Matthew R. Hubbell special counsel

• Obtained dual federal and state cooperation agreements securing declination of prosecution of a global nuclear engineering company in a multi-billion dollar securities and fraud parallel criminal prosecution.
• Defended a contractor and achieved a declination of all criminal charges in a lengthy U.S. Department of Justice investigation of set-aside contracts in the SBA’s Service Disabled Veteran program.
• Defended a South Carolina Legislator in a high-profile public corruption investigation/prosecution by a special prosecutor where all felony charges were dismissed, and the case was resolved with a single misdemeanor offense.
• Defended federal contractor in lengthy U.S. Department of Justice investigation of multi-million dollar set-aside contracts in the SBA’s 8(a) program.
• Defended CEO in multi-year investigation by U.S. Attorney, FBI and IRS concerning alleged campaign finance and tax violations. Achieved a total declination of prosecution after convincing the Department of Justice Tax Division to decline prosecution of alleged tax offenses.
• Represented the manager of a dredging project in a federal criminal environmental trial, where the client was found not guilty on all counts. The prosecution, led by the Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section, alleged felony violations of the Clean Water Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act, and false statements to the United States. This case is believed to be the second federal criminal environmental case ever tried in the District of South Carolina.
• Represented a corporate employee in a lengthy criminal antitrust trial that ended with a verdict of not guilty. The trial was held in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was the result of a wide-ranging, 3-year Department of Justice investigation into alleged price-fixing in the United States polyester fiber manufacturing industry. After two weeks of trial, the jury deliberated for approximately four hours before finding the client not guilty.
• Represented a former corporate board chairman in a month-long securities fraud trial touted by the South Carolina Attorney General as the largest and most complex white collar case in South Carolina history.
• Represented numerous health care providers including provider entities, officers of hospitals, and doctors in criminal and False Claims Act / Qui Tam cases.
• Represented clients including a major manufacturer, an international shipping company, and corporate employees in environmental cases involving the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and other environmental laws.
• Represented companies and business executives in federal investigations involving the IRS and the Tax Division of the Department of Justice.
• Represented doctors and other health care providers in prescription drug fraud and DEA diversion cases.
• Represented corporate employees in both grand jury investigations and at trial in antitrust cases brought by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice.
• Prosecuted a state probate judge after it was discovered that the judge was defrauding elderly widows by transferring their land to himself. After the judge received a sentence of imprisonment, he attempted to hire a “hit man” to assassinate his enemies. Hubbell then prosecuted the judge for attempted murder-for-hire, at which point the judge committed suicide in prison.
• Briefed and argued appeals in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Prosecuted numerous environmental crimes and obtained one of the first jail sentences ever in the District for an environmental crime—a case in which the owner of a laboratory falsified safe drinking water tests for elementary schools.
• Prosecuted the Captain and First Engineer of the Norwegian ship Star Evivva in what was believed to be the largest offshore oil spill case in South Carolina. The spill involved thousands of gallons of heavy fuel oil and resulted in the death of about 200 migratory birds. The case raised difficult international and jurisdictional legal issues, but was successfully concluded with the conviction of the Norwegian shipping company.
• Prosecuted what is believed to be the first federal health care fraud case tried in the District of South Carolina. After a lengthy and difficult trial, the defendant—a nursing home doctor – stood convicted of numerous counts of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid by “upcoding” his services. In addition, the doctor was convicted of money laundering and was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison.
• Prosecuted a complex conspiracy case involving members of the Medellin cocaine cartel who attempted to break a kingpin out of the Charleston County Jail prior to his sentencing. The trial lasted over two weeks and was extraordinary for, among other things, the high security surrounding the trial— including heavily armed federal agents in a helicopter and on rooftops near the courthouse. On appeal in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Hubbell successfully argued the government’s case against famed Miami defense attorney Roy Black.
• Prosecuted a difficult circumstantial murder case involving a defendant who murdered his wife’s paramour with a remote-controlled car bomb. The trial lasted two weeks, and the government called over 80 witnesses to the stand—including several scientific experts – to prove the case. The defendant was convicted and sentenced to life.

• Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Review Rated Lawyer
• Multiple Consecutive Selections for South Carolina Super Lawyers®
• Chair of the South Carolina Bar Health Care Law Section (2017-2018)
• Section Delegate, Health Care Law Section, S.C. Bar House of Delegates (2019)
• President, Federal Bar Association, South Carolina Chapter (2016-2017)
• White Collar Criminal and False Claims Act /Qui Tam Defense Practice (2001 – Present)
• Co-Chair and Founder, Federal Bar Association / S.C. Qui Tam Section (2015-2017)
• Board Member, Federal Bar Association Qui Tam Section (National) (2015-2017)
• Chair, S.C. Bar Health Care Section (2017-2018)
• Council Member, S.C. Bar Health Care Section (2014-2017)
• Volunteer Mentor, Federal Drug Court Program (Bridge) (2015)
• Board Member and Co-Chair of Criminal Section, Federal Bar Association / S.C. (2014-2015)
• Chairman, Merit Selection Panel for U.S. Magistrate Judge, Charleston (2014) Executive Board, Charleston County Bar Association (2001-2004, 2006-2007, 2011-2012)
• United States Magistrate Judge Selection Panel (2007)
• Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of South Carolina (1991-2000)
• Permanent Member, 4th Circuit Judicial Conference

ARTICLES

• Co-Author, "District Court SEES a Lack of Good Cause to Intervene After Prior Declination," American Health Law Association, 22 April 2021 18 September 2020, COVID-19: K&L Gates Triage: OIG Updates Work Plan to Include Audits of COVID-19 Related Reimbursement and CARES Act Funding (Podcast)
• 18 November 2019, Qui Tam Quarterly (Alerts/Updates), Enforcement Trends in False Claims Act Liability for Patient Assistance Programs
• 24 October 2018, The Benczkowski Memorandum: DOJ’s New Guidance on Corporate Monitors (Alerts/Updates)
• 26 January 2018, A Failure to Implement Cybersecurity Measures Could Lead to False Claims Act Liability for Defense Contractors (Alerts/Updates)
• Co-Author, “Health Care Reform: Recent Developments in Fraud Enforcement,” (S.C. Bar 2008)

BOOKS

• Co-Author, Health Care Fraud and Collateral Consequences, 2d Edition (S.C. Bar 2011)
• Co-Author, Federal and State Securities Enforcement, (S.C. Bar 2008)
• Co-Author, Computer and Intellectual Property Crimes, (S.C. Bar 2003)

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

• Speaker, Bridging Broad St. program for young lawyers (United States District Court, Charleston, SC, March 27 2024).
• Speaker, S.C. Health Care Fraud Enforcement Panel, Health Law Section Seminar at the South Carolina Bar Convention (Jan. 18, 2024).
• Lecture, White Collar Criminal Practice, Charleston School of Law, November 16, 2023.
• Speaker/Moderator, Panel Discussion: The State of False Claims Act Litigation in South Carolina, with the Hon. Sherri A. Lydon, U.S. District Court Judge, Asst. U.S. Attorney Amy Bower, Marc S. Raspanti and Pamela Coyle Brecht (Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP), The Federal Bar Association, S.C. Chapter, Annual Meeting and CLE, November 9, 2023 Charleston, S.C.
• Speaker, False Claims Act Updates and Pandemic Cases, Charleston Health Care Summit hosted by K&L Gates, October 13, 2023.
• Panel Speaker, “The Defense and Relator’s Counsel Discuss Getting a Case Resolved,” with the Hon. Bruce H. Hendricks, United States District Judge for the District of S.C; Bill Nettles, Esquire (former U.S. Attorney for the District of S.C.), Michael J. Moore, Esquire (former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of GA), and James Leventis, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of S.C.; Federal Bar Association Annual Meeting and Convention, September 15, 2022.
• Speaker, Health Care Fraud and ABA, 15^th Annual Autism Law Summit, Columbia, SC, October 21, 2021.
• Co-Moderator, National COVID-19 Health Care Fraud Town Hall featuring the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, and the Deputy Chief of the Civil Division for the Northern District of Illinois, sponsored by K&L Gates with the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, Louisiana Hospital Association, North Carolina Healthcare, The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania Association, South Carolina Hospital Association, Washington State Hospital Association, August 20, 2020.
• Speaker, Health Care Fraud and Collateral Consequences, “How an Investigation Begins, Civil Investigative Demands and Defending Health Care Fraud Cases”, South Carolina Bar, November 14, 2019.
• Guest Lecturer, White Collar Crime Seminar, Charleston School of Law, April 11, 2019.
• Panel Moderator, “Developments in Health Care Enforcement”, South Carolina Bar Convention, Myrtle Beach, SC, January 2019.
• Panel Speaker, “Crisis Management”, K&L Gates Conversation Series, Charleston, SC, November 8, 2018.
• Panel Speaker, “Emerging Trends in Qui Tam/FCA Cases,” South Carolina Bar Convention, Kiawah Island, S.C. January 2018.
• Panel Speaker and Course Sponsor, “Current Trends in False Claims Act/Qui Tam Whistleblower Litigation,” Federal Bar Association/South Carolina Bar-Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Charleston, S.C., May 12, 2017.
• Panel Speaker, “Sometimes It's About More Than Just Money: Defending Parallel Criminal Prosecutions of Qui Tam Cases,” South Carolina Bar Convention, Greenville, S.C. January 2017.
• Speaker, “FCA Developments: Escobar and Beyond,” Federal Bar Association –Federal Litigation & Qui Tam Conference, Washington, D.C., October 18, 2016.
• Panel Moderator and Course Planner, “False Claims Act/Qui Tam Whistleblowers Litigation Involving Health Care Providers,” Federal Bar Association/South Carolina Bar-Continuing Legal Education Seminar, May 6, 2016.
• Panel Discussion with U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs and U.S. Magistrate Judges Mary Gordon Baker, Kaymani D. West, and Leo Brisbois: “Increasing Diversity Among Federal Magistrate Judges,” The Federal Magistrate Judges Association Board and Diversity Committee, U.S. District Court, Charleston, SC, April 12, 2016.
• Moderator, “Panel Discussion: Current False Claims Act Issues” with U.S. Attorney William Nettles, 2016 South Carolina Bar Convention, Healthcare Law Section CLE.
• Speaker, “Highlights of Proposed Revisions to OIG Exclusion Authority & Trends in Fourth Circuit False Claims Act Case Law,” 2015 S.C. Bar Convention, Healthcare Law Section CLE.
• Panel Moderator and Course Planner, “Settling False Claims Act and Qui Tam Cases,” 2015 South Carolina Bar Convention, Healthcare Law Section CLE.
• Panel Moderator, “Health Care Law in South Carolina: Hot Topics, Tips, and Trends Seminar, South Carolina Bar,” May 9, 2014.
• “Federal Fraud Enforcement of Health Care Law,” Healthcare Law in the Federal Courts, Federal Courts Law Review Symposium, Charleston School of Law, January 28, 2011.
• “Effects of the Financial Crisis on White Collar Crime,” Symposium on Crime and Punishment, Charleston School of Law, February 19, 2010.
• “Ethics: Prosecution and Defense Points of View,” Elements and Defenses of South Carolina Crimes Seminar, South Carolina Bar, June 12, 2009.
• Federal and State Securities Enforcement Seminar, South Carolina Bar, December 9, 2008.
• “Defense is Not the Dark Side,” South Carolina Federal Criminal Law Update, Charleston School of Law, July 7, 2006.
• “Health Care Fraud and Collateral Consequences,” Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, October 25, 2006.
• Federal Computer and Intellectual Property Crimes Seminar, South Carolina Bar, March 28, 2003.