Zimmerman Reed is excited to welcome Madison DeMaris to the firm’s Minneapolis office. She joins the firm’s consumer protection and privacy + data breach practices as an associate.
Madison is an Order of the Coif graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law and recently completed back-to-back clerkships at the Minnesota Court of Appeals, where she worked for Judges Kevin G. Ross, Jennifer L. Frisch, and Sarah I. Wheelock.
Zimmerman Reed is happy to welcome back Nansy Mekhail, who will join the firm’s Consumer Protection practices in the Minneapolis office.
Nansy returns to Zimmerman Reed, where she previously worked as a legal marketing assistant. After leaving ZR, Nansy attended law school at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and most recently worked as an attorney editor for a legal research service and proprietary database company.
Excited to share a feature on ZR’s Managing Partner June Pineda Hoidal in the University of Minnesota Law School alumni magazine!
Learn about the miles she’s logged on the pavement and court dockets – and how UMN Law played a huge role in shaping her life and career.
Zimmerman Reed announced today that the United States and the State of California reached a $7 million settlement with ReNew Health Group LLC, ReNew Health Consulting Services LLC, and its owner-CEO and its COO to resolve False Claims Act allegations filed by Zimmerman Reed’s whistleblower clients. ReNew Health, the owner and operator of dozens of nursing facilities throughout California, allegedly submitted millions of dollars of fraudulent claims to Medicare and California Medicaid since March 2020 under a scheme involving a COVID-19 waiver program.
“This case emphasizes the vital contribution that whistleblowers can make in exposing healthcare fraud,” said June Hoidal, chair of Zimmerman Reed’s Whistleblower practice. “The courage of our clients who reported improper Medicare and Medicaid claims was instrumental in bringing this case to light and securing a just result.”
“Along with the whistleblowers who uncovered these wrongdoings, we commend the United States and the State of California for thoroughly investigating these allegations and bringing this case to resolution,” said Chuck Toomajian, counsel for the whistleblowers and a member of Zimmerman Reed’s Whistleblower practice. “Their diligence resulted in recovering substantial overpayments and is critical in protecting taxpayers and government health care programs against these schemes.”
To free up hospital beds during the COVID-19 crisis, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) temporarily waived its rule requiring a minimum three-day hospital stay before Medicare Part A would cover skilled care in a nursing home that qualifies as a skilled nursing facility (SNF). Due to this waiver, a person who had Medicare Part A and needed skilled care could move directly into a nursing home qualifying as an SNF to receive that care. Likewise, a person already living in a nursing home that qualified as an SNF could remain there to receive that care. Under either scenario, the nursing home could then submit claims for payment for providing that skilled care under Medicare Part A. CMS also waived the 100-day limit on Medicare Part A coverage of skilled care under certain circumstances. These waivers expired in May 2023.
The whistleblowers alleged that, after learning of these waivers, ReNew Health began submitting false Medicare and Medicaid claims for skilled care for residents in their nursing homes, basing the claimed need for skilled care on the possibility that the residents were exposed to COVID-19. Typically, skilled care involves the treatment of severe illness or injuries such as heart attacks, pneumonia, or significant orthopedic issues.
Zimmerman Reed was pleased to work on this matter with co-counsel Gary Azorsky and Ray Sarola of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, and David Brevda of Senior Justice Law.
The federal False Claims Act and its state law equivalents empower private citizens to sue on the government’s behalf against persons who present false claims for payment under government contracts or programs. Successful whistleblowers, like those who brought this lawsuit, are entitled to a share of any recovery obtained through settlement or judgment against a defendant.
Zimmerman Reed is happy to welcome Nare Kupelian to the firm. Nare brings thoughtful analysis and creative thinking to her practice, which will focus on Consumer Protection, Employee Rights, and Privacy and Data Breach. She will be based in the firm’s Los Angeles office.
Before coming to ZR, Nare was an attorney at a plaintiff’s litigation firm where she specialized in catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, and products liability cases. Beyond the practice of law, Nare also serves as an instructor at Fremont University where she develops diverse teaching strategies to encourage development of students entering the paralegal industry.
There are few days in the year that so powerfully reflect the importance of our firm’s dedication to seeking justice than Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his fight for equal rights, desegregation, and other essential civil rights have long inspired our values and mission in bringing justice to our communities and clients that we serve.
To honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., here are some local celebrations you can attend or organizations you can support that carry on his dream.
Celebrations
Organizations
Congratulations to Zimmerman Reed’s Caleb Marker and Jeff Westerman for being named 2024 Southern California Super Lawyers.
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Final selections are made through a process that consists of nominations, independent research, and peer evaluation. No more than 5% of attorneys in California are recognized as Super Lawyers. To learn more about The Super Lawyers/Rising Stars selection process, click here.
Your personal information is valuable, and it’s important to keep it safe. Hacking and identity theft have become more common, and it can feel like every day there is phishing email in your inbox, a text or phone call from an unknown number, a data breach incident, or other efforts aimed at compromising personal information or attempting to scam you out of money.
In an effort to help consumers protect themselves, their personal information, and their money, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched a yearly campaign called National Consumer Protection Week. This annual campaign aims to help spread useful information and advice that can keep consumers apprised of their rights and avoid falling victim to frauds and scams.
To support National Consumer Protection Week, we’ve listed some of the most important consumer rights to be aware of and keep in mind to protect your rights as a consumer.
Unfortunately, data breaches have become a regular occurrence in today’s digital-centric world. However, as consumers, you do have some additional protections against these breaches beyond regularly updating your passwords (which we do recommend). Consumers have the right to expect their private information to be protected in commerce, including through federal laws that provide privacy protections such as the Privacy Act of 1974, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). These laws are designed to help hold companies accountable if they aren’t properly protecting your most personal information.
Nobody likes the feeling of spending hard-earned dollars on a product only to find out it doesn’t work. The FTC requires that advertising must be truthful and not misleading. For example, if a provider of health and beauty products maintains that their product has been “scientifically proven” to cause a certain result when in fact it has not, that could mean that the product was falsely advertised and broke FTC rules.
Receiving a bill for a service or good that you never agreed to or received is frustrating—and you should not have to pay for it. Neither should you have to pay for items that are shipped to you unsolicited. If this happens to you, contact the seller to attempt to remedy the mistake. There are also consumer protection laws in place for disputing credit card billing errors such as the Fair Credit Billing Act.
These are just a few laws that exist today that help safeguard consumers. Visit the FTC’s consumer webpage for more important information and access their full week of helpful content aimed to help you better protect yourself from scams and fraud.
Best Lawyers has recognized five Zimmerman Reed attorneys in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America® for their outstanding work representing plaintiffs in public client, antitrust, mass tort, and class action litigation.
For more than three decades, Best Lawyers is recognized as the most credible measure of legal integrity and distinction in the United States. Best Lawyers’ nominations are based on a rigorous peer-review survey and confidential evaluations by top attorneys.
Congratulations to the ZR partners who made the 2024 Best Lawyers in America list.
Zimmerman Reed congratulates our attorneys who have been selected to the 2023 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists.
The following ZR attorneys have been selected to the 2023 Minnesota Super Lawyers list:
The following ZR attorneys have been selected to the 2023 Minnesota Rising Stars list:
The following ZR attorneys have been selected to the 2023 Southern California Super Lawyers list:
Included with these honorees, we are celebrating:
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Final selections are made through a process that consists of nominations, independent research, and peer evaluation. To learn more about The Super Lawyers/Rising Stars selection process, click here.
