The Law Firm of Michael S. Porter, LLC
Litigating False Claims Act / Whistleblower Cases
And Personal Injury And Commercial Disputes Nationwide
303-940-8370
CONTACT
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Representative Trial Court and Appellate Decisions

  1. Berg v. United States, 806 F.2d 978 (10th Cir. 1986) (I defended the University of Colorado Medical Center and Robert Lattes, M.D. regarding claims of medical malpractice in this federal appeal. The Tenth Circuit affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of all claims against my clients)
  2. Boyd v. A.O. Smith Harvestore Products, Inc., 776 P.2d 1125 (Colo. App. 1989) (In this products liability defense case, the Colorado Court of Appeals reviewed the trial court’s dismissal of all claims against my client, a manufacturer of agricultural silos.)
  3. Gorman v. Tucker, 961 P.2d 1126 (Colo. 1998) (This case involved an automobile/pedestrian collision, in which my client was severely injured. I pursued an interpretation of Colorado’s Medicaid lien statute that enhanced the State of Colorado’s right to recover the sums it had expended on behalf of my client. The trial court rejected my interpretation of the statute, but the Colorado Court of Appeals agreed with me. In this decision, the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision and adopted my interpretation of Colorado’s Medicaid lien statute.)
  4. United States ex rel. Maxwell v. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., 2006 WL 1660638 (D. Colo. June 9, 2006) (In this False Claims Act case concerning the underpayment of federal oil royalties, the Defendants moved for summary judgment arguing the court lacked jurisdiction because the relator did not qualify under the public disclosure/original source provisions of 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4). The trial court denied the motion for summary judgment.)
  5. United States ex rel. Maxwell v. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., 2006 WL 2869515 (D. Colo. Oct. 6, 2006) (Here, the trial court in this False Claims Act case denied the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment premised on the argument that we could not prove a case on the merits against them.)
  6. United States ex rel. Phillips v. Front Range Home Improvements, Ltd., 2008 WL 1818003 (D. Colo. April 21, 2008) (In this False Claims Act case concerning construction overcharges with respect to a renovation project at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the defendant sought to have the trial court dismiss my client’s claim of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. The trial court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss.)
  7. United States ex rel. Maxwell v. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., 540 F.3d 1180 (10th Cir. 2008) (Following a successful federal jury trial in which the jury awarded over $7.5M in False Claims Act damages, the trial court reversed its position and dismissed the case. In this appellate decision, the Tenth Circuit reversed the trial court and reinstated the favorable jury award.)
  8. James Nursery v. B.O.S.S. Compost, Inc., 2008cv195, Adams County District Court, April 27, 2009 (My client in this case was a large wholesale nursery that sustained substantial damage to its stock as a result of defective compost. I brought a products liability claim against the supplier of the compost. The compost supplier moved the trial court to dismiss the claims because the compost and damaged plants had been destroyed after the supplier had inspected them. The trial court rejected the motion, and awarded my client its attorneys’ fees and costs.)
  9. United States ex rel. Maxwell v. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., 2009 WL 3161828 (D. Colo. Sept. 30, 2009) (Following remand to the trial court, in this False Claims Act case, the Defendant moved the court to either enter judgment in its favor, grant a new trial or reduce the amount of the damages. In this decision, the trial court rejected all three motions.)
  10. Creel v. Jahani, 2009 WL 4250065 (D. Colo. Nov. 25, 2009) (In this False Claims Act wrongful termination/retaliation case arising because my client had “blown the whistle” on the defendant physician’s Medicare fraud, the defendant moved to stay the case because all his records had been seized by the DEA and the IRS. The trial court denied the motion to stay.)
  11. United States ex rel. Maxwell v. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., 2010 WL 3730894 (D. Colo. Sept. 16, 2010) (In this False Claims Act case, the trial court assessed the three times damages multiplier, awarded penalties of $264,000 and entered judgment in the amount of $22,931,658.78.)
  12. Jones v. Estate of Brady, 2011 WL 6096303 (D. Colo. Dec. 7, 2011) (I represented a husband and father who had been grievously injured in a head on collision caused by the negligence of an extremely intoxicated young man. Because the young man had insufficient insurance coverage I sought to hold his parent’s responsible under Colorado’s Family Car Doctrine. Here, the parents moved for summary judgment. The trial court denied their motion.)
  13. Jones v. Estate of Brady, 2012 WL 255794 (D. Colo. Jan. 27, 2012) (In this related decision, the court ruled on certain evidentiary matters, known as motions in limine. The case shortly thereafter proceeded to jury trial. On the morning of the second day of trial, the Defendants settled the case.)
  14. United States ex rel. Little v. Shell Exploration & Production Co., 690 F.3d 282 (5th Cir. 2012) (In this False Claims Act case arising from allegations of federal oil royalty underpayments, the trial court had dismissed the case finding that the relators did not qualify as relators because they were federal employees and also because no jurisdiction existed by virtue of the public disclosure/original source provisions of 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4). The Fifth Circuit reversed the trial court and remanded the case for further proceedings finding the relators qualified as relators and also that the trial court needed to re-examine the summary judgment evidence upon which it had relied.)
  15. United States ex rel. Little v. Shell Exploration & Production Co., 602 Fed. Appx. 959 (5th Cir. 2015) (With reference to the previous decision, upon remand the trial court ignored the guidance it had received from the Fifth Circuit and, once again, dismissed the case finding it was barred by the public disclosure/original source provision of 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4). The Fifth Circuit once again reversed the trial court and, this time, ruled that the case should be reassigned to a new federal judge.)
  16. United States ex rel. Fowler v. Evercare Hospice, Inc., 2015 WL 5568614 (D. Col. Sept. 21, 2015) (In this False Claims Act case alleging Medicare Fraud in the provision of hospice care, the Defendants asked the court to dismiss the relators’ and the government’s claims. The trial court denied these motions in this decision.)
  17. United States ex rel. Fowler v. Evercare Hospice, Inc., (D. Col. Sept. 15, 2016) (Following the successful settlement of the False Claims Act claims in this case for $18M, we sought to dismiss the claims of a competing relator. Under the False Claims Act’s “first-to-file” provision found at 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(5), only the relators who first assert the claim are entitled to recover. Here, my clients were the first to blow the whistle on the alleged fraud of the Defendant. Another defendant who filed a claim over two years after I filed this case claimed the right to recover a share of the proceeds. In this decision, the trial court granted our motion and dismissed the claims of the competing relator.)
  18. United States ex rel. Fowler v. Evercare Hospice, Inc., 2017 WL 491168 (D. Col. Feb. 7, 2017) (Notwithstanding the outstanding contribution which my clients contributed to the $18M settlement in this False Claims Act case, the government sought to hold their share of recovery to only 18%. We elected to fight the government’s decision. In this ruling the court awarded Michael’s clients 20% of the recovery which amounted to an additional $360,000.00.)

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