Gregory M. Luce

Greg Luce, a partner in Skadden’s Litigation Group, handles civil and criminal litigation and regulatory matters involving the health care industry. Mr. Luce has represented health systems, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and other health care providers in litigation involving fraud and abuse enforcement, False Claims Act defense, and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Mr. Luce focuses on the counseling and defense of health care providers, suppliers, pharmaceutical companies and physicians under state and federal fraud and abuse laws and the False Claims Act, as well as on the design and implementation of compliance programs. During the course of his career, he also has successfully defended clients in class action suits filed against not-for-profit hospitals across the country challenging their exempt organization status. In numerous cases brought by private plaintiffs under the Medicare Secondary Payer Statute, Mr. Luce guided the defense and successful dismissal of these cases, several of which resulted in an award of attorneys’ fees to the hospitals. A significant element of Mr. Luce’s practice includes advising clients on voluntary disclosure of statutory and regulatory violations to appropriate government agencies.

Mr. Luce previously has served as an assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Virginia, where he represented state health agencies in a variety of regulatory and litigation matters.

Mr. Luce has been recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America. He was named as one of Law360‘s “Health MVPs” in 2012.

Representative Matters

• Stalley v. Mountain States Health Alliance, et al., 517 F.3d 911 (6th Cir. 2008) (granting attorney’s fees and sanctions following dismissal of plaintiff’s allegations relating to Medicare’s secondary payor law).
• United States v. Catholic Health Initiatives, 509 F.3d 517 (8th Cir. 2007) (affirming district court’s dismissal of qui tam complaint for plaintiff’s lack of standing under pertinent Medicare statute and regulations).
• United States ex rel. King v. Alcon Laboratories, Inc., 232 F.R.D. 568 (N.D. Tex. 2005) (dismissing complaint pursuant to F.R.C.P. 9(b) for failure to describe with particularity the alleged fraudulent scheme).
• Robert Wood Johnson Univ. Hosp., Inc. v. Thompson, No. 04-CV-142 (JWB), 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8498 (D.N.J. April 15, 2004) (permanently enjoining the Department of Health and Human Services’ implementation of a hospital Demonstration Project for violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Statute).
• United States ex rel. King v. Hillcrest Health Center, 264 F.3d 1271 (10th Cir. 2001) (upholding the district court’s judgment dismissing federal False Claims Act action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction).
• United States ex rel. Cox v. Iowa Health System, 29 F. Supp.2d 1022 (S.D.Iowa 1998) (granting defendants’ motions to dismiss qui tam complaint for failure to state a cause of action).
• Vogel v. Linde, 23 F.3d 78 (4th Cir. 1994) (affirming district court order granting summary judgment to the defendant hospital in plaintiff’s action for violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)).
• United States ex rel. Meyer v. Horizon Health Corp., 565 F.3d 1195 (9th Cir. 2009) (dismissing for lack of subject matter jurisdiction a qui tam action brought under the federal False Claims Act after concluding that the plaintiffs/relators in the action did not qualify as “original sources” of the information underlying their allegations, as required by the False Claims Act).

In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Luce represents numerous health care providers and corporations in response to state and federal investigations under the civil and criminal provisions of the False Claims Act and other statutes. Many of these matters are under judicial seal and, thus, are confidential and not subject to disclosure. A significant portion of Mr. Luce’s practice consists of advising clients in these circumstances, which pose significant civil and criminal risks to the clients.

Selected Speeches

• Health Care Compliance Association Upper North East Regional Annual Conference (May 2010)
• “False Claims Act Enforcement: Understanding the Legal Landscape,” The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series (May 5, 2010)
• “False Claims Act Enforcement Developments,” 2010 Business Ethics and Compliance Conference, New York City (April 21, 2010)
• “Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Enforcement Update: Recent Developments and Risk-Mitigation Strategies” Seminar, Millbrae, CA (February 23, 2010)
• “Recent Biopharmaceutical/Medical Device Enforcement Actions: What Companies Need to Know" Seminar (October 8, 2009)
• Pharmaceutical Trends Audio Conferences (July 2009)

Bar Admissions