PUBLIC CLIENT
Partners for public enforcement.
We serve state attorneys general, government agencies, and cities and municipalities in their efforts to protect consumers, patients, workers, and public funds from false claims and deceptive practices.
We offer a litigation, investigation and counseling practice dedicated to meeting the needs of state and local governments. Given limited government budgets and a growing list of harms to the public, we provide assistance to public clients in select cases where the government entity is undertaking large-scale matters requiring specialized expertise and additional resources. We help government enforcement agencies level the playing field against powerful corporate actors with expansive legal and lobbying budgets. We support state attorneys general and local government agencies in their mission to protect consumers, patients, workers and public funds from false claims and other deceptive practices.
About Us
We have assisted public clients in litigating landmark consumer fraud cases against many of the largest financial services, health care and other companies in the United States. While many of our representations are confidential investigations, some cases are matters of public record. We have represented multiple public clients in civil law enforcement investigations aimed at the fraudulent lending practices that led to the financial crisis in 2008. We were counsel to the state of Nevada in a consumer fraud lawsuit against Bank of America over the servicing of approximately one-half million mortgages, securing financial payments, commitments to mortgage modifications and other relief valued at nearly $1 billion. We served as counsel to a co-lead state in the landmark consumer fraud lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s over the misrepresentation of its business model responsible for rating mortgage-backed securities, which resulted in a $1.375 billion global settlement for 19 states, the District of Columbia and the United States Department of Justice. Most recently, we represented the co-lead state and another state in the $864 million settlement achieved by 22 states and the U.S. Department of Justice with Moody’s Corporation, Moody’s Investor Services, Inc. and Moody’s Analytics, Inc. The Moody’s and S&P cases produced key industry reforms that guarantee greater transparency for consumers and divested the credit rating agencies of more than $2.2 billion for their conduct contributing to the national housing crisis and Great Recession.
Current Cases
Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System v. Express Scripts, Inc.
Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System v. Express Scripts, Inc. (Franklin C.P., Ohio): Cohen Milstein serves as Special Counsel to the Ohio Attorney General In this breach of contract litigation alleging that Express Scripts, Inc. overcharged HPRS on the pharmaceutical claims that Express Scripts processed as HPRS’ PBM.
City of Chicago v. DoorDash, Inc., and Caviar, LLC
City of Chicago v. DoorDash, Inc., and Caviar, LLC (N.D. Ill.): Cohen Milstein represents the City of Chicago in this trailblazing lawsuit, which is the result of a comprehensive investigation directed by Chicago’s Department of Law and Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. Chicago alleges that DoorDash deceives consumers—and unfairly harms restaurants and drivers—with misleading restaurant listings, fees, menu prices, and allocation of driver tips. Filed the same day as Chicago’s parallel action against Grubhub, the lawsuit aims to establish a fairer and more transparent marketplace for meal delivery in the city. Chicago’s lawsuits against DoorDash and Grubhub are the first comprehensive law enforcement actions against meal delivery companies in the United States.
RealPage Antitrust Litigation
District of Columbia v. RealPage, Inc. et al. (D.C. Sup. Crt.): Cohen Milstein supports the District of Columbia Attorney General’s office in a parens patriae antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, Inc. and fourteen of the largest landlords in the District for allegedly colluding to artificially inflate rents throughout the District in violation of the D.C. Antitrust Act.
Past Cases
Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation v. OptumRx Administrative Services, LLC
Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation v. OptumRx Administrative Services, LLC (Franklin C.P., Ohio): Cohen Milstein served as Special Counsel to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in breach of contract litigation against OptumRx Administrative Services, LLC for its allegedly overcharging BWC on certain pharmaceutical claims that OptumRx processed as BWC’s PBM. On October 28, 2022, OptumRx agreed to pay the State of Ohio $15 million to settle the litigation.
Ohio Department of Medicaid et al. v. Centene Corporation et al.
Ohio Department of Medicaid v. Centene, Corp. (Franklin C.P., Ohio): Cohen Milstein served as Special Counsel to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in this litigation. On June 14, 2021, the Ohio Attorney General announced a $88.3 million settlement with Centene Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries for their alleged role in not only breaching contractual and fiduciary obligations to the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM), but also defrauding ODM out of millions of dollars through an elaborate scheme with pharmacy benefit subcontractors to maximize company profits at the expense of the ODM and millions of Ohioans who rely on Medicaid.