Weaver, Jennifer
Jennifer Weaver
615.850.8116

Overview

Jennifer Weaver is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Healthcare Section and a co-leader of the firm's Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Group. She has more than two decades of experience representing healthcare providers in government investigations, False Claims Act (FCA) litigation, Medicare audits and appeals, and healthcare business disputes across the country. Ms. Weaver resides in the firm's Nashville office.

Ms. Weaver helps clients navigate the vast resources and power of the government. She has built an impressive track record defending clients' FCA matters across the United States, including cases where the government has intervened. She has been equally successful appealing costly and potentially crippling Medicare audits conducted by Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPICs). Ms. Weaver has successfully reduced multimillion-dollar overpayments to four- or five-figure overpayments through the Medicare appeals process and convinced the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to lift potentially devastating Medicare payment suspensions on behalf of providers.

In addition to her experience in government enforcement actions, healthcare providers rely on Ms. Weaver's successful track record in complex business disputes. She has secured landmark defense verdicts in trials and pre-trial dismissals on behalf of healthcare providers in state and federal courts across the country.

Representative Experience

  • Won summary judgment on behalf of a national pharmacy benefits manager in Texas federal court (affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit), resulting in a landmark defense ruling on the issue of falsity in one of the largest FCA cases in the country
  • Secured dismissal of a FCA case against a lab company based on failure to plead specific false claims, affirmed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals only one year after the case was first unsealed
  • Secured voluntary dismissal of a FCA case against a rural hospital in Texas in exchange for an agreement not to seek attorneys' fees against a physician whistleblower
  • Won summary judgment on all counts on behalf of a behavioral healthcare company, resulting in complete dismissal of a FCA case in Arkansas federal court
  • Secured dismissal of a FCA case against a behavioral healthcare company in California federal court and obtained attorneys’ fees award against a whistleblower
  • Represented a national home health company in a FCA case in Tennessee federal court; won motion to dismiss at the pleading stage, before any discovery commenced
  • Defended a leading medical device manufacturer in a FCA case in Tennessee federal court, in which the U.S. intervened; helped negotiate a favorable settlement with the government
  • Represented the largest retina practice in Tennessee in a FCA investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ); successfully negotiated a settlement of $200,000, far below the multimillion-dollar demand the government made at the beginning of the investigation and convinced the government not to require a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) and not to issue a news release, both of which are otherwise routine in FCA cases
  • Represented a national chain of infusion centers in a FCA investigation in Missouri; secured a favorable settlement with the government for a fraction of single damages and without imposition of a CIA
  • Represented a nationwide physical therapy provider in a FCA investigation in Minnesota; negotiated a favorable settlement with the government and without imposition of a CIA
  • Represented a nonprofit nursing home in a FCA investigation in Tennessee; secured a favorable settlement with the DOJ based on single damages and without imposition of a CIA
  • Represented a specialty pharmacy in a FCA investigation in Tennessee; convinced DOJ to forego criminal proceedings against the owner and negotiated a favorable civil settlement on behalf of the company
  • Represented a national behavioral healthcare provider in a FCA investigation in West Virginia and negotiated a favorable civil settlement on behalf of the company
  • Represented an ophthalmology practice in a FCA investigation in Tennessee involving dilution of injections; case resulted in conviction of a rogue physician without any civil or criminal charges being filed against the practice

  • Successfully overturned $27 million overpayment against multistate physician practice resulting from Unified Program Integrity Contractor (UPIC) audit, reduced to $6,900 through Medicare appeals process
  • Successfully overturned a $22 million overpayment against a Michigan inpatient psychiatric hospital resulting from a UPIC audit, reduced to $79,000 through the Medicare appeals process
  • Successfully overturned $16 million overpayment against a national home health company resulting from UPIC audit, reduced to $20,000 through Medicare appeals process
  • Defended a Texas-based home health company in a UPIC audit finding 100 percent error rate on Medicaid claims for personal care services, successfully appealed to Texas Office of Inspector General (OIG), which concluded error rate was actually zero percent
  • Successfully challenged an OIG audit of a national home health provider, reducing $8.8 million overpayment to $7,800 through the Medicare appeals process
  • Won multiple Medicare appeals on behalf of a nationwide skin cancer service provider and affiliated dermatology practices, convincing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that cutting-edge treatment is not experimental or investigational
  • Convinced CMS to remove a Medicare payment suspension against a Florida subsidiary of a national home health company less than a month after it was imposed, successfully overturned related $250,000 overpayment through Medicare appeals process

  • Won a complete defense verdict at trial in California state court on behalf of an ambulatory surgery center company, defeating first-ever attempt to apply California's anti-forfeiture statute to a limited liability company (LLC) buyout provision
  • Defended an ambulatory surgery center company in multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by a disgruntled minority shareholder in California state court, alleging breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition after the board voted to terminate his interest in the LLC; won summary judgment on all counts in one of the strongest decisions protecting board decisions under California's business judgment rule, as well as an award of attorneys' fees
  • Won a complete defense verdict in arbitration in Arizona on behalf of an ambulatory surgery center company stemming from termination and equity buy-back from a physician for failing to meet productivity thresholds; overcame COVID-19 force majeure arguments to uphold termination and buy-back
  • Won summary judgment on all counts in Tennessee federal court on behalf of a healthcare clinical services company in a case arising from failed acquisition, alleging breach of non-disclosure agreement (NDA), misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference with contract; affirmed by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • Secured dismissal of lawsuit filed by three physician investors in Pennsylvania state court on behalf of an ambulatory surgery center company that expelled physician investors from partnership for violating their noncompete agreements
  • Secured dismissal of lawsuit filed against a Tennessee hospital by a physician alleging wrongful revocation of staff privileges and unlawful reporting to National Practitioner Data Bank
  • Secured summary judgment victory on all counts in a nationwide Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) class action against a pharmacy benefits manager alleging that pharmacy benefit management is a fiduciary function
  • Obtained dismissal of two cases through motions to dismiss, before class certification or discovery phases commenced, in Tennessee statewide class action cases against a pharmacy benefits manager involving copayments for mail order prescriptions

Credentials

Education
  • Columbia Law School, J.D.
  • New York University, B.F.A., Film and Television, with highest honors
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • California
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
Court Admissions
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Memberships
  • Nashville Bar Association
  • Tennessee Bar Association
  • California Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • American Health Law Association
  • American Bar Association, Health Law Section
Honors & Awards
  • Chambers USA – America's Leading Lawyers for Business guide, Healthcare: Government Investigations & Fraud (Tennessee), 2020-2023
  • The Best Lawyers in America guide, Health Care Law, 2020-2024; Qui Tam Law, 2021-2023
  • Nashville Medical News, Women to Watch, 2021
  • Nashville Post, In Charge, Healthcare, 2022-2023

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