Edward H. Arens

Ned Arens, a partner at Phillips & Cohen, focuses on “qui tam” whistleblower cases as well as whistleblower claims filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service.

He has represented whistleblowers in a number of cases, including:

• A whistleblower case against Office Depot that the company paid $68.5 million to settle. Office Depot allegedly overcharged more than 1,000 cities, counties, school districts and other government entities for office supplies.
• A qui tam lawsuit against Alliant Techsystems (ATK), which settled for $37 million. The lawsuit alleged the company sold the US Air Force defective flares that were used to provide illumination for military operations.
• A whistleblower case against Prime Healthcare, its CEO and a cardiologist alleging kickbacks, Stark violations and false Medicare billing. The case settled for $37.5 million and is likely the largest settlement by a hospital in a case involving alleged kickbacks paid to a single physician.
• A qui tam case against Freedom Health, Optimum Healthcare and their affiliates filed on behalf of a Florida doctor, which settled for a total of $32.5 million.
• SEC whistleblower claims, including claims relating to accounting fraud, disclosure failures, misleading financial products and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations. He recently helped win a $1.25 million SEC whistleblower award for a client.
• IRS whistleblower claims involving complex tax shelters used by the financial industry and wealthy taxpayers.
• Medicare and Medicaid fraud, including cases relating to defective medical devices and cases involving Medicaid managed care plans, Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Part D plans.
• Excessive purchasing and overcharging by government contractors with Defense Department supply contracts.
• Fraud in contracts involving small business set-aside programs.

Mr. Arens is co-author of Tax Whistleblower Laws and Programs, which is part of Bloomberg BNA’s Tax Management Portfolios. The portfolios are considered the gold standard in the legal world for those dealing with tax matters.

He won an important victory in US Tax Court for an IRS whistleblower client that will benefit not just the firm’s client but also other IRS whistleblowers who challenge IRS award determinations.

Mr. Arens graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was a senior production editor of the Hastings Law Journal. While in law school, he was a legal intern with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, and with the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division.

Mr. Arens is admitted to the bar in California.

In 2022, Arens was recognized as one of “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” by Lawdragon. 

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