Previous Cases

Jeffrey A. Newman Featured in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Article: Claim Under Consumer Protection Law 93A Yields $6.7 Million Plus $2.1 Million in Fatal Fall Case

October 1, 2011

Attorney Jeffrey A. Newman represented the family of a Northeastern University student, Jacob Freeman, who died after falling down an illegal concealed stairway in the rear of a bar on April 1, 2007. Newman convinced Superior Court Judge Elisabeth M. Fahey that the bar and its commercial landlord should be liable under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Statute, G.L. c. 93A. The Court awarded $2.2 million which were trebled and with interest and counsel fees stands at $10.7 million now. Previously the jury had found negligence and breach of the building code but did not find causation on the counts submitted to the jury.


False Claims Act/Whistleblower/Medicare Fraud handled by Jeffrey Newman

$35,000,000.00

The Plaintiff, brought a claim on behalf of the United States against a medical supply company allegedly defrauding Medicare by improperly submitting reimbursement claims for various diabetic and nebulizer products. The United States intervened in the case and, ultimately, the United States was able to recover $35,000,000.00.  According to the settlement, the subsidiaries of the manufacturer violated the False Claims Act by not obtaining a signed doctor's order or prescription for the products and without first obtaining and maintaining documentation verifying the necessity of treatment volumes in excess of administrative guidelines and documentation of the actual use of these products. Additionally, the Relators and the government alleged that the companies did not maintain documentary proof of an oral order from the treating physician prior to shipping a product, obtain a written doctor's order or prescription prior to shipping the product or obtain written authority from the beneficiary to bill Medicare on the beneficiary's behalf prior to submitting a bill to Medicare. The settlement also resolved certain administrative violations related to this conduct.

Big Dig Fraud. The Relator was an employee "Scale Master" for a Massachusetts company providing road construction material for The Big Dig. He was required to create false tickets to establish that truckloads of material were delivered to job sites, even though they never were. The Relator filed a False Claims Act case and the government intervened. The claim was settled for a significant sum.

Big Dig fraud Case 2. The Relator was a Quality Assurance Engineer for a major big dig contractor. He reported substandard products and processes being used on the project and made several complaints to his supervisors. The Relator was then removed from the jobsite and ordered to remain in an office without a phone or work to do. The qui tam action was settled administratively with the government after it intervened and there was also a separate settlement for wrongful termination on his claim

A sampling of some of the many cases handled by Jeffrey A. Newman involving sexual abuse or other violent crime:

$85,000,000 settlement for victims of clergy abuse in the Boston clergy abuse litigation. Represented over 400 victims of clergy sexual abuse within the Boston archdiocese. This final settlement resulted in arbitrations of each claim, with an average result of about $150,000 per victim. The litigation lasted nearly three years. Mr. Newman was a co-lead counsel for the victims of the abuse.

$1.75 million. The victim, a 37 year old woman and her daughter were both raped by an assailant in Lowell Massachusetts, who gained entry through a window on the ground floor, which was fitted with a small, defective lock. There had been a large number of break ins into ground floor units before the incident. The mother and daughter were severely traumatized and both testified against the assailant in the criminal trial.

$1,050,000 settlement. Sexual abuse of 14 year old boy in special-needs school by custodian who was convicted and sentenced to seven years in state prison. Assailant held a loaded gun to the head of the boy to force him to perform sexual acts. Lawsuit alleges that the managers of the school, You, Inc. were negligent in leaving the boy alone with the custodian. Damages included severe emotional harm.
 

$1,666,000 verdict. Loss of leg in bombing of Suffolk County Courthouse. Plaintiff Edmund Narine entered the probation office to obtain certificate stating he had not criminal record in order to drive a cab. An anonymous caller had warned about a bomb in the building at 8:53 am but only employees were warned to leave. The bomb went off at 9:13 am severing Mr. Narine?s leg. The jury found a member of The Suffolk County Courthouse Commission liable.
 

$862,000 verdict. Rape, commercial office building. The victim, 57 was operating a small word-processing business, in her office on Massachusetts Avenue when an assailant entered the front door of the building which had a faulty lock. She was badly beaten and raped. In the past several weeks, she had repeatedly asked the landlord to replace the door which would not lock properly, but he had refused. The jury awarded $862,000.

$962,000 verdict. The Plaintiff, 44 was a tenant in a building in Boston?s Back Bay. An assailant enterered through her window from the fire escape and raped her for several hours. The evidence included numerous previous entries into units from the unrestricted fire escape, all known to the landlord. Damages included severe post traumatic stress disorder.

$800,000 settlement. The victim was 21 when she was brutally beaten and raped by an intruder who gained entry into her basement apartment through a window. An investigation revealed that the landlord had negligently failed to provide adequate security including locks on the window. The victim's son watched her being beaten and raped. The victim suffered severe depression rendering her unable to work for several months after the attack.