The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division has officially launched its first-ever Whistleblower Rewards Program through a memorandum of understanding with the United States Postal Service and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. This new program offers monetary rewards of up to 30 percent of criminal fines recovered for individuals who provide information leading to successful antitrust prosecutions of at least $1 million in fines. Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.
Duane Morris Partner William M. McSwain Named to Forbes’ Inaugural America’s Best-In-State Lawyers List for 2025
Duane Morris partner and co-chair of the firm’s White-Collar Criminal Defense, Corporate Investigations and Regulatory Compliance Group William M. McSwain, has been named to Forbes’ inaugural America’s Best-In-State Lawyers list for 2025 in the category of White Collar Defense – Pennsylvania.

Former U.S. Attorney Who Prosecuted USA v. Kousisis Examines the Supreme Court’s Decision
On May 22, 2025, in a significant and much-anticipated white-collar case, Kousisis, et al. v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 9-0 opinion authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, held that a defendant who induces a victim to enter into a transaction under materially false pretenses may be convicted of federal fraud even if the defendant did not seek to cause the victim any net economic loss. In other words, if the defendant obtained money or property as a result of a fraudulently induced transaction, that’s enough for a federal fraud conviction—even if the victim received the full economic benefit of the bargain.
Read the full analysis by William M. McSwain, co-chair of Duane Morris’ White-Collar Criminal Defense, Corporate Investigations and Regulatory Compliance division. He served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 2018 to 2021.
Chambers USA Recognizes Duane Morris White-Collar Division and Attorneys
Duane Morris LLP is pleased to announced that Chambers USA has recognized Duane Morris White-Collar Criminal Defense, Corporate Investigations and Regulatory Compliance division and attorneys.

New Jersey & Pennsylvania
Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Northern New Jersey attorneys
Eric R. Breslin, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Melissa S. Geller, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Pennsylvania Attorneys
Christopher H. Casey, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Mary P. Hansen, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
William M. McSwain, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Michael M. Mustokoff, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Michael J. Rinaldi, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Leigh M. Skipper, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
CMS Issues Final Rule on Returning Medicare and Medicaid Overpayments
By Daniel R. Walworth, Christopher H. Casey, Frederick R. Ball, Erin M. Duffy and Arti Fotedar
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Final Rule as part of the 2025 Physician Fee Schedule, which revises requirements for reporting and returning overpayments of Medicare and Medicaid funds. The Final Rule, which took effect January 1, 2025, amends CMS’s regulation interpreting the federal overpayment statute in two key ways: It revises the definition of when an overpayment is “identified” to trigger the 60-day return period and establishes a 180-day timeframe for investigating additional related overpayments.
First Circuit Embraces More Restrictive View of False Claims Act Kickback Enforcement Provision
By Daniel R. Walworth, Christopher H. Casey, Frederick R. Ball, Erin M. Duffy and Joseph R. Welsh
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit’s opinion in United States v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has sharpened the circuit split for demonstrating the effect of a kickback on healthcare decisions under the False Claims Act (FCA). The Regeneron court held that an FCA claim based on an alleged violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute requires demonstrating that an alleged unlawful kickback was the “but-for” cause of a submitted claim.
Duane Morris Adds Assistant U.S. Attorneys on East and West Coast
Adding depth to its white-collar practice on both the East Coast and West Coast, Duane Morris announced the hire of two former assistant U.S. attorneys on Monday.
Eric Boden, who served as an assistant U.S. attorney in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the past decade and most recently was appointed attorney-in-charge of the Trenton, New Jersey, branch office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will be joining the firm’s trial group in New York. Garth Hire, who worked as a federal prosecutor since 2021 in the northern and central districts of California and served as chief of the Oakland U.S. Attorney’s Office, will be joining the firm’s San Francisco office. […]
“Over the last year, I was looking to join a firm like Duane Morris, and it quickly became clear that Duane Morris was the right match for me,” Boden said in an interview. “I’m hoping to bring all of my expertise and background into what I can do to help the white-collar practice at the firm.”
Hire added, “This was really an unparalleled opportunity to operate across all of the firm’s California offices in the white-collar space.”
Coinbase’s Defense Falters: Latest Developments in SEC Legal Battle
A New York federal court has held that the SEC sufficiently pleaded that Coinbase—a well-known cryptocurrency exchange, broker, and clearing agency—operated as an unregistered intermediary of securities and engaged in the unregistered offer and sale of securities through its crypto staking program. In a partial win for Coinbase (and possibly others offering wallet services), the court dismissed the SEC’s claim that Coinbase acted as an unregistered broker by offering a crypto wallet application to its customers. The case is Sec. and Exch. Comm’n v. Coinbase, Inc., 23 Civ. 4738 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 27, 2024).
This decision has important ramifications for all players in the crypto market, as it clears the way for the SEC to continue to act as the primary regulator of crypto in the absence of further regulatory direction from Congress and allows the SEC to continue aggressive enforcement in the crypto space.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris’ Mauro Wolfe , Vincent Nolan and Alek Smolij, please visit the Duane Morris Fintech Blog.
Webinar: U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Crypto in Asia: The Tiger in the Grass ‒ What Every Crypto Actor Must Know Now
Duane Morris will present U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Crypto in Asia: The Tiger in the Grass ‒ What Every Crypto Actor Must Know Now on Thursday, November 30, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Singapore.
About the Program
Crypto entrepreneurs and their financers and advisers are facing unprecedented enforcement activity from the U.S. government, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The SEC, in particular, has taken an aggressive stance in applying U.S. securities law to internationally based cryptocurrencies, and international players in the crypto market are routinely being called to defend themselves in U.S.-based investigations and U.S. courts.
In this webinar, a Duane Morris team will discuss the basis for the SEC and DOJ’s assertion of jurisdiction over international actors so that crypto players can determine whether their actions may lead to the need to comply with U.S. securities laws. The panel will also discuss the various U.S. laws that could be triggered so that foreign crypto actors become more acquainted with U.S. laws and regulations. The focus of the webinar is to educate crypto players enough so that they understand the risks.
Speakers
- Mauro Wolfe
- Ramiro Rodriguez
Moderator
- Vincent Nolan
Learn more about the event and Duane Morris’ Fintech Group.
Note: For those attendees located in the U.S., the time for this webinar is Wednesday, November 29, 2023, from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern.
Pennsylvania Innocence Project Recognizes Leigh Skipper for His Commitment to Pursuing Justice
The Pennsylvania Innocence Project presented the 2023 Maureen Rowley Award to Duane Morris partner Leigh Skipper. Leigh is the former Chief Federal Defender for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He succeeded Maureen Rowley in that role in 2009 and led one of the largest and most respected federal defender offices in the country until 2022. After graduating from law school, Leigh spent his career working in criminal defense at the Federal Defender and the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Leigh has served as the president of the Barrister’s Association of Philadelphia and the National Association of Federal Defenders and as the chairman of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Judicial Selection and Retention Committee. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and chairs the Public Defender Committee.
Read more about Leigh on the Pennsylvania Innocence website.