David Eskew is an accomplished trial attorney that specializes in white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation. He combines a practical, evidence-based, no-nonsense approach with deep expertise in criminal and civil cases. Eskew has an impressive track record of success in both criminal and civil cases, including dismissals, deferred prosecutions, criminal declinations, and civil-only settlements in parallel cases. He co-founded AEL following a 12-year career as a federal prosecutor at two U.S. Attorney Offices where he held multiple supervisory positions and led some of the country’s most significant criminal and civil prosecutions.
Eskew’s civil practice is focused on federal litigation arising under the False Claims Act (FCA) and Antikickback Statute (AKS) and complex commercial and business disputes in both state and federal courts. On the criminal side, Eskew represents individual and institutional clients in matters involving allegations of federal healthcare fraud, government fraud (including COVID-19 fraud), bribery and public corruption , bank and wire fraud, FDA and USDA violations, computer fraud and abuse, tax fraud, money laundering, and identity theft. Eskew has handled high-profile white collar criminal investigations and cases on behalf of business owners, c-suite executives, board members, doctors, lawyers, nurses, and other professionals. He leads sensitive internal investigations and represents corporate boards, hospital systems, and other large institutional clients.
Before co-founding AEL, Eskew had a distinguished career as a federal prosecutor in two different U.S. Attorneys’ Offices – the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) and the District of New Jersey (DNJ). He held multiple supervisory positions, including Chief of the Healthcare and Government Fraud Unit and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, the number two position in the Criminal Division. Eskew has served in both the Civil and Criminal Divisions and supervised both civil and criminal investigations, giving him unique expertise and insight in federal parallel investigations and cases.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2027 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America | 2027 | White Collar, esp. False Claims Act |
Representative Matters
Dismissals and Other Notable Resolutions:
- Dismissal of all federal criminal charges alleging violations of the Antikickback Statute (AKS) against client operating a mobile COVID-19 testing business. Read more about the case here.
- Dismissal of federal healthcare fraud indictment against physician, who pled guilty to a superseding information charging him with a non-intent misdemeanor offense related to misbranded drugs. Doctor received a sentence of 1 year probation. Read more about the case here.
- Deferred prosecution and dismissal of federal criminal indictment alleging healthcare fraud against physician and negotiated civil-only global resolution of the charges. AEL also resolved the underlying qui tam complaint. Read more about the case here.
- Obtained an administrative civil-only resolution in a New York State Department of Health investigation related to fraud in the reporting of vaccinations for school-age children.
- Negotiated stipulated plea and probationary sentence in a several years-long state healthcare fraud indictment. Doctor pled to a lesser included offense on a single count of an 878-count indictment and received a sentence of probation. The State also returned approximately $1 million in restrained assets and negotiated a contemporaneous resolution with NY OPMC regarding the doctor’s continued use of his NY State Medical License. Read more about the case here.
- Probationary sentence for defendant charged in sprawling federal computer fraud conspiracy involving hundreds of millions of dollars of stolen credit card data.
- Probationary sentence for office manager charged in multi-million dollar wire fraud conspiracy in the District of Maryland.
- Civil-only resolution of parallel criminal/civil fraud and False Claims Act (FCA) investigation involving LI-based chiropractic practice.
- Obtained no charges related to client’s participation in alleged pharmacy wholesale conspiracy.
Notable Representations
- Represented individual client in intervened civil qui tam lawsuit alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) in SDNY.
- Pool counsel in federal parallel criminal and civil investigation of national hospital system regarding alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) and Antikickback Statute (AKS) in DNJ.
- Representing pharmacist-owner in healthcare fraud and money laundering investigation by New York Attorney General’s Office.
- Representing laboratory in declined qui tam case in EDNY.
- Represented c-suite executive in indicted healthcare fraud case related to compounding pharmacy alleging healthcare fraud conspiracy and violations of the Antikickback Statute (AKS) in DNJ.
- Representing pharmacy owner in federal criminal healthcare fraud indictment in the SDNY.
- Represented client in securities fraud investigation conducted by the SEC related to cannabis investment startup.
- Represented defendant in sprawling “NBA Gambling” case in EDNY.
- Represented hospital system in qui tam case involving alleged violations of False Claims Act (FCA) and Antikickback Statute in DNJ.
- Represented pharmacist in indicted criminal healthcare fraud case in EDNY.
- Represented former Controller of NJ-based company in wire fraud case in DNJ.
- Represented physician and owner-CEO of COVID-19 testing clinics in connection with indicted healthcare and wire fraud case in SDNY.