Practice

State Attorneys General

Skilled guidance and firsthand experience navigating AG Offices nationwide

State attorneys general are front-line state governmental enforcers with a nationwide reach. They have the statutory authority and resources to dramatically impact and change how a company conducts business. Our lawyers have the experience and insight to help clients proactively engage with state attorneys general nationwide to help shape policy trends or to navigate the considerable challenges of an AG investigation or enforcement action.
Foley Hoag offers clients an exceptional team. Our lawyers have worked in top positions in the Attorney General Offices of Massachusetts, New York, and North Carolina, and are active in national state attorneys general organizations, continuing and building relationships with attorneys general across the country. They know firsthand how AG offices and their line assistants address public policy questions, approach enforcement actions, and coordinate on multi-state investigations. 

Our State Attorneys General Practice coordinates with our industry experts across the firm to provide integrated and comprehensive legal advice tailored for your business, including advising on issues related to:
  • Consumer Protection and Unfair and Deceptive Practices
  • State Healthcare Regulation, including False Claims Act and Medicaid Fraud
  • Highly Regulated Industries, including Cannabis, Gaming and Telecommunications
  • Clean Energy and Public Utilities Regulation
  • Wage and Hour Matters
  • Charities
  • Antitrust Matters
  • Insurance and Financial Services
  • State Elections and Ballot Questions
Our lawyers work with clients to develop and implement successful strategies to achieve your business objectives. If litigation is necessary, our attorneys have a record of substantial courtroom success. Whatever the path, we work to protect clients in this very public arena.

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Experience

FALSE CLAIMS ACT MATTERS
  • We obtained a favorable settlement for an international interparty broker of financial transactions in an enforcement action by the Massachusetts Attorney General alleging bid rigging and False Claims Act violations.
  • We successfully persuaded the Massachusetts Attorney General to terminate her investigation of and decline to join a multi-state litigation against a national for-profit university alleging false claims violations.
  • Our attorneys won a favorable settlement for a national third-party administrator of workers comp claims of allegations by the Massachusetts Attorney General of false claims violations.
  • Our counsel resulted in a favorable settlement for a major pharmacy of a two-year investigation by the Massachusetts Attorney General alleging Medicaid Fraud and false claims violations.

DATA BREACH MATTERS
  • We successfully resolved a 42-state Attorney General investigation of a national retailer that alleged unfair and deceptive acts or practices for failing to prevent the digital theft of hundreds of thousands of credit cards.
  • Our firm successfully advised a drug testing laboratory, and interfaced with multiple state Attorneys General, to avoid any enforcement action in connection with breach of health data and related criminal law issues when an Illinois-based subcontractor was found in possession of patient names, Social Security numbers and credit cards. 

CONSUMER PROTECTION/UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE PRACTICES/FALSE ADVERTISING
  • We won the dismissal of claims for alleged unfair and deceptive acts or practices arising from subprime mortgage loans brought by the Massachusetts Attorney General against a national financial services firm.
  • We successfully persuaded the Massachusetts Attorney General to terminate her investigation against a major medical device company alleging unfair and deceptive acts or practices in connection with selection by physicians of the company’s device for surgical procedures.
  • We successfully resolved an investigation by the Massachusetts Attorney General and State Division of Insurance of a national health insurer alleging unfair and deceptive marketing and sales practices.
  • We won a favorable resolution of allegations by the Massachusetts Attorney General of deceptive advertising against a national dental services organization.
  • We obtained a favorable resolution of allegations by the Massachusetts Attorney General of unfair and deceptive sales and marketing practices against an international retail supplier of electricity.

WAGE AND HOUR MATTERS
  • We successfully represented an employer in lengthy criminal and civil investigations by the Attorney General’s office and other regulatory agencies involving wage-hour, tax and prevailing wage claims.
  • Our firm obtained a favorable resolution of an investigation by the Massachusetts Attorney General of a waste hauler alleging wage and hour violations.
  • We successfully persuaded the Massachusetts Attorney General to terminate an investigation of a retailer alleging denial of required meal breaks and time off of work. 

PUBLIC CHARITIES
  • Our attorneys successfully resolved the Massachusetts Attorney General investigation of a major non-profit health care company for alleged excessive executive compensation.
  • We represented seven major universities in a two-year study by the Massachusetts Attorney General of compensation practices of public charities.
  • We persuaded the Massachusetts Attorney General to amend terms of a conversion of charitable assets agreement to allow a large hospital system to close a failing community hospital.

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