Overview
DeNae M. Thomas is of counsel in the Litigation Department of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s New York office. A former federal healthcare prosecutor, DeNae represents corporate entities and their executives in government and internal investigations involving potential violations of healthcare fraud laws, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the False Claims Act, the Controlled Substances Act and other healthcare laws.
Prior to joining Paul Hastings, DeNae was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Health Care Fraud Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where she represented the United States in federal court in hundreds of criminal matters. In this role, DeNae led numerous large-scale investigations and prosecutions of doctors, pharmacy and clinical laboratory owners, hospital systems, medical device companies and other individuals and entities involving healthcare fraud, illegal kickback schemes and fraud against government and private health insurance plans, among other violations. DeNae was also previously an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.
An accomplished trial lawyer, DeNae has tried numerous cases to verdict, including most recently a complex multi-million-dollar healthcare fraud involving a conspiracy to defraud state and local health insurance plans through medically unnecessary prescriptions for compound medications. DeNae received the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Director’s Award for her work on the trial.
Given her background, DeNae has regularly worked with the various federal agencies tasked with investigating healthcare crimes in the United States, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Defense and others.
DeNae is currently a board member on Teach For America’s Alumni Board in New York and formerly served as a Teach For America Corps member in New York.
DeNae is a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, where she received the National Association of Women Lawyers’ Outstanding Law Graduate Award and served as an editor of the Vanderbilt Journal of Technology and Entertainment Law. DeNae received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Pepperdine University.
Education
- Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 2009
- Pepperdine University, B.A., summa cum laude, 2004
Representations
- As an Assistant United States Attorney, led the investigation and successful prosecution of a cardiologist for fraudulent billing practices that resulted in a multi-million-dollar fraud on public and private health insurance plans.
- As an Assistant United States Attorney, successfully tried a financial advisor engaged in a multi-million health care fraud involving prescriptions for medically unnecessary compound medications.
- As an Assistant United States Attorney, led the investigation and successful prosecution of marketers of COVID-19 tests in federal Anti-Kickback Statute prosecution related to fraud on CARES Act programs.
- As an Assistant United States Attorney, charged two owners of a clinical laboratory with violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute related to a multi-million-dollar fraud on federal CARES Act programs.
- As an Assistant United States Attorney, led the investigation and successful prosecution of a counseling center owner for fraudulent billing practices that resulted in a multi-million-dollar loss to private health insurance plans.
- As an Assistant United States Attorney, successfully prosecuted three marketers of durable medical equipment for their multi-million-dollar fraud on private and public plans related to prescriptions for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment.
- As an Assistant United States Attorney, led the investigation into Controlled Substances Act violations that resulted in a civil forfeiture action involving cryptocurrency currently valued at approximately $100 million.