What is...Qui Tam?

Monica P. Navarro is a partner in the Vezina Law Group, with offices in Birmingham, Michigan and New Orleans, Louisiana, where she heads the firm's healthcare group. For over twenty-years, Monica has specialized in healthcare, business, and fraud and abuse laws, as well as related litigation. A summa cum laude graduate, Monica is an alum of the University of Michigan Law School and of Florida International University. She is a former federal judicial law-clerk to the Honorable Julian Abele Cook, Jr., in the United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan. She is also a Professor Emeritus of the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School, where she taught civil procedure and health law for six years. Year after year, Monica has been the recipient of numerous professional distinctions, including Crain's Detroit Business 40 Under 40" honoree, a Michigan Super Lawyer, a Michigan Top 50 Lawyer, and a Michigan Top 20 Women in the Law. Monica is a frequent speaker and is widely published on health law topics and FCA matters, including Materiality: A Needed Return to Basics in False Claims Act Liability, 43 University of Memphis Law Review 105 (Fall 2012) and A Look at the Constitutional Implications of Retrospective Laws: The Case of the False Claims Act, 28:1 Thomas M. Cooley Law Review 96 (Winter 2011). Monica holds a variety of leadership positions with the Bar, including as Council-Member of the State Bar of Michigan Health Law Section, Vice-Chair of the Editorial Board of the ABA's The Health Lawyer, and Vice-Chair of the ABA's Health Law Section Publications Committee. Monica's representative matters include FMF class action litigation ($24 million); Johnson & Johnson in re Topamax litigation ($89 million); and GE Healthcare in re Myoview litigation ($30 million). Monica is licensed in Michigan and Illinois and is admitted to practice in numerous courts, including the United States Supreme Court. J. Marc Vezina is a managing partner of the Vezina Law Group, with offices in Birmingham, Michigan and New Orleans, Louisiana. His practice focuses on Qui Tam litigation specifically and fraud and abuse cases generally throughout the country. Marc has an accomplished track record in Qui Tam litigation, having been lead counsel in cases which have recovered over half a billion dollars, including a settlement with Merck of over $250,000,000 in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Marc often serves as special trial counsel in complex cases throughout the country and is an appointed Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Louisiana, where he tries complex damage cases and consumer protection matters. In addition to presenting and lecturing on Qui Tam litigation and a wide variety of medical and legal issues for bar and professional organizations nationwide, he is a visiting professor at Our Lady of Holy Cross College School of Nursing, where he teaches on risk management and fraud and abuse issues. Marc is also an active pilot who regularly counsels clients on aviation matters, including aircraft brokerage, licensing, acquisition, and ownership issues; and is general counsel to numerous educational, religious, and charitable organizations throughout the country. He is licensed in Louisiana, Michigan, Georgia, and Texas.