John Partridge, a Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s FDA and Health Care Practice Group and Chambers-ranked white collar defense and government investigations lawyer, focuses on government and internal investigations, white collar defense, and complex litigation for clients in the life science and health care industries, among others.  Mr. Partridge has particular experience with the Anti-Kickback Statute, the False Claims Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, including defending major corporations in investigations pursued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  In its 2020 rankings, Chambers & Partners reported that Mr. Partridge’s clients regard him as a “smart and strategic tactician.”

Health Care Fraud and Abuse Matters.  Mr. Partridge has represented clients in criminal and civil enforcement actions relating to alleged health care fraud and abuse, including actions conducted by DOJ, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and State Attorneys General.  His substantive experience includes cases involving allegations relating to, among other things, advisory boards, clinical trials, compounding pharmacies, consultancy and speaker programs, electronic health record technology, free-of-charge goods and sampling, grants and IITs, importation of regulated products, off-label promotion, proctoring, product defects (and associated regulatory issues), product support activities, specialty pharmacies, and telehealth/telemedicine providers.

Among other current matters, Mr. Partridge is leading the defense of a multinational medical device company in an Anti-Kickback Statute-premised False Claims Act investigation relating to reimbursement support and marketing efforts, as well as a pharmaceutical company in a False Claims Act case based on purported fraud on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  In recent years, he persuaded DOJ not to intervene in a wide-ranging FCA case involving alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by a global pharmaceutical company (in connection with a buy-and-bill drug); the relators voluntarily dismissed the action.

Along with colleagues at Gibson Dunn, Mr. Partridge wrote the criminal enforcement and pharmaceutical sampling chapters of PLI’s Pharmaceutical Compliance and Enforcement Answer Book 2019.  In 2018, LMG named Mr. Partridge “Best in Life Sciences” among its Americas Rising Stars.

FCPA and International Anti-Corruption Matters.  Mr. Partridge has handled a range of internal and government investigations focusing on potential violations of the FCPA.  Among other engagements, he recently defended a multinational medical device and pharmaceutical company in parallel DOJ and SEC securities fraud and FCPA investigations relating to the company’s activities in more than a dozen countries in Asia.  Previously, he served as a member of an international team of Gibson Dunn lawyers assisting the compliance monitor appointed in connection with one of the largest FCPA settlements to date (Siemens AG).  His compliance monitoring and investigations work has included activities in more than a dozen countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America.

Compliance Counseling Matters.  In addition to advising multiple publicly traded corporations on investigations and litigation relating to potential healthcare fraud and abuse and FCPA issues, Mr. Partridge regularly counsels clients on the structure and effectiveness of their anti-corruption and anti-fraud compliance programs.

Experience.  Among other government investigation engagements, Mr. Partridge has counseled clients on:

• An FCPA investigation relating to a medical device company’s relationships with health care providers, public hospitals, and third-party distributors in multiple countries in Asia;
• An FCPA investigation relating to payment irregularities in Latin America;
• FCPA investigations relating to a client’s business activities in Russia and the Middle East;
• A False Claims Act investigation involving an electronic health records company’s interactions with physicians and certifications of its technology;
• A False Claims Act investigation involving a medical device company’s alleged off-label promotion of one of its devices, as well as Anti-Kickback Statute issues and purported efforts to deceive FDA with regard to the severity of a design issue impacting the efficacy of the company’s product;
• A False Claims Act investigation involving a pharmaceutical company’s sampling and pricing practices;
• A False Claims Act investigation involving a Fortune 500 hospital management company (stemming from an extensive national investigation);
• A grand jury investigation focusing on a former customer of Mr. Partridge’s client, a medical device company;
• An SEC investigation relating to the accounting and disclosures of a for-profit education company; and
• An SEC investigation focusing on the work of the independent auditors of a company that allegedly engaged in accounting fraud.

Mr. Partridge also has represented clients in a variety of matters before state and federal courts and at the trial and appellate levels.  Among other civil litigation matters, Mr. Partridge has represented:

• A dietary supplement company in putative class actions relating to product labeling issues that raised questions relating to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act;
• A pharmaceutical company in a False Claims Act case in federal court based on alleged fraud on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and purported product pricing issues tied to the patents at issue;
• A pharmaceutical company in a False Claims Act case in federal court based on alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute tied to sampling practices;
• A medical device manufacturer in a case involving alleged violations of, among other laws, California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law.  Mr. Partridge persuaded a California state court to sustain demurrers without leave to amend on federal preemption grounds.
• A pharmaceutical company in a False Claims Act case in federal court based on purported violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute relating to product-support services, educational grants, and speaker events;
• A large energy company in multiple federal court civil actions aimed at exposing and preventing enforcement of a fraudulently obtained, multi-billion dollar foreign judgment; and
• A retailer of home improvement and construction products in a series of administrative and trial-level matters in states across the country where the retailer was denied refunds of sales tax payments (including in two trials in state court).

Mr. Partridge also has appellate experience.  In addition to appeals associated with certain cases listed above, his appellate matters include:

• Open Door Ministries v. Lipschuetz, No. 14-SC-787 (Colo. 2016), in which Mr. Partridge persuaded the Colorado Supreme Court to reject an intervenor’s argument that a faith-based ministry’s promissory estoppel case against the City and County of Denver was barred by the Colorado Governmental Immunities Act.
• Clyma v. Sunoco, Inc., 594 F.3d 777 (10th Cir. 2010), in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit appointed Mr. Partridge as amicus curiae to brief the court on jurisdictional and First Amendment issues raised by a non-party’s appeal.

While seconded to the Denver City Attorney Office’s Prosecution and Code Enforcement Section, Mr. Partridge tried more than twenty criminal cases to juries or the court.

Education and Clerkship.  Mr. Partridge received his J.D., with distinction, from Stanford Law School in 2007.  While there, he served as an Executive Editor of the Stanford Law Review and was awarded the Law Review’s Board of Editors’ Award.  Mr. Partridge graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 2002 with a B.A. in History and Psychology.  Before joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Partridge clerked for the Honorable David M. Ebel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 2007 to 2008.

Committees and Community Involvement.  Mr. Partridge serves as a member of Gibson Dunn’s Pro Bono, Professional Development, and Hiring Committees—and as the Hiring Partner for Gibson Dunn’s Denver office.  He also is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado, a non-profit dedicated to supporting access to justice for low-income residents of Colorado.  In recognition of his community involvement and professional achievements, he was recognized by the Denver Business Journal as a “40 Under 40” winner in 2019.

Admissions.  Mr. Partridge is admitted to practice law in the states of California and Colorado, as well as in the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the District of Colorado, the Central District of California, and the Northern District of California.