Constantine Cannon LLP Announces Three Partnership Promotions
Hamsa Mahendranathan, Sarah “Poppy” Alexander, and Ari Yampolsky join the partnership ranks of the largest and most successful international whistleblower practice in the world
NEW YORK, December 8, 2021 –– Constantine Cannon LLP is pleased to announce that it has elevated three attorneys, Hamsa Mahendranathan, Sarah “Poppy” Alexander, and Ari Yampolsky, to partners of the firm. All three attorneys have contributed to the firm’s landmark work representing whistleblowers as they expose fraud and return taxpayers’ money to the U.S. government.
Constantine Cannon is home to one of the largest and most successful international practices in the world devoted to whistleblower law. Constantine Cannon’s experience includes some of the largest claims in history under federal and state False Claims Acts, as well as the whistleblower programs of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Department of Transportation (DOT), and others.
“We continue to be extremely impressed with the magnificent work from Hamsa, Poppy, and Ari.” said Richard Aborn, Managing Partner of Constantine Cannon. “Each of these talented attorneys has excelled in their practice. We look forward to their continued success and achievements as partners.”
Hamsa Mahendranathan joined the firm’s New York office in 2015 and specializes in litigating whistleblower claims under the federal False Claims Act and its numerous state law equivalents. She also represents whistleblowers under the whistleblower programs of the IRS, SEC, and CFTC.
Ms. Mahendranathan has represented several successful whistleblowers in recent years, including the first whistleblower to successfully litigate a cybersecurity case under the False Claims Act. She also represented three whistleblowers in a federal False Claims Act case against a military defense contractor concerning violations of the Iran sanctions regime. The contractor settled the criminal and civil liability arising out of this misconduct for $45 million. Recently, she represented a whistleblower in a home health care fraud case against Visiting Nurse Services of New York (VNSNY), one of the largest home health agencies in the country. VNSNY paid $57 million to settle her client’s claims.
“I’m grateful to work at one of the top whistleblower firms in the country and thrilled to receive this recognition from my colleagues,” said Ms. Mahendranathan. “I look forward to continuing to represent whistleblowers as they expose fraud through this new chapter of my career.”
Sarah “Poppy” Alexander has been at the firm’s San Francisco office since 2016, representing whistleblowers and government entities in qui tam lawsuits in both federal and state court, as well as under the IRS, SEC, and CFTC’s whistleblower programs. Her remarkable work has been recognized by the Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars, where she has been named on their exclusive list every year since 2016.
Ms. Alexander recently helped secure a $363 million recovery for the U.S. government from a group of Korean oil companies who engaged in a decade-long bid rigging scheme to overcharge the military for oil and gas contracts. The case was the largest Clayton Act Section 4A settlement in American history and was the impetus for a new DOJ enforcement initiative. On top of the tremendous victory for the public fisc, Ms. Alexander played a lead role in drafting the papers to secure Constantine Cannon’s client a share of the victory close to the legal maximum, or $37 million.
“I am so honored to be able to continue my work building this team and this practice,” said Ms. Alexander. “This firm’s team produces incredible results for whistleblowers, and I’m excited to keep pushing our cases forward.”
Ari Yampolsky began his journey at the firm’s San Francisco office in 2015, where he represents whistleblowers under every major whistleblower-reward law. Just this year, Mr. Yampolsky, together with Ms. Alexander, secured a $24.3 million whistleblower reward for a former Hyundai safety engineer in the first-ever whistleblower award from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Last year, Mr. Yampolsky represented a whistleblower and dozens of government entities in ground-breaking state False Claims Act lawsuits against AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, which resulted in a $138 million settlement and a 40 percent relator share for his whistleblower client. Mr. Yampolsky helped recover $8 million for taxpayers stemming from a scheme by a brake-pad importer to avoid customs duties. Mr. Yampolsky also has substantial experience in matters involving illegal kickbacks in the pharmaceutical industry, Medicare Advantage fraud, and fraud by hospitals, long-term-care, and laboratory companies.
“There is no better firm than Constantine Cannon for my growth as an attorney,” said Mr. Yampolsky. “The work we do for whistleblowers is critical to exposing fraud, and our team is the most well-oiled machine for the job.”
About Constantine Cannon LLP
With offices in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and London, Constantine Cannon’s whistleblower practice is the largest and most successful in the world, representing many of the largest claims in history. The firm also has deep expertise in areas that include antitrust and complex commercial litigation, government relations, securities, and e-discovery. The firm’s antitrust practice is among the largest and most well recognized in the nation. Constantine Cannon’s experience spans multiple industries, including healthcare, banking, electronic payments, insurance, high tech, telecommunications, the Internet, and government contracting.