Bob Thomas is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, and is the principal and founder of Thomas & Associates in Boston, a white collar litigation firm concentrating in whistleblower representation.
Mr. Thomas is a 1985 cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and an experienced litigator of False Claims Act qui tam cases, as well as complex criminal and civil fraud cases. He is a member of the bars of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He began his career in Washington D.C. at Covington & Burling and then from 1989 to 1997 served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, where he concentrated on the criminal prosecution of white-collar fraud matters. Shortly after returning to private practice, he and his family moved to Boston where he started his firm in 2000.
Thomas & Associates 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 2005, Mr. Thomas also had a successful result (a multi-million dollar relator's share) for a relator in the actions against Serono, Inc. relating to off-label allegations concerning the human growth hormone Serostim. Serono pled guilty to criminal conspiracy charges related to its marketing practices and paid a fine of $136.9 million. In settlement of the government’s civil claims, initiated by whistleblowers, Serono paid $567 million in damages. 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.
In addition to his litigation responsibilities, Mr. Thomas serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Boston University Law School, where he teaches a course on Health Care Fraud and Abuse. He is frequently invited to speak at professional conferences on this and related topics.
