. One successful prosecution included uncovering a $325 million health care fraud scheme led by a Texas rheumatologist.
Last summer, the Southern District of Texas began a partnership with the Western District of Texas and the DOJ for a joint healthcare fraud strike force. The effort resulted from a rise in retail healthcare fraud in the Rio Grande Valley in which a significant number of the providers were based in San Antonio or Austin.
Patrick also oversaw a variety of other white-collar cases, including False Claims Act, Qui Tam, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering investigations involving public officials and corporate defendants in the banking, biotech, energy and space industries.
A Baylor Law School graduate, Patrick started his career as an assistant district attorney in Harris County. In 2012, he was appointed by then-Governor Rick Perry to be presiding judge of the 177th state district court. He went into private practice in 2016 after losing his bid to hold down that seat to Democrat Robert Johnson.
“As U.S. Attorney, Ryan worked with the Department of Justice, FBI and other federal agencies to successfully handle many complex criminal investigations,” Haynes and Boone Managing Partner Taylor Wilson said in a statement. “The knowledge he gained in these cases, along with his experience as a state district judge, give him a unique set of skills that will benefit our clients.”