The metropolitan area is also the global headquarters for many major corporations and home to more trade associations than any other U.S. city. Major industries include higher education, medicine and medical research, government-related research, aerospace, finance, and publishing.

With expertise across many disciplines, associates in Ropes & Gray's Washington, D.C. office have the opportunity to serve an impressive list of clients in a number of the firm's leading practice areas, including:

• Investment Management
• Health Care
• Litigation
• Intellectual Property
• Regulatory/Legislative
• Tax

Litigation
Our Washington, D.C. litigators are a core component of our national Litigation practice. They handle a wide variety of matters arising from our Washington-based enforcement, regulatory and corporate work, as well as an extremely diverse and intellectually challenging mix of cases before federal and state trial and appellate courts throughout the country. Associates in our D.C. office also handle matters before federal and state administrative agencies and international and domestic arbitral tribunals.

Our docket routinely includes:

• Intellectual Property litigation of all types
• Grand jury investigations and white-collar criminal cases
• Constitutional claims and other Public Law matters in federal and state courts
• Libel and related First Amendment cases
• International Commercial disputes
• Securities enforcement and regulatory matters
• Complex Antitrust lawsuits
• Tribal and commercial gaming matters
• Pro-bono matters in federal and state courts and before federal agencies
• Representing health care institutions in actions under the False Claims Act alleging fraudulent Medicare cost reporting

• Pursuing a $2 billion RICO claim on behalf of the Navajo Nation
• Representing Motorola, Inc. against Blackberry® maker Research in Motion Ltd. and Research in Motion, Corp. in multi-district patent infringement lawsuits
• Representing a Fortune 100 aerospace company in a jury trial of claims under a patent-licensing agreement involving satellite technology
• Representing Polaroid, Inc. in an International Trade Commission investigation relating to digital televisions
• Successfully defending a high-ranking officer of Enron in a criminal jury trial
• Assisting a major hospital chain responding to Medicare-related allegations that it violated the False Claims Act
• Representing leading mutual funds in investigations by the SEC and class action lawsuits about alleged “market timing” and “late trading”
• Representing Motorola, Inc. against cordless telephone maker VTech Communications, Inc. and VTech Telecommunications, Ltd. in a patent infringement lawsuit
• Arguing, in the California Supreme Court, a high-profile constitutional challenge to a state law restricting the use of our client's famous wine brands
• Representing America's largest safety razor manufacturer in false advertising disputes in the U.S. and abroad
• Handling a wide variety of regulatory and enforcement matters on behalf of casinos
• Representing the Cuban government in a litigation over the rights to a trademark used prior to the Revolution by a company since nationalized
• Obtaining compensation for victims of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet from U.S. banks that concealed Pinochet’s assets in violation of an international freeze order
• Working with the Innocence Project of the National Capital Region to analyze petitions from incarcerated persons
• Defending PR Executive Michael Scanlon in all aspects of the Jack Abramoff Lobbying Scandal
• Advising Marty Tankleff on his pursuit of civil compensation for his seventeen years of wrongful incarceration by New York State Authorities
• Defending "Hairspray" Star Nikki Blonsky against assault charges in the Turks and Caicos

• Obtaining approval of products from the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency
• Challenging governmental regulatory actions, such as industry-wide regulations or adverse agency actions on specific products
• Seeking to obtain or prevent legislative changes
• Developing regulatory or legislative strategies to enhance a client's competitive position
• Working with in-house counsel on internal investigations of potential regulatory non-compliance
• Helping clients handle product recalls, government enforcement matters and other crisis situations
• Counseling clients on developing and implementing compliance programs that are operationally practical and align with their business goals
• Performing due diligence on regulatory issues relating to corporate transactions
• Representing hospitals and health departments in administrative appeals of Medicaid and Medicare disallowances
• Counseling clients on federal lobbying and ethics laws, and the laws and rules enforced by the Federal Election Commission
• Assisting litigation attorneys on cases involving regulated products and entities

Recent examples of noteworthy projects include:

• Counseling a biotech client on legislation introduced in Congress to allow FDA approval of "follow on" biological drug products
• Advising a food company that had its products detained at the border by the FDA
• Helping a client petition FDA on public health issues related to weight loss products
• Advising clients on recent FDA guidance regarding dissemination of "off label" information
• Petitioning FDA regarding scientific issues involved in the drug approval process
• Developing a regulatory strategy for a major pharmaceutical company regarding a switch of certain products from prescription status to over-the-counter status
• Obtaining environmental regulatory clearances for cutting edge materials, including nanotechnology, to be used in the next generation of automotive batteries, solar panels and military equipment
• Providing recommendations to the new Administration on the Executive Order guiding OMB oversight of federal regulations
• For a national association of safety net hospitals, developing and coordinating national health care reform policies with Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the White House
• Preparing a policy paper, on a pro bono basis, that a Medicare advocacy organization presented to President Obama's transition team and was partially adopted as federal policy
• Achieving a Congressional moratorium on Medicaid regulations that would have cost our clients billions of dollars
• Assisting a national company in establishing and registering a political action committee with the FEC
  

Health Care
The industry-based focus and national reputation of Ropes & Gray's Health Care practice, working in partnership with our Life Sciences practice, have allowed our D.C. lawyers to develop a strong understanding of players across the heavily regulated field of health care — from small community providers to large pharmaceutical manufacturers — and have given our D.C. office a central role in that practice.

Because our D.C. office serves such a wide array of clients in the health care industry, we are able to work on an equally wide range of interesting projects:

• Working with research institutions to maximize reimbursement for care delivered in clinical trials
• Acting as corporate counsel to national membership associations of health care professionals, including advising on ethics, conflicts of interest and scientific integrity issues
• Providing antitrust advice to a physician contracting network under investigation by the FTC
• Acting as corporate and health policy counsel to national membership associations of health care professionals, including advising on ethics, conflicts of interest and scientific integrity issues
• Serving as pro bono corporate counsel for a national association advocating for the interests of people experiencing infertility
• Advising various prominent non-profit organizations and hospital systems on matters relating to corporate governance and compliance
• Working with a major academic medical center to design and establish a subsidiary for the coordinated operation of international clinical research projects and public health capacity building
• Providing health care compliance advice on an ongoing basis to large pharmaceutical companies
• Working with a consortium of large health care purchasers to obtain a business review letter from DOJ, regarding the permissibility, from an antitrust perspective of a health care transparency initiative
• Representing a national association of safety net hospitals, on an ongoing basis, in advocacy efforts in Congress and before federal agencies
• Representing a coalition of national hospital associations and others in litigation challenging a federal Medicaid regulation
• Assisting State Medicaid programs and hospitals in defending Medicaid deferrals and disallowances and in responding to audits by CMS and the HHS Office of the Inspector General
• Providing advice regarding the development and maintenance of Medicare and Medicaid payments, including Medicare and Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments, graduate medical education payments, other supplemental Medicaid payments, and financing for those payments
• Assisting a national non-profit hospital chain in a proposal to take over management of a county hospital system
• Assisting community organizations in restructuring a public hospital system and in developing federal qualified health systems
• Advising a university hospital in the development of Medicaid State Plan Amendments and in the appeal of a State Plan Amendment denial

• Counseling a large mutual fund complex ($105 billion total assets) regarding a merger with a similarly sized mutual fund complex
• Advising one of the largest and most innovative providers of exchange-traded funds, a relatively new investment alternative to mutual funds
• Advising various issuers in dozens of initial public offerings of open-end mutual funds
• Helping one of the largest mutual fund complexes in the country launch a suite of innovative international funds for U.S. investors
• Advising funds on the tough financial accounting reform measures of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation
• Advising offshore subsidiaries of U.S. clients on launching various investment products for foreign investors
• Investigating potential fraudulent activities on behalf of special review committees of mutual fund boards
• Advising clients regarding investment company status issues

In all aspects of our D.C. office's corporate practice, we look to our associates to take on responsibility early and we value creative thinking and thoughtful deliberation about the challenging subjects that arise in this interesting area of practice.

Tax
Our Washington, D.C. Tax Practice now is a substantial presence, with two partners, one counsel, and five associates. Two years ago, we committed to growing the D.C. tax practice and attracted two partners, each with twenty years of experience in D.C. Their practice experience includes both government and the private sector. The D.C. tax group now reflects Ropes & Gray’s national tax practice including representation of:

• Private equity funds and their portfolio companies;
• Public companies;
• Mutual funds;
• Hedge funds and other unregistered pooled vehicles;
• Fund sponsors and advisers;
• Tax-exempt organizations and other institutional investors; and
• Other institutions with a significant capital market presence.