Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Startups
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • 2022 Virginia Business Political Roundtable
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Power Up Virginia 500
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2023

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • Issues
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • Issues Archive
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Startups
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • 2022 Virginia Business Political Roundtable
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Power Up Virginia 500
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2023

Home News Industries Law Judge dismisses LeClairRyan malpractice suit

Judge dismisses LeClairRyan malpractice suit

Published August 12, 2019 by Richard Foster

Updated Aug. 13

A Richmond Circuit Court judge has dismissed a $603 million malpractice lawsuit against embattled Richmond law firm LeClairRyan, which recently announced that it is going out of business.

On Thursday, Richmond Chief Circuit Court Judge Clarence Jenkins dismissed the 2017 lawsuit filed by former Health Diagnostic Laboratory (HDL) Inc. CEO Tonya Mallory, who had alleged that LeClairRyan provided poor legal advice that led to the bankruptcy and closure of her once-booming blood-testing business and an $111 million federal judgment against her and two other executives.

Mallory’s lawsuit alleged that LeClairRyan had “repeatedly advised” her that HDL’s practice of paying processing and handling fees to physicians who ordered its blood tests didn’t violate federal anti-kickbacks laws. LeClairRyan settled a similar malpractice complaint brought by HDL’s bankruptcy trustee for $20.3 million. Mallory herself paid a $10 million settlement to the liquidating trustee.

In his opinion, Jenkins wrote that a federal district court “has already determined that plaintiff [Mallory] knowingly engaged in the conduct complained of. Consequently, plaintiff is at least partially responsible for the injuries she sustained. Therefore, plaintiff’s claim for recovery is barred.”

In a statement issued to a legal trade magazine The American Lawyer, Lori Thompson, the firm’s general counsel, said the firm was “very pleased” with Jenkins’ decision and with the representation of its outside counsel, Richmond-based Christian & Barton LLP.

Mallory says she intends to appeal the decision, saying she believes the judge based his decision on an incorrect interpretation of a 2018 federal trial in South Carolina in which a jury found her and two other defendants liable for more than $111 million in damages and penalties under the federal False Claims Act for Medicare fraud.

“The judge has it wrong,” Mallory says firmly. She adds that the amount she was seeking from LeClairRyan had been adjusted to $150 million, not $603 million, as listed in the lawsuit's initial filing.

At its peak, HDL was bringing in $420 million in annual revenue and employed 750 people at its downtown Richmond headquarters. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2015 after paying a $47 million settlement to the federal government, which had alleged that she and HDL had conspired to violate federal law by using the reimbursement scheme to entice doctors to order expensive and medically unnecessary tests for federally insured Medicare and Tricare patients.

LeClairRyan still faces other lawsuits, however, including a pending gender discrimination lawsuit by a former employee who alleges the firm had a widespread practice of gender-based pay disparities.

According to The American Lawyer, the Richmond firm is also close to resolving a malpractice suit brought against it in Chicago federal court by RF Technologies, a manufacturer of fast-food industry components. RF Technologies alleges that LeClairRyan was negligent in the representation it provided the company in a patent infringement case.

LeClairRyan announced earlier this month that it was taking steps to dissolve its practice. Once the state’s fifth-largest law firm, it employed more than 350 attorneys in 21 offices nationwide at its height. During the last few years, the firm’s gross revenues have steadily declined, sinking from $163 million in 2015 to $122.5 million last year.

Related Stories

New law firm opens in Richmond

Virginia Business logo

Hunton & Williams to merge with Texas law firm

Virginia Business logo

Hunton & Williams to open Boston office

Trending

Norfolk’s MacArthur Center mall listed for sale

Making strides

It’s back!

Fort Monroe development moving forward

Danville lacks housing options for workforce

Sponsored Stories

What Logistics issues will have the biggest impact on you in 2023?

In the New Year, Aim for Better Cybersecurity

4 innovative ways to create capacity

WHERE IS THE SUPPLY CHAIN WHEN YOU NEED IT?

P.A.I.N.T. Your Financial Mountain

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Blazing trails in the digital landscape

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

Norfolk’s MacArthur Center mall listed for sale

Making strides

It’s back!

Fort Monroe development moving forward

Danville lacks housing options for workforce

Sponsored Stories

What Logistics issues will have the biggest impact on you in 2023?

In the New Year, Aim for Better Cybersecurity

4 innovative ways to create capacity

WHERE IS THE SUPPLY CHAIN WHEN YOU NEED IT?

P.A.I.N.T. Your Financial Mountain

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Blazing trails in the digital landscape

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2023 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk