(Washington, DC) April 9, 2026 — Phillips & Cohen is pleased to announce that ten of the firm’s partners – Mary Louise Cohen, Erika Kelton, Colette Matzzie, Claire Sylvia, Stephen Hasegawa, Jeffrey Dickstein, Sean McKessy, Edward “Ned” Arens, Amy Easton, and Christopher Ehrman – have been named to Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” list for 2026 for their outstanding achievements representing whistleblowers in False Claims Act (FCA) litigation and in whistleblower matters before the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This is the eighth year that ten Phillips & Cohen partners have been named to Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” list.
The partners that have been honored by Lawdragon include:
- Mary Louise Cohen , a co-founder of Phillips & Cohen, has been dubbed “the Queen of Qui Tam” by Lawdragon for her work representing whistleblowers. Among her noteworthy cases is one against Quest Diagnostics, which settled for $302 million– the largest amount paid by a medical lab company for a faulty product. Cohen was inducted into Lawdragon’s “Hall of Fame” in 2022.
- Erika Kelton has had great success securing settlements for her clients under the FCA, SEC, and CFTC whistleblower programs. She won two of the largest healthcare fraud settlements ever: $3 billion by GlaxoSmithKline and $2.3 billion by Pfizer. Among her other accomplishments, Kelton has secured the most whistleblower awards for her clients under the Dodd-Frank Act, including securing a $40 million whistleblower award from the SEC and helping secure a whistleblower client a $1.3 million SEC award in 2025. Lawdragon magazine named Kelton a legal “Legend” in 2023.
- Colette Matzzie has represented whistleblowers in many significant qui tam lawsuits involving recoveries for federal and state governments. Her work includes several groundbreaking cases against electronic health records vendors, starting with a settlement with eClinicalWorks for $155 million. In 2024, Matzzie helped secure a $6.5 million settlement with the Armstrong Group of Companies for allegedly submitting false claims to the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund High Cost Program. Matzzie was named a Lawdragon “Legend” in 2022.
- Claire Sylvia is a nationally recognized authority in False Claims Act qui tam matters. Her book, The False Claims Act: Fraud Against The Government (4th ed. 2023 & Supp. 2025), has been an important reference since it was first published in 2004. In 2026, Sylvia helped secure an $11.5 million settlement with Aetna for allegedly submitting invalid diagnosis codes to inflate Medicare Advantage payments from the government. In 2024, Sylvia helped secure a $90 million settlement in a qui tam case brought against Humana for allegedly submitting fraudulent bids to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for Medicare Part D prescription drug contracts.
- Stephen Hasegawa has had significant False Claims Act wins, including a case against Office Depot, which settled for $68.5 million, where more than 1,000 California cities, counties, school districts, and other government entities were allegedly overcharged for office supplies. Hasegawa obtained a $22.8 million settlement against Linde GmbH and Linde Engineering North America for evading US customs duties and a settlement with four manufacturing companies that paid $39 million to dozens of California municipalities and water districts to settle allegations the companies provided substandard parts for water supply systems. In 2024, Hasegawa helped secure up to $98 million settlement with Independent Health Association and affiliates to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the entities submitted or caused the submission of false diagnosis codes of enrollees in Medicare Advantage plans to inflate risk-adjustment payments from the government.
- As a former Assistant US Attorney, Jeffrey Dickstein brings more than 30 years of healthcare litigation experience to his work for whistleblowers in Medicare and Medicaid fraud cases. Most recently, Dickstein was instrumental in securing a settlement with an Arizona couple for $309 million to settle civil allegations the couple and their company, APEX Medical, billed the government for amniotic skin grafts that were not medically necessary.
- Sean X. McKessy is the founding former Chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower. He is considered one of the top authorities on corporate and securities whistleblower law and represents whistleblowers before the SEC and CFTC. McKessy secured a $20 million award for his client from the SEC, and in 2023, McKessy helped secure a $9 million reward for an SEC whistleblower client.
- Edward Arens has had success representing whistleblowers in large-scale False Claims Act cases, including a settlement of $108.75 million against KBR Services, the largest cash settlement ever obtained in connection with fraud involving the Iraq War. In 2024, Arens helped secure a $90 million settlement with Humana to settle allegations the company submitted fraudulent bids to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for Medicare Part D prescription drug contracts and also successfully represented a whistleblower in a managed care case related to California’s Medicaid expansion that resulted in settlements totaling $95.5 million.
- Amy Easton uses her experience as a former Department of Justice senior trial counsel to represent whistleblowers in False Claims Act cases involving healthcare matters, including allegations regarding the Stark laws, the Anti-Kickback statute, medical necessity, upcoding, risk adjustment and Medicare Advantage plans. In a recent case, Easton was instrumental in securing a settlement with an Arizona couple for $309 million to settle civil allegations the couple and their company, APEX Medical, billed the government for amniotic skin grafts that were not medically necessary.
- Christopher Ehrman was the Director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Whistleblower Office from 2013 until 2023. He served in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement as Assistant Director and in various other roles at the SEC for 14 years. Under his leadership at the CFTC, the whistleblower program achieved unparalleled success—with whistleblower awards totaling nearly $330 million and monetary sanctions from whistleblower tips exceeding $3 billion. Ehrman works on whistleblower cases before the CFTC, SEC, Department of Justice, and Department of the Treasury for Phillips & Cohen’s whistleblower clients.
In 2025, Phillips & Cohen had a very successful year, with settlements totaling over $900 million in returns to the government and harmed investors. The firm’s notable settlements in 2025 include:
- A settlement with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and affiliates for $581 million to settle multiple whistleblower cases alleging that the companies engaged in “risk adjustment” fraud and other misconduct
- A $309 million settlement with an Arizona couple and their company APEX Medical to resolve civil allegations that they billed the government for expensive amniotic skin grafts that were not medically necessary
- A $29 million settlement with SVCMC Inc., formerly known as Saint Vincents Catholic Medical Centers of New York, one of six healthcare systems and medical clinics alleged to have fraudulently retained years of erroneously inflated government medical care payments
- A settlement with the SEC, earning the whistleblower a $1.3 million Phillips & Cohen has 26 whistleblower awards under the Dodd-Frank Act, the most of any law firm
Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” list celebrates lawyers who excel in representing plaintiffs in securities, antitrust and whistleblower claims, complex financial litigation, and data privacy invasions. Lawdragon employs a combination of editorial research, law firm submissions, and a nomination system to select attorneys for its rankings.
About Phillips & Cohen LLP
With offices in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, Phillips & Cohen has recovered over 13 billion for the government through the firm’s work representing whistleblowers. If you know of fraud against the government or violations of the Dodd -Frank Act and are interested in talking to an experienced whistleblower attorney, contact Phillips & Cohen for a free, confidential review of your case.