Practice Areas
Honors + Affiliations
Member, BNA Advisory Board, Medical Devices Law & Industry Report
Co-Chair, White Collar Crime False Claims Act Subcommittee, American Bar Association
Chair, Fraud and Abuse Practice Group, American Health Lawyers Association
Recipient, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of the Inspector General's Integrity Award
Chair, Litigation Section of the Maryland State Bar Association (2004); Member and Officer, Litigation Section Council (1996–present)
Fellow, Maryland Bar Foundation
Listed, “Outstanding Healthcare Fraud and Compliance Lawyer,” Nightingale's (2008)
Recognized by the Washingtonian as one of the top attorneys in Washington, D.C. for government disclosures and handling whistleblower suits (2004, 2007, & 2009)
Listed, Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers (2007–2009) for White Collar Matters
Listed, Washington, D.C. Corporate Counsel Super Lawyers (2009) for White Collar Matters
Adjunct Faculty, Health Care Fraud and Abuse Fundamentals, Catholic University Columbia School of Law (Fall 2009)
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Washington, D.C.
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1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20004-2541
Phone: 202.739.5458
Fax: 202.739.3001
Kathleen McDermott is a partner in Morgan Lewis's FDA and Healthcare Practice and has been involved in enforcement and compliance matters affecting the health industry for 19 years. Ms. McDermott represents medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, clinical research organizations, health systems, and health plans in a broad array of federal and state healthcare criminal and civil enforcement, compliance, and litigation matters.
Ms. McDermott has been involved in more than 100 False Claims Act matters and has been recognized as a leading False Claims Act practitioner with both government and defense experience. Ms. McDermott was designated as one of the top fraud and abuse compliance attorneys in the country by Nightingale’s, as a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer in white collar matters, and as a top Washington, D.C. attorney for handling government disclosures and whistleblower actions.
Ms. McDermott served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Healthcare Fraud Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland from 1991 to 1999, directing a multi-agency federal task force focused on healthcare fraud investigations and initiatives. She was involved in DOJ enforcement policy committees in Washington, D.C., including the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee for Healthcare Fraud and the FBI’s Healthcare Fraud Working Group, and is a recipient of the Health & Human Services Office of the Inspector General's Integrity Award for her work in government healthcare fraud matters. Ms. McDermott began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge William H. Adkins, II of the Court of Appeals of Maryland in 1986.
Ms. McDermott currently serves as chair of the American Health Lawyers Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and previously has served as a co-chair of the American Bar Association's White Collar Crime False Claims Qui Tam Subcommittee, focusing on federal and state False Claims Act litigation issues.
Ms. McDermott is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Massachusetts and before various federal courts.
Education
- Suffolk University Law School, 1986, J.D., Cum Laude
- Wright State University, 1982, B.A.
