Contact Rick Morgan

513-618-2021
rmorgan@morganverkamp.com

Education

  • Denison University, B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science
  • University of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D.

Licensure and Admissions

  • Ohio
  • Southern District of Ohio
  • Northern District of Ohio
  • First Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
  • United States Supreme Court

Publications

  • Chapter: “Because They Have Evidence: Globalizing Financial Incentives for Corporate Fraud Whistleblowers,“ Brown, A.J., et al., International Handbook on Whistleblowing Research (Edward Elgar Publishing 2014).

Recent Speaking Engagements

  • “False Claims Act 101,” American Bar Association 12th National Institute on the Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement, June 2018
  • “Ethical Issues in FCA Litigation,” American Bar Association Third False Claims Act and Qui Tam Trial Institute, June 2017
  • “Hot Topics in Healthcare Fraud,” CLE International: Qui Tam, Nov. 2016
  • “Procurement and Contracting Fraud,” 16th Annual Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Conference, Sept. 2016
  • “False Claims Act 101: An Overview of the Federal False Claims Act,” 15th Annual Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Conference, Nov. 2015
  • “Post-Filing to Intervention: Strategic Considerations and Tasks,” ABA Criminal Justice Section, Sept. 2015
  • “Relator’s Counsel Cross Exam of Defense Witness,“ American Bar Association Second False Claims Act and Qui Tam Trial Institute, June 2015

Rick helped recover a $61.5 million settlement case against The Boeing Company, which resulted in replacement of hundreds of defective Chinook helicopter transmission gears.

Frederick M. Morgan, Jr.

Partner

Rick worked in the Cincinnati U.S. Attorney’s Office during law school, an experience that set the course of his career. After serving for two years as a law clerk for the Hon. David S. Porter (Senior Judge, Southern District of Ohio), he was selected into the highly-competitive Attorney General’s Honors Program, serving as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. In that position, Rick routinely appeared in courts throughout the country on behalf of the United States. He returned to Cincinnati in 1990 and has represented whistleblowers continuously since 1996 (and has exclusively represented whistleblowers since Morgan Verkamp was formed in 2005).

As an attorney for whistleblowers, Rick has served as lead or co-lead counsel in more than 50 False Claims Act cases, including matters against Boeing, HCA Healthcare, General Electric, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Dyncorp, and Solvay Pharmaceuticals. His notable achievements include: representing a whistleblower whose information recovered more than $100 million from a prime food vendor for troops in Afghanistan; working closely with the Justice Department in case against The Boeing Company that resulted in the replacement of hundreds of defective Chinook helicopter transmission gears and a $61.5 million settlement; and helping to recoup more than $300 million in unlawful oil royalties. His settlements include resolution of False Claims Act allegations against: a long-term care company for $10 million; Lockheed Martin for $6.5 million; General Dynamics for $13.2 million; and General Electric for $10.5 million. More than 80 opinions have been published in Rick’s cases, and his work has resulted in the return of nearly a billion dollars to the taxpayers.

Rick is an active speaker, author, and advocate on False Claims Act issues. He is co-chair of the planning committee for the American Bar Association’s biennial Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement National Institute and, for several years, co-chaired the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund’s Annual Conference Committee. He has also provided opinion and testimony as an expert on the False Claims Act, including appearing before the Joint Congressional Commission on Wartime Contracting, traveling to Australia to consult with the government on a potential qui tam law for that nation, and participating in False Claims Act seminars at several law schools.

Rick has also drafted amicus curiae briefs in three Supreme Court cases concerning the False Claims Act, including a brief on behalf of Senator Charles Grassley in support of the whistleblowers in Allison Engine Company, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Sanders, et al., a 2008 case on appeal from the Sixth Circuit. In 2020, he co-authored the amicus curiae brief submitted on behalf of Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund in U.S. ex rel. Rahimi v. Rite Aid Corp. on appeal to the Sixth Circuit.

Rick has served as a mediator in False Claims Act cases and other disputes and, in 2021, completed the 40-hour mediation and dispute resolution course under Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation. He is peer-rated “AV-Preeminent” by Martindale Hubbell and has been selected as an Ohio Superlawyer since 2014, most recently in 2022.

Something You May Not Know About Me

I am a Pilates instructor with an active teaching practice and a committed nature photographer specializing in underwater images.