Alec Alexander Bolsters Jones Walker's Growing Health Care Practice

LAFAYETTE, La., Apr. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Jones Walker is pleased to announce that Alec Alexander has joined the firm's growing Lafayette, La. office as a special counsel in the Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group. His practice will focus on corporate health care compliance, government and internal corporate investigations, and white collar criminal matters.

Prior to joining Jones Walker, Mr. Alexander served from July 2002–April 2010 as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana. In that position, he was responsible for district-wide enforcement of the False Claims Act, and also assisted in the prosecution of several False Claims Act cases with national scope. His work included cases against hospitals, home health providers, reference laboratories, pharmaceutical manufacturers, Durable Medical Equipment (DME) providers, and teaching hospitals.

During his eight-year tenure with the Department of Justice, Mr. Alexander also organized and managed government False Claims Act investigations, trained federal agents on how to conduct these investigations, and helped develop the district's parallel proceeding policy, which coordinates the civil and criminal aspects of all fraud prosecutions. He also served as the district's Civil Health Care Fraud Coordinator and Affirmative Civil Enforcement Coordinator, and was responsible for enforcement of both the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and the Medical Care Recovery Act.

Mr. Alexander received his juris doctor degree from the South Texas College of Law in 1996. He is also a graduate of the University of Dallas, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology in 1986.

Gary J. Russo, head of the firm's Lafayette office, noted the firm's continued growth in Lafayette. "We are pleased to have Alec join the firm's Lafayette office," he said. "Along with former U.S. Attorney Donald Washington, who joined us in January, Alec provides us with extraordinary depth in the areas of corporate health care compliance and government and internal corporate investigations, both civil and criminal. His particular experience in health care litigation adds significant depth to that practice, and his background as an Assistant U.S. Attorney brings a great deal of experience to our Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group," he added.

Myla R. Reizen, leader of the firm's Health Care team, added, "Alec's reputation and experience with complex health care litigation under the False Claims Act, as well as with complex health care regulations and government investigations, expands our team's ability to assist health care clients with responses to government investigations and audits, with increasingly common internal reviews, and with developing and implementing proactive compliance programs that can add real and immediate value to our clients' compliance efforts."

Jones Walker's Lafayette office has experienced continued growth since a 2009 combination with Longman Russo, APLC. In addition, notable practitioners such as Donald W. Washington, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, and Dennis L. Doise, who currently serves as general counsel for Lafayette's River Ranch development, have also joined Jones Walker's Lafayette office, bolstering the firm's presence and expanding the range of services Jones Walker offers clients in Southwest Louisiana. The firm's Lafayette office now houses 18 attorneys who practice in such diverse areas as commercial litigation, energy, health care, and intellectual property.

Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre L.L.P. (www.joneswalker.com) provides a comprehensive range of legal services to a national and international corporate client base through offices in Alabama, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

SOURCE Jones Walker