Michael R. Hoernlein

White Collar Enforcement Defense

• Representing a medical device manufacturer in criminal investigation into potential violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
• Representing C-suite insurance executives in a federal financial fraud investigation.
• Second chair in a federal criminal trial defending an accountant against securities fraud charges.
• Represented two state agencies in separate federal grand jury investigations into alleged public corruption, resulting in no adverse action.
• Represented two for-profit educational institutions in separate grand jury investigations into alleged fraud, resulting in no adverse action.
• Represented a high net-worth individual in a federal grand jury investigation into fraud allegations, resulting in no adverse action.
• Defended an individual client in a federal insider trading investigation and convinced the government to close the investigation with no adverse action.

Internal Investigations

• Performed an internal investigation for a pharmaceutical company into a variety of CGMP and data integrity issues.
• Performed an internal investigation for a pharmaceutical company into allegations of fraudulent testing data.
• Performed an independent fraud investigation for a national non-profit organization.
• Performed an internal money laundering investigation for a foreign bank.
• Performed an internal investigation for a major insurance company relating to bribery allegations in a Medicaid program.
• Performed an internal investigation for an insurance company into allegations of forgery of patient signatures.

Mike Hoernlein is a litigation attorney and Certified Fraud Examiner in the firm’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group. Mike is a seasoned investigator with a long track record of helping clients uncover the truth in complex—and sensitive—internal investigations. Mike represents corporations and individuals in a wide range of industries, with a focus on health care—including providers, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device manufacturers. Mike also counsels and defends clients before state and federal authorities (including the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission) in criminal and civil investigations into potential False Claims Act violations, Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act violations, accounting fraud, insider trading, money laundering, price fixing, and public corruption.

Mike is ranked Band 2 in Chambers USA in Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations for North Carolina. He is admitted to practice in North Carolina and New York, including all federal courts in North Carolina and the District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, as well as the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bar Admissions

• North Carolina
• New York

Education

• New York University (J.D., 2001)
• Rutgers University (B.A., 1998)

Memberships