Brian Markovitz

"Empathy is key to getting the right result for the client. If you can't put yourself in the client's shoes, you can't know how best to approach their situation. It's important that my clients know that I understand what they're going through."

Brian Markovitz

Principal

Brian Markovitz is a principal in the firm’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups who focuses primarily on helping victims who have suffered severe injustice in the workplace. He represents individuals throughout Maryland, the Washington D.C. area and across the country in complex employment litigation and appellate matters involving wrongful termination, retaliation by employers in response to reporting fraud or misconduct and discrimination on the basis of race, gender, age and sexual orientation. 

Brian is nationally recognized as a leading practitioner in the representation of whistleblowers in violations of the federal False Claims Act. His clients span numerous industries – health care, pharmaceuticals, construction plus many more – and he has unique ability to hold companies and individuals accountable for engaging in massive fraudulent schemes and retaliating against clients who have the courage to blow the whistle. Popular news sources such as The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Bloomberg BNA, and The Wall Street Journal often ask Brian to provide commentary on high-profile whistleblower cases litigated throughout the country.

Brian has achieved successful outcomes in numerous whistleblower actions. He has represented a government contractor in Afghanistan who blew the whistle on his employer’s misappropriation of government funds. Brian’s investigation uncovered fraudulent subcontracts worth nearly $20 million that led to the indictments of the scheme organizers and a favorable settlement for his client.  He also helped a client blow the whistle on Allergan, the maker of Botox®, based on its off-label marketing of the product for pharmaceutical purposes. The efforts of Brian’s team ultimately led to Allergan’s guilty plea to criminal charges and a total settlement of $600 million in civil and criminal fines. Recently, Brian represented an occupational therapist who reported Medicare fraud, resulting in over $10 million recovered by the federal government in lost Medicare funds and approximately a $1 million finder’s fee for his client.

Clients trust Brian to help them during their most desperate times, and they appreciate his dedication to correcting injustices that have a tremendous impact on their lives. He brings an individualized and holistic approach to every case, taking into account each client’s distinct needs and goals in resolving the dispute. Brian has seen a wide variety of controversies that his clients can encounter in the workplace, and he’s fully prepared to protect or enforce their rights in a tough courtroom battle when all other alternatives to resolve the dispute have been exhausted. Brian’s goal isn’t just to win the case – it’s also about helping each client in every way he can.

Direct Dial: 240-553-1207

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HUBZone Fraud

Brian Markovitz is a principal in the firm’s Labor and Employment and False Claims Act Litigation practice groups who focuses primarily on helping victims who have suffered severe injustice in the workplace, including whistleblowers.  Brian works hand in hand with law enforcement officials to stop fraud against the government and helps the brave people who come forward to report fraud and are retaliated against by their employers. 

A very important area where Whistleblowers are needed is HUBZone fraud. HUBzones are a diversity program meant to locate headquarters of small businesses in distressed areas and have them hire residents from those disadvantaged neighborhoods.  In return, the federal or local governments allows those companies to gain preferential access to government contract opportunities.  Unfortunately, companies often lie to get the bidding advantage and either don’t put the headquarters in the disadvantaged neighborhoods or don’t hire the people from those neighborhoods or both.  Recent Department of Justice trends illustrate the government’s focus on prosecuting individuals who are taking advantage of contracting opportunities that have been set aside for businesses located in underdeveloped communities, and whistleblowers are a key element in catching these bad actors.

If you know of a company that is lying about its HUBZone status to win government contracts, contact Brian.  Brian is nationally recognized as a leading practitioner in the representation of whistleblowers in individual and class action suits involving employer violations of the federal False Claims Act. Popular news sources such as The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Bloomberg BNA, and The Wall Street Journal often ask Brian to provide commentary on high-profile whistleblower cases litigated throughout the country. His clients span numerous industries – health care, pharmaceuticals, construction plus many more – and he has a unique ability to hold companies and individuals accountable for engaging in massive fraudulent schemes and retaliating against clients who have the courage to blow the whistle

Brian has achieved successful outcomes in numerous whistleblower actions. He has represented a government contractor in Afghanistan who blew the whistle on his employer’s misappropriation of government funds. Brian’s investigation uncovered fraudulent subcontracts worth nearly $20 million that led to the indictments of the scheme organizers and a favorable settlement for his client.  He also helped a client blow the whistle on Allergan, the maker of Botox®, based on its off-label marketing of the product for pharmaceutical purposes. The efforts of Brian’s team ultimately led to Allergan’s guilty plea to criminal charges and a total settlement of $600 million in civil and criminal fines.

Clients trust Brian to help them during their most desperate times, and they appreciate his dedication to correcting injustices that have a tremendous impact on their lives. He brings an individualized and holistic approach to every case, taking into account each client’s distinct needs and goals in resolving the dispute. Brian has seen a wide variety of controversies that his clients can encounter in the workplace, and he’s fully prepared to protect or enforce their rights in a tough courtroom battle when all other alternatives to resolve the dispute have been exhausted. Brian’s goal isn’t just to win the case – it’s also about helping each client in every way he can.

Whistleblower (False Claims Act, Qui Tam)

Nationally recognized as a dedicated advocate for whistleblowers in suits involving violations of the federal False Claims Act, Brian Markovitz focuses on holding employers accountable for engaging in massive fraudulent schemes and retaliating against brave employees who report their misconduct. He protects clients all over the country who blow the whistle on illegal activities within several industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, construction plus many more.

Brian handles both individual and class action suits involving a broad range of fraudulent schemes with potential civil and criminal liability, including:

  • Medicare and Medicaid fraud
  • Providing unnecessary or unreasonable medical services
  • Falsifying records, symptoms, tests, services or diagnoses
  • Billing for services that were not provided
  • Kickbacks, referral fees and quid pro quo schemes
  • False and off-label marketing promotion
  • Contractor self-dealing; and
  • Construction-related fraud

Brian has built a strong reputation as one of the country’s leading practitioners in whistleblower litigation. Popular news sources such as The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Bloomberg BNA, The Wall Street Journal and Law360 often call on Brian to provide commentary on high-profile whistleblower cases litigated throughout the country.

Brian has worked with law enforcement officials to recover millions of taxpayer dollars, while also obtaining justice and compensation for clients who are victims of retaliation by their employers. He previously helped a client blow the whistle on Allergan, the maker of Botox®, based on its off-label marketing of the product for pharmaceutical purposes. The efforts of Brian’s team ultimately led to Allergan’s guilty plea to criminal charges and a total settlement of $600 million in civil and criminal fines.

Brian also represented a government contractor in Afghanistan who blew the whistle on his employer’s misappropriation of government funds. His investigation uncovered fraudulent subcontracts worth nearly $20 million that led to the indictments of the scheme organizers and a favorable settlement for his client.

Brian’s goal isn’t just to win the case – it’s also about helping each client in every way he can. He understands that clients are facing an incredibly tough choice between turning a blind eye to misconduct or reporting it to authorities with the risk of suffering various forms of retaliation, including termination. Clients trust Brian to guide them through this difficult decision, and he’s always prepared to enforce their rights in the courtroom after all other alternatives to resolve the case have been exhausted.

Education
  • Dickinson College, B.A., 1993
  • Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 2000
Bar Admissions
  • Maryland, 2000
  • Washington, D.C., 2000
Court Admissions
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Professional Affiliations
  • Member - American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section
  • Member - American Association for Justice, Employment Rights and Qui Tam Litigation Sections
  • Member - Washington, D.C. Bar Association
  • Member - Maryland State Bar Association
  • Member - Maryland Trial Lawyers Association
  • Member - Montgomery County Bar Association
  • Member - National Employment Lawyers Association
  • Member - Prince George’s County Bar Association
 
Outside the Office

Brian is a drummer in indie rock bands that played at famous venues and events such as New York City’s CBGB's, the District of Columbia’s 9:30 Club and the Black Cat, and at Lollapalooza. He still enjoys playing the drums when he's not spending time with his children at school functions and sporting events.

Experience
  • Represented a whistleblower against Allergan, the maker of Botox®, based on its off-label marketing of Botox® for pharmaceutical purposes; Allergan ultimately pled guilty to criminal charges and settled the case for $600 million in civil and criminal fines (United States ex. rel C Hallivis v. Allergan)
  • Represented a nursing director who was fired after blowing the whistle on numerous alleged problems with her medical center employer, including lack of physician oversight, double billing for certain drugs, allowing medications to expire and become contaminated and billing for physician visits that never occurred; the medical center agreed to pay the United States and the State of California $5.5 million to resolve claims it had violated the False Claims Act and the similar state statute   
  • Obtained a favorable settlement on behalf of a mechanic in Tennessee who blew the whistle on his employer based on alleged self-dealing during the contractor bidding process
 
Awards & Honors
  • Local Litigation Star, Benchmark Guide, 2012
  • Local Litigation Star, Benchmark Guide, 2013
  • Top 100, The National Trial Lawyers, 2018 
Speaking Engagements
  • Speaker, Jackson Lewis Government Contractor Symposium, March 2017 
  • Speaker, Virginia State Building & Construction Trades Council, Winter Meeting, January 2015
  • Presenter, “Emerging Legal Landscape of Discrimination,” Maryland Chamber of Commerce Labor and Employment Law Conference, November 2014

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