Grannis, Vance B.

Following a distinguished twelve year career with the United States Department of Justice, Ms. Durrell established a private practice in 2003 representing whistleblowers and handling False Claims Act and other white collar civil litigation. She associates with attorney Robert M. Thomas, Jr. of Thomas & Associates in Boston for joint representation of qui tam relators as part of the Whistleblower Law Collaborative. The collaboration of Ms. Durrell and Mr. Thomas in the whistleblower practice area has become known as one of the pre-eminent qui tam practices nationwide.

Ms. Durrell is the former Chief, Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office in Boston. While there, she supervised the office’s qui tam and False Claims Act litigation. She also prosecuted a number of cases, most notably, serving as the lead civil attorney on the five qui tam cases and investigation against National Medical Care, Inc./Fresenius that resulted in a then record $486 million settlement (January 2000).  She received several honors including the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the most prestigious recognition bestowed by the Department of Justice.  She also held the position of Deputy Associate Attorney General at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.  Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ms. Durrell was an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1984-1989) and an associate at the law firm of Hill & Barlow in Boston (1978-1984).

Durrell Law Office has obtained successful results for whistleblowers in several substantial False Claims Act qui tam cases including cases against: Amgen, Inc. (pending 2011 agreement in principle to settle criminal and civil investigations with a set aside of $780 million), Elan Corp. ($203 million in civil and criminal recoveries in 2010), Eisai Inc. ($11 million civil recovery in 2010), WellCare Health Plans (pending 2011 $137.5 million civil settlement), Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (over $313 million in civil and criminal recoveries in 2010); St. Jude Medical ($16 million civil recovery in 2010); Pfizer, Inc. (record setting $2.3 billion civil and criminal settlement in 2009, it was the largest health care fraud prosecution, in terms of dollars recovered, in the history of the United States, and the largest criminal fine--$1.3 billion—ever); and Aggregate Industries, Inc. (over $42 million in 2007) and Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff ($400 million in 2008) to resolve civil and criminal liabilities in connection with the $14.6 billion reconstruction of downtown Boston’s roadways, tunnels, and bridges known as the “Big Dig”.  In addition, Ms. Durrell and Mr. Thomas currently represent whistleblowers in many ongoing False Claims Act qui tam cases pending under seal around the country as well as clients in SEC and IRS whistleblower matters.

Ms. Durrell is a 1978 cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center (where she served as a Notes Editor on the American Criminal Law Review) and a 1975 graduate with honors of Swarthmore College. She is a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Durrell has been rated AV by Martindale Hubbell’s peer-rating system for over twenty-five years, which is the highest rating both for competence and for ethical practices.  She is a frequent speaker at national conferences and has authored articles on the False Claims Act.