Mr. Douglass co-chairs the firm’s Government Enforcement & Compliance group. His practice focuses on defending companies and corporate executives facing criminal investigations as well as civil and regulatory government enforcement actions, including false claims act (whistleblower) suits. A former federal prosecutor, he has been trial counsel in over 20 trials in federal courts, including Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York. In 2006, he successfully defended the first False Claims Act lawsuit brought against a private contractor, Custer Battles LLC, for work performed for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

Mr. Douglass has led two high-profile government investigations. In 1994, he served as executive director of the review of White House security, which resulted in the closing of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. In 1993, he served as assistant director to the Department of the Treasury’s investigation of the raid on the David Koresh compound in Waco, Texas. Mr. Douglass served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Massachusetts and subsequently as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section.

Mr. Douglass has previously taught “Advanced Evidence” as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School and "Trial Advocacy" at Harvard Law School. He has written and lectured on government enforcement issues as they affect health care providers, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers, including, marketing practices, the implications of criminal prosecutions predicated on regulatory violations, and representing health care providers in government investigations.

He currently serves on the board of directors of the Appleseed Foundation and has assisted that organization in its Small Business Health Care Initiative, a project dedicated to making health insurance more available and affordable to employees of small business.

Counsel for Boston Scientific in defense of False Claims Act litigation against predecessor company.

Successful defense of corporate executive who was a target in investigation of alleged export control violations.

2006: Successful trial defense of defendant in the first qui tam trial arising from contracting in Iraq. (Federal Court, Eastern District of Virginia)

2005: Jury verdict on behalf of Health Care Services Corporation in the first indirect-purchaser antitrust case to proceed to trial. (Federal Court, District of Columbia)

2003: Successful defense of a national health care provider against allegations of violations of the Medicaid Rebate Statute. (No indictment sought)

2002: Trial defense of individual charged with violation of the Arms Export Control Act. (Federal Court, District of Maryland, Baltimore Division)

Author, Litigating Civil Cases in the Shadow of a Criminal Investigation, DRI Business Litigation and Intellectual Property Seminar, April 2010.

Author, Understanding and Accommodating the Department of Justice’ Evolving Policies Concerning Cooperation and Waiver of the Attorney-Client Privilege in Directing Effective Internal Investigations, ABA National Institute on Internal Investigations, May 2009. View

Co-author, Recent Developments in Corporate “Cooperation” Credit: Opening Pandora’s Box or Slamming The Privilege Waiver Lid Shut, March 2009.

Co-author, The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege: Preserving Privacy in the Age of Transparency, The Joan Fullam Irick Privacy Project III (IADC), 2007. View

Author, U.S. Supreme Court Issues Important Ruling on the "Original Source" Requirement, Qui Tam Litigation Alert, March 28, 2007. View

Co-author, Healthcare Fraud Enforcement Trends & Developments, Andrews White-Collar Crime Reporter, February 27, 2007.

Co-author, Exceptions to the McNulty Memo: Do They Render the Revisions Illusory?, Andrews White-Collar Crime Reporter, February 27, 2007.

Panelist, ABA National Institute on Health Care Fraud, “Mediating Health Care Fraud Cases”, May 2009

Panelist, National Institute on Internal Corporate Investigations and In-House Counsel, May 2009

Panelist, ABA Business Law Section, “Aftermath of the Financial Meltdown: - Analyzing Future Litigation and Compliance Issues," April 2009

Law Education Institute, Health Law Program, “Representing Medical Device and Other Supplier Companies," January 2009

Panelist, 6th Annual National Institute on Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement, Recent Developments on Damages and Penalties Panel

Panelist, ABA Health Law Section Teleconference, “Blakely and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: You Can Almost Go Home Again. The Importance of the Supreme Court’s Landmark Decision in the Booker and Fanfan Cases,” February 2005

2010, Washington, D.C., Super Lawyers
2007, Washington, D.C., Super Lawyers

American Bar Association:
           Health Law Section, Fraud and Abuse Interest Group – Vice Chair;
           Administrative Law Section, Criminal Process Committee – Member
           and former Co-Chair

DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar: Government Enforcement and Corporate Compliance Committee – Chair

The Bar Association of the District of Columbia

National Bar Association

Mr. Douglass is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the state courts of Massachusetts.

1985   J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School

1981   B.A. (Political Science), Yale University

Douglass