Chair (Current & Past)

Jason Mehta is an experienced, Chambers-ranked trial lawyer who zealously fights for his clients. In the past two years, Jason has first-chaired a six-week federal healthcare criminal trial resulting in an acquittal on every count for his client; he has also first-chaired a successful month-long federal civil trial in which his client prevailed on every count involving claims in excess of $60 million.

The Wall Street Journal has described Jason as an “attorney who has prosecuted and defended dozens of federal fraud cases.” His skills include helping clients navigate their most challenging criminal and civil fraud cases, internal investigations, and bet-the-company litigation. A few of Jason’s representative areas of practice are discussed below.

Criminal Fraud Representation

Jason specializes in complex cases involving allegations of fraud and malfeasance. He is often asked to handle these matters across the country. Leveraging his experience as a long-time prosecutor and defense attorney, Jason is successful at closing investigations, dismissing criminal charges, minimizing punishments, and—when all else fails—successfully trying criminal cases to juries.

Some recent examples include:

• First-chairing a complex multi-million dollar federal healthcare fraud trial in New York in which the jury returned acquittals on every count for which they could return a verdict.
• Lead counsel representing multiple clients in cancer/genetic testing industry in criminal proceedings throughout the United States. Among other achievements, representation for some clients has involved successfully convincing the Department of Justice to decline further investigations into reference laboratories and marketing organizations.
• Obtaining a non-custodial sentence in Kentucky for a pharmacist who pled guilty to Anti-Kickback Statute and Healthcare Fraud violations. The pharmacist’s recommended guideline sentence was more than 36 months in prison.
• Obtaining a complete declination in Florida of all charges for a pharmacy in which the government executed a search warrant on the theory that the pharmacy improperly dispensed more medication than actually ordered from wholesalers.
• Obtaining a non-custodial sentence of two years’ probation for two owners of a Durable Medical Equipment company in Southern Florida. The clients were facing recommended sentences of more than forty months in prison.

False Claims Act Defense

Jason also handles complex civil fraud cases. As a civil False Claims Act prosecutor, he was one of the most prolific and successful prosecutors in the country. He now defends companies, individuals, and organizations facing allegations by whistleblowers and the government.

Some recent examples include:

• Lead counsel representing nation’s largest telemedicine operator in False Claims Act investigation resulting in a low-dollar settlement with the Department of Justice. The ultimate settlement was a fraction of the government’s opening demand.
• Lead counsel in representing government contractor in a False Claims Act suit alleging misrepresentations with affiliation status. Representation resulted in declination by the Department of Justice and subsequent dismissal by relator.
• Counsel in multiple national pharmaceutical False Claims Act cases in Massachusetts, Washington, and Pennsylvania alleging massive kickback schemes related to “white coat marketing” arrangements. Successfully petitioned the Department of Justice to dismiss cases following declination.
• Lead counsel representing a group of neurosurgeons being investigated by the Department of Justice for alleged kickbacks. Representation resulted in no criminal charges and a confidential six-figure settlement reflecting a fraction of the physicians’ payment from the company for whom the physicians were providing services.

Bet-the-Company Litigation

Apart from his government defense practice, Jason also handles a number of bet-the-company civil litigation matters. When companies need skilled civil litigation representation, they turn to Jason.

Some recent examples include:

• First-chaired the successful prosecution of a nationwide securities fraud case in which dozens of investors alleged that they were defrauded by securities representation. Prosecution led to successful recovery and resolution for Plaintiffs.
• Served as lead counsel for all Florida-based litigation by national hospital organization. Litigation included multiple trials and multi-week hearings in state and federal court.
• First-chaired the successful defense of an employment non-compete and trade secret case in which Plaintiff agreed to a walk-away and complete dismissal of all claims.
• Hired to serve as lead federal court trial counsel in a long-standing civil litigation that had spanned more than eight years.

Compliance Advice

Jason also serves as a skilled representative in helping clients navigate problems before they emerge. Jason offers compliance advice and strategy on a number of regulated areas.

Some recent examples include:

• Served as outside general counsel to large, publicly traded healthcare company and advised on risks associated with potential receipt of hundreds of millions of dollars in CARES Act healthcare provider funds.
• Advised numerous corporations on risks and best practices in applying for, and utilizing, Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program loans.
• Outside general counsel representing multi-state ambulance provider in a variety of government investigations, civil disputes, and employment/corporate matters.

Radha Bachman is a partner to her healthcare provider clients – representing the full spectrum of health care entities from individual physicians to private equity backed medical and dental groups to national senior living provider owners and operators.

Growing up in a family of physicians, she is uniquely aware of the intersection between clinical, business and legal objectives in health care. Radha is one of only 128 attorneys in Florida to be board certified in Health Law by The Florida Bar. She has been selected as a Florida Super Lawyer in the practice of health care law and in 2018, participated in the highly selective Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellowship Program.  Radha is a frequently sought-after speaker on topics involving substantive legal issues facing the healthcare industry as well as diversity and mentorship in the legal profession.

Radha is a trusted advisor to her clients, providing counsel regarding system operations, joint venture and transaction structuring, provider contracting, federal and private payor matters, HIPAA, licensing matters, and tax-exempt issues. She also represents physicians and dentists and their related organizations in structuring and executing transactions as both buyer and seller, provider-to-provider mergers and acquisitions, corporate document preparation, and general contract review. Radha is uniquely experienced in state and federal licensure, enrollment and permit filings and regularly represents clients with the preparation of necessary applications through final approval.

Radha’s expertise extends to state and federal health care regulatory matters helping clients develop legally compliant relationships, taking into account the myriad governmental and payor requirements.  Most recently, Radha has carved out a new niche representing several innovative health care industry start-ups located in the San Francisco Bay Area.  These engagements focus primarily on full-scale healthcare regulatory reviews including, development and adoption of corporate compliance plans, HIPAA matters and analysis of the impact of healthcare regulations on business practices.

After receiving her law degree, Radha spent six months as an education fellow at a matriculation school in rural India. As a fellow, she developed and directed an intensive spoken English workshop for elementary school teachers and implemented long-term methods for advancing computer literacy among village students. Radha is conversant in Gujarati, the state language of Gujarat, India.

Adam R. Maingot is in-house counsel for Publix, a Fortune 100 company with more than 1,200 pharmacy locations. Adam primarily focuses his practice on healthcare regulatory and transactional matters. Most of his days are spent helping Publix accomplish its business objectives while minimizing regulatory enforcement and litigation risk. With a background in finance, healthcare operations, and project management, Adam advises his client over the matter lifecycle. Adam outlines the legal risks and benefits of different business proposals, drafts and negotiates contracts, advises on corporate policies and procedures to ensure compliance with applicable law, and defends Publix against threatened enforcement action or litigation. Adam has specific expertise in the practice of pharmacy, wholesale drug distribution, controlled substances, commercial transactions, privacy law, administrative law, healthcare reimbursement, and fraud and abuse.

Ms. Guerrero is a shareholder with Chaires, Brooderson & Guerrero, where she concentrates her practice on health care regulatory, operational and corporate matters, advising clients in many facets of their business, including privacy and data security, telemedicine, corporate governance, licensure and discipline, quality improvement and healthcare risk management. Ms. Guerrero also has a Certificate in Healthcare Risk Management from the University of Florida Ms. Guerrero is recognized for her leadership and commitment to the health law community in Florida, as is evidenced by her nomination and election by her peers to serve as the Chair of the Health Law Section of the Florida Bar for 2020-2021. She previously served as Secretary, Treasurer and Chair-Elect of the Health Law Section and in 2015-2017, served as a Member of the Health Law Executive Council, which is the governing body of the Health Law Section of The Florida Bar. She previously served as twice-elected Secretary of the 2009 Board of the Hispanic Bar Association of Central Florida.

J. Everett Wilson focuses his practice on assisting clients meet the challenges of a complex and highly regulated industry.  A true “regulatory” attorney with a business background, Everett represents health care providers and other health care and health care insurance entities on issues related to Medicare and Medicaid, operations, managed care, and the regulatory and business issues specific to health care M&A. Of particular note, is his extensive experience in the Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care arena, with a particular emphasis on full-risk arrangements and the regulatory and business issues related to the same.

Gregory A. Chaires has been Board Certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in Health Law since 2001 and licensed to practice law in Florida since 1992. He has extensive experience representing health care providers, medical group practices, hospitals, and other health care facilities. Mr. Chaires routinely represents physicians and other health care providers in professional license investigations and disciplinary actions before the various medical quality assurance boards such as the Florida Boards of Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Chiropractic and Nursing. He also routinely advises on issues involving the federal Stark Self-Referral and Anti-Kickback statutes, the Florida Patient Self-Referral Act, the Florida Anti-kickback Statute, as well as the False Claims Act and fee splitting prohibitions. Mr. Chaires provides representation concerning compliance programs, physician employment agreements, and other transactional matters in health care.