PARTNER | SHE, HER, HERS
in | Office: 646 503 1246 | Direct: 646 503 1247
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Hamsa Mahendranathan is a partner at Whistleblower Partners. Hamsa has a varied False Claims Act practice that spans several industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity, and military defense contracting. She also represents whistleblowers navigating the SEC Whistleblower Program, most notably in matters involving clinical trial fraud.Hamsa started her legal career in the litigation group of Mayer Brown, where she litigated complex commercial cases and represented asylum applicants and human trafficking victims pro bono. After Mayer Brown, Hamsa worked at Constantine Cannon for nine years. At Constantine Cannon, Hamsa had a robust pro bono practice in addition to representing whistleblowers in FCA and SEC matters. Hamsa is currently a member of the Federal Bar Council’s Inn of Court, the New York State Bar Association’s Civil Prosecution Committee, and the President’s Council of the TAF Coalition, a non-profit organization that supports whistleblowers who expose fraud impacting government funds or financial markets.
Hamsa received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Wien National Scholar, a Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court Semifinalist, and a Moot Court Editor. In her second year, she interned for United States Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz in the Southern District of New York. She also spent the summer after her first year of law school representing defendants sentenced to death in Louisiana. Hamsa received a B.A. in Economics and International Studies from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
Prior to law school, Hamsa worked on DCMA audits and employee stock options for a small government contractor.
Hamsa spends most of her free time with her spouse–a public school teacher–and their two feisty chihuahuas. She enjoys trying new foods, visiting animals at farm sanctuaries, and guessing the ending of BBC mystery shows. She is in constant competition with her many cousins for the title of Favorite Auntie to her many nieces and nephews.
Represented a health care coding and compliance expert who brought FCA claims alleging Medicare Advantage fraud by a large hospital network that settled for $90 million in August 2021.
Represented an anonymous whistleblower who received a multi-million-dollar award from the SEC in May 2021 for submitting information regarding securities law violations by a brokerage firm.
Represented an executive who settled his FCA claims alleging widespread failures by a home health agency to provide adequate home health care for $57 million in June 2020.
Represented a group of whistleblowers who brought FCA claims alleging Iran sanctions violations by a military food vendor which prompted a $45 million criminal and civil settlement in December 2019.
“Protecting the Whistleblower,” The False Claims Act and Government Contracts: The Intersection of Federal Government Contracts, Administrative Law, and Civil Fraud (Christine R. Couvillon and Shelley R. Slade eds., 2nd ed. 2023) (paywall)
“The FinCEN Files Prove We Need an Anti-Money-Laundering Whistleblower Program,” PCCE Compliance & Enforcement (October 12, 2020)
Sarah Jarvis, "DaVita To Pay $34M In Medicare Kickback Whistleblower Suit," Law360 (July 18, 2024) (with Michael Ronickher) (paywall)
Sarah Mulholland, "Denver-based dialysis giant DaVita pays $34 million to settle another whistleblower case," CPR News (July 18, 2024)
Sam Skolnik, “Boeing, Facebook Whistleblower Lawyers Announce New Firm,” Bloomberg Law (March 21, 2024)
Kevin Stawicki, “Home Health Care Nonprofit to Pay $57M in Record FCA Deal,” Law360 (June 26, 2020) (paywall)
Daniel Wilson, “Gov’t Contracts Group of the Year: Constantine Cannon,” Law360 (February 14, 2020) (paywall)
Bill Goodwin, “Cisco Pays $8.6M After Whistleblower Discloses Security Flaws in Video Surveillance System,” Computer Weekly (August 1, 2019)
Joseph Marks, “Cisco to Pay $8.6 Million Fine for Selling Government Hackable Surveillance Technology,” The Washington Post (July 31, 2019) (paywall)
Doug Pensinger, “The Ridiculous Saga of Lance Armstrong, the Cheater Who Became an Enemy of the State,” Deadspin (April 20, 2018)
“Qui Tam,” National Bar Association’s 99th Annual Convention & Exhibits (July 17, 2024)
“Update on FDA-Related Qui Tams and the False Claims Act (FCA),” Enforcement, Litigation, and Compliance Conference for the Drug, Device, Food, and Tobacco Industries (December 7, 2023)
“Hot Topics & Trends,” The Anti-Fraud Coalition’s 23rd Annual Conference (October 18, 2023)
“Apples & Oranges? Tips for Combining Qui Tam & Class Claims,” 21st Annual Impact Fund Class Action Conference (February 24, 2023)
“Whistleblowers: Who Are They, and What Makes a Good Whistleblower Case,” virtual Healthcare Enforcement Compliance Conference (November 8, 2022)
“Antitrust and Fraud Enforcement,” Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund’s 22nd Annual Conference (October 26, 2022)
“Critical Developments Involving the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and Medicare Advantage Program,” ACI’s Advanced Forum on False Claims and Qui Tam Enforcement (June 23, 2022)
Federal Bar Council Inn of Court Presentation on Pigford v. Glickman, included in Black History Programming shared by the Federal Bar Council (January/February 2022)
“Medicare Advantage Fraud,” Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund’s 21st Annual Conference (October 15, 2021)
“War Stories with Kate Scanlan,” Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund’s Young Lawyer Division (September 29, 2021)
“Paying the Piper, Recent Developments in False Claims Act Practice,” Federal Bar Council (April 8, 2021)
“Fraud in the Time of COVID-19: Medical Devices,” Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund (March 24, 2021)
“Spotlight Series: Lessons Learned in Life and Law,” New York Women in Antitrust Group (March 11, 2021)
“Fraud in the Time of COVID-19: Current Good Manufacturing Processes (cGMP) Fraud,” Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund (September 24, 2020)
“Fraud in the Time of COVID-19: Clinical Trials,” Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund (August 20, 2020)
“Fraud in the Time of COVID-19: Pharmaceuticals, Biologics, and Devices,” Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund (June 11, 2020)
“Introduction Video,” Immigration Justice Campaign (August 15, 2018), (discussing pro bono representation of an asylum seeker)
President’s Council of the The Anti-Fraud Coalition
Federal Bar Council’s Inn of Court
New York State Bar Association’s Civil Prosecution Committee
Volunteer Mentor through America Needs You
Columbia Law School (2012)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2008)