Ethan M. Posner

Ethan Posner, recently named by the American Lawyer as one of litigation's "Rising Litigation Stars," is Co-Chair of Covington's Pharmaceutical Litigation & Investigations practice group and a member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution and the White Collar Defense and Investigations practice groups.  He represents numerous major pharmaceutical companies and other health care organizations in federal and state criminal and civil government investigations, False Claims Act cases, and private class actions.  Mr. Posner also has handled several recent major congressional investigations by the Senate Finance and House Energy & Commerce Committees into prescription drug pricing and promotion.

Representative Matters

• Lead counsel to Pfizer Inc. in investigations into physician interaction practices and the marketing, promotion, and safety of various prescription drugs by the Department of Justice, state Attorneys General, Congress, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Lead counsel for Pfizer in United States ex rel. Rost v. Pfizer Inc. (D. Mass.) (complaint dismissed after DOJ declined to intervene).
• Lead counsel to Pfizer and Pharmacia in recent settlements and deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice regarding Pharmacia's promotion of Genotropin.
• Lead counsel for Johnson & Johnson/Ortho Biotech in United States ex rel. Duxbury v. Ortho Biotech Products, L.P. (D. Mass.) (complaint dismissed after DOJ declined to intervene).
• Lead counsel for DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc in its Corporate Integrity Agreement and recent settlement with the Government
• Lead counsel for Genentech, Inc. and Gilead Sciences Inc. in Government investigations
• Lead counsel to InterMune Inc. in its recent civil settlement and deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice and HHS OIG relating to the promotion of Actimmune.  This matter was profiled in The American Lawyer (Jan. 2008) identifying Covington & Burling as a Litigation Department of the Year.

Previous Experience

• Mr. Posner served as Deputy Associate Attorney General, Department of Justice from 1999-2001.  In that position, he advised the Attorney General on antitrust and civil litigation issues; he had oversight responsibility for certain major litigation matters handled by the Antitrust and Civil Divisions; and he chaired Justice Department policy and enforcement groups on asbestos litigation reform, bankruptcy legislation, class action and product liability reform, and the sale of prescription drugs on the Internet.  Mr. Posner also coordinated the Department's response to several sensitive Congressional investigations, including the White House e-mail investigation.  In addition, he testified several times before House and Senate committees.  While at the Justice Department, he presented on E-Commerce Enforcement and Internet Drug Sales and gave the keynote address on class action reform at the ABA Class Action Institute.
  

Honors and Rankings

• The American Lawyer's "Fab Fifty" in the 2007 article "Litigation's Rising Stars."
• PLC Life Sciences, Which Lawyer? (2008) named Mr. Posner one of the two leading lawyers in the nation for pharmaceutical government investigations and litigation and called him "undisputably one of the leaders in his field."
• Euromoney, Benchmark: America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys - Litigation Star, Local, DC (2009)
• Legal 500: US Recommended Lawyers (white collar criminal defense)
• Best Lawyers In America, commercial litigation and health care law (2006-2009)
• The Washingtonian, one of the "Best Lawyers in Washington" for representing companies in whistleblower/False Claims Act cases (2005).
• Profiled in ABA Journal (Dec. 2002)
• Who's Who in America (2007); Who's Who in American Law (2007) 
• Named one of Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers in March 2007.

Memberships and Affiliations

• Life Sciences Task Force, American Health Lawyers Association, Member
• Georgetown University Law School, Adjunct Professor of Law (2001)

Publications and Speeches

• Mr. Posner is a frequent speaker at health care and pharmaceutical conferences.  In addition, he has been quoted on pharmaceutical government investigations and False Claims Act cases in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, and USA Today.
• 2006 National Forum on Fraud and Abuse in the Sale and Marketing of Drugs and Medical Devices, Co-Chair. 
• 2005 and 2004 ABA National Health Care Fraud Institute, pharmaceutical investigations presentations.

• "Supreme Court Update: Rockwell International Corp. v. United States," Covington E-Alert (3/29/2007), Co-Author
• "Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied: Second Circuit Rejects Government’s Tardy Attempt to Intervene in Qui Tam Suit," Covington E-Alert (11/30/2006), Co-Author
• "California Will Negotiate Drug Prices with Manufacturers in New Discount Drug Program," Covington E-Alert (10/9/2006), Co-Author