In the Fall of 2018, the DOJ announced Health Management Associates, LLC (HMA), a defunct U.S. hospital chain headquartered in Naples, Florida, would pay over $260 million in a global settlement to resolve criminal and civil claims relating to a scheme to defraud the United States. The $260 million global settlement was the result of eight qui tam cases filed in various district courts and transferred to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as part of a multi-district litigation. See DOJ Press Release here -> https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/hospital-chain-will-pay-over-260-million-resolve-false-billing-and-kickback-allegations-one
One of the included qui tam cases was filed by Relator Nurkin in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers Division. Relator Nurkin filed a sealed qui tam complaint against HMA for violation of the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The Complaint alleged that Defendants knowingly induced doctors to make patient referrals and hospital admissions by intentionally and knowingly: (a) providing the doctors with improper remuneration; (b) submitting false certifications of compliance; and (c) submitting false claim forms.
The global settlement allocated $93.5 million of the global settlement amount to Relator Nurkin’s case. On an unspecified date, Relator Nurkin received $14,952,913 of the $93.5 million allocated to his case (approximately 16% from the government).
In April 2020, the MDL Panel remanded this case back to the district court in Fort Myers to resolve the only remaining issue – the amount of attorney fees, expenses, and costs sought by Relator Nurkin against HMA. HMA did not dispute that Relator Nurkin was entitled to fees pursuant to the FCA, rather HMA disputed the amount sought.
Relator Nurkin asked the district court to award attorney fees in one of the following amounts using one of the following three methodologies: (1) Lodestar = $4,128,983.70; (2) Enhanced Lodestar = $9,207,633.65; or (3) Contingency Fee = $11,921,250.00. Defendants asked the district court to either deny the fee request entirely or award only a small fraction of the request. Defendants suggested a total attorney fees award of $229,544.70.
On February 8, the district court awarded $952,480 in attorney fees to Relator Nurkin against HMA under the Lodestar method. Relator Nurkin’s attorneys had already received almost $5,000,000 in fees from the monies received from Relator Nurkin. The district court refused to consider the contingency fee method as improper under the FCA’s fee-shifting provision, noting that even if proper, it would be grossly excessive here, resulting in the functional equivalent of approximately $2,581.00 an hour, not counting the almost $5 million already paid to Relator Nurkin’s attorneys. Likewise, the district court refused to use an enhanced Lodestar method.
See the district court’s Opinion and Order here ->
The opinion details the district court’s analysis of each category of fees sought.
See the district court’s Fees Judgment here ->