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Forty-Two California Government Entities Join Whistleblower Suit Against Nation’s Largest Wireless Carriers

San Francisco, CA (December 8, 2015) – More than 40 California government entities have joined a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower against Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. The case, brought in Sacramento County Superior Court under the California False Claims Act, alleges that the wireless companies overcharged government customers by more than $100 million. The government intervenors and the whistleblower are represented by Constantine Cannon LLP. The action was unsealed by the Court on December 7, 2015. The wireless companies are alleged to have ignored two cost-saving requirements included in the master contracts under which California state and local government customers purchased wireless services.  Specifically, the master contracts required the carriers to determine and report to the government customers which rate plan selections would result in the lowest cost – referred to as “rate plan optimization” – and to provide wireless services at “the lowest available cost.” Rate plan optimization is a computerized service that analyzes individuals’ usage patterns quarterly and identifies the least expensive service or rate plan for each phone or user. Selecting the rate plan that best matches usage patterns reduces costs by 20-30% over the term of a contract.  Although the master contracts with the government required it, the wireless carriers did not prepare or provide rate plan optimization reports, the lawsuit alleges.  Further, as the carriers did not bill government customers utilizing the most cost effective rate plans, the defendants are also alleged to have failed to provide service at the “lowest available cost.”  The carriers’ failure to live up to their contractual promises, the lawsuit alleges, resulted in overcharges to the government of more than $100 million. “The carriers promised optimization in order to win these government contracts, which are worth billions of dollars,” said Anne Hayes Hartman, a partner at Constantine Cannon with extensive experience representing whistleblowers and government entities in False Claims Act cases. “But while they were happy to take the government’s money, the carriers simply ignored their commitments to bill using the lowest cost rate plans.  The carriers profited and taxpayers paid the price.” “We look forward to recovering the lost savings and securing ongoing contract compliance for the many government entities that were damaged,” said Wayne T. Lamprey, a partner at Constantine Cannon and former Assistant U.S. Attorney. The action was brought by OnTheGo Wireless, which has been one of the leading rate plan analysis firms in the country and a pioneer in the field of rate plan optimization. The case is State of California et al. ex rel. OntheGo Wireless, LLC v. Cellco Partnership et al., Case No. 34-2012-00127517 (Super. Ct. Cal., Sacramento County). Intervening Entities Regents of the University of California Los Angeles County Madera County Marin County Orange County Riverside County Sacramento County San Bernardino County Santa Cruz County Sonoma County Stanislaus County Yuba County City of Capitola City of Chino City of Corona City of Fortuna City of Long Beach City of Oxnard City of Rancho Cucamonga City of Ripon City of Riverside City of Sacramento City of San Bernardino City of San Mateo City of Santa Cruz City of Santa Rosa City of Vernon City of Victorville Grossmont Union High School District Irvine Unified School District Kaweah Delta Health Care District Kings Canyon Unified School District Olivenhain Municipal Water District Sonoma County Water Agency Rosemead School District Saddleback Valley Unified San Diego Unified School District Santa Cruz Public Libraries Torrance Unified School District Victor Valley Transit Authority Whittier Union High School District Woodbridge Fire District   About Constantine Cannon LLP Constantine Cannon, with offices in New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco and London, has deep expertise in practice areas that include antitrust and complex commercial litigation, whistleblower representation, 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 across multiple industries including healthcare, banking, electronic payments, insurance, high tech, telecommunications, the Internet and government contracting. Constantine Cannon’s whistleblower lawyer practice represents whistleblowers under the False Claims Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the various federal and state laws that encourage industry insiders to report evidence of fraud or misconduct. The firm was one of the first in the country to bring a claim under the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Constantine Cannon Opens San Francisco Office With Whistleblower Lawyer Heavyweights

In a further expansion of its rapidly growing Whistleblower Practice, Constantine Cannon announced today the opening of an office in San Francisco, and that well-known Bay Area qui tam whistleblower lawyers Eric Havian, Wayne T. Lamprey and Anne Hayes Hartman will be joining the firm. Havian, founding partner of the San Francisco office of prominent whistleblower law firm Phillips & Cohen, is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and one of the most experienced qui tam whistleblower attorneys in the nation. He acted as lead counsel in cases that recovered over $1.2 billion for government agencies and resulted in awards to his whistleblower clients of over $200 million, including several of the largest False Claims Act settlements in history. In recent years he has been named a Top 10 “Winning Attorney” by National Law Journal and “Attorney of the Year” by California Lawyer. Lamprey as well has long experience in the field, both as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and in the private sector. Whistleblower actions where he was lead counsel have recovered more than $275 million for the government, including two of the largest recoveries under the California False Claims Act. Havian and Lamprey are joined in Constantine Cannon’s San Francisco office by Anne Hayes Hartman, who has extensive experience in complex litigation and qui tam actions in the health care, defense, natural resources and financial industries. Full biographies of the new Constantine Cannon whistleblower attorneys follow. The opening of its San Francisco office continues Constantine Cannon’s expansion in both the Whistleblower and Antitrust arenas. In addition to its Whistleblower Practice, the firm is among the largest, most well known antitrust law firms in the United States, responsible for two of the largest antitrust settlements in history. The firm also will be expanding its antitrust practice on the West Coast. In 2013, the firm opened an office in London to complement its established offices in New York and Washington. The firm also practices in areas that include Commercial Litigation, Government Relations, Intellectual Property & Technology, and Art & Cultural Property. “We are pleased to welcome such highly-regarded attorneys in the field of whistleblower law to our firm,” said Richard Aborn, Constantine Cannon’s Managing Partner. “Eric, Wayne, and Anne are perfectly suited to complement our existing whistleblower practice as we continue our growth and success.” Gordon Schnell, who founded Constantine Cannon’s Whistleblower Practice, said: “We are very excited to have Eric, Wayne and Anne join our whistleblower lawyer team. With their exceptional experience and track record, we will be well situated to increase the scope and breadth of our ever-expanding practice in this exciting and important area of the law." Havian said “Constantine Cannon has a demonstrated commitment to pursuing claims against the largest of adversaries, which can be critical in False Claims actions.”  Lamprey added that Constantine Cannon has “an extraordinary history of success in antitrust, and we look forward to being a part of their Whistleblower Practice and working with an exceptional pool of talent.” ABOUT THE NEW LAWYERS Eric R. Havian Havian has more than 20 years of experience representing whistleblowers under the False-Claims Act, Dodd-Frank, and other federal and state whistleblower laws. Most recently, he was lead counsel in a qui tam case against DaVita HealthCare Partners, resulting in one of the largest kickback settlements in history (more than $400 million) and also one of the largest awards to a single whistleblower in history (more than $65 million). In addition to the DaVita case, Mr. Havian was lead counsel in two other cases that settled in the past 18 months for $68 million (whistleblower award of $23 million) and $22.5 million (award to be determined). Among his other notable whistleblower victories was the $325 million settlement he secured against Northrop Grumman, the largest qui tam False Claims Act settlement from a defense contractor. Havian joins Constantine Cannon from national whistleblower law firm, Phillips & Cohen, where he served as the founding partner of the San Francisco office. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the San Francisco Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office from 1987 through 1994. Havian received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1981 and his B.A. from Stanford University in 1977. Wayne T. Lamprey Mr. Lamprey joins Constantine Cannon from San Francisco-based firm Goodin, MacBride, Squeri, Day & Lamprey, where he founded the firm’s False Claims Act practice group. Lamprey was lead counsel in whistleblower actions that resulted in recoveries in excess of $275 million. He has tried both civil and criminal False Claim actions, and is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of California’s Criminal Division from 1991 through 1997. Lamprey received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 1980 and his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1977. Anne Hayes Hartman Ms. Hartman also joins Constantine Cannon from San Francisco-based firm, Goodin, MacBride, Squeri, Day & Lamprey. Hartman represented whistleblowers in False Claims Act actions and qui tam cases, as well as clients in complex commercial litigation, including class actions, consumer rights, and antitrust matters. Hartman received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and her M.P.P. from the University of California, Berkeley, Goldman School of Public Policy in 1996. She received her B.A. from Columbia University in 1990.