William F. Gould

William Gould is a litigator in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia offices. He is co-chair of the firm's Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Team. He focuses on government enforcement actions, internal investigations and complex civil litigation, working extensively on litigation and corporate compliance matters on behalf of pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Mr. Gould's recent engagements include litigation and internal investigations involving the False Claims Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. He also provides advice regarding risk management to companies in many sectors of the healthcare and defense industries. Mr. Gould currently holds a Top Secret/SCI level security clearance.

Prior to returning to private practice, Mr. Gould was a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for more than 10 years. From 2002 until 2008, Mr. Gould was an Assistant U.S. Attorney and a Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia. During his tenure in the Western District of Virginia, he investigated and tried a range of federal cases, including RICO conspiracy, public corruption, white-collar crime and fraud, continuing criminal enterprise, capital murder, cybercrime, civil rights, immigration, narcotics and environmental offenses. In addition, Mr. Gould investigated and prosecuted cases dealing with both domestic and international terrorism. He also litigated extensively before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

As the Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Gould supervised the District's Charlottesville and Harrisonburg offices. In this position, he was in charge of all aspects of the management of the two offices, including approving new cases and proposed indictments; overseeing grand jury practices; acting as liaison to the judiciary, federal and local law enforcement agencies, and the Justice Department; and evaluating and supervising all attorneys and personnel, including the District's Appellate Chief. In addition, Mr. Gould was appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for two specially assigned investigations in the District of Columbia and the Eastern District of Virginia.

From 1997 to 2002, Mr. Gould was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia where he investigated and tried numerous cases involving various criminal offenses. Mr. Gould also argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the D.C. Court of Appeals.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Gould was an associate with an international law firm based in New York City. He also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Morton A. Brody, U.S. District Court Judge in the District of Maine. From 1999 to 2011, Mr. Gould was an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Representative Engagements

• Defended insurance brokerage firm in five-week long jury trial
• Litigated, then settled, a series of multidistrict false claims act cases in the healthcare space, including successfully moving to dismiss twice, the second time with prejudice
• Conducted an internal investigation regarding sales and marketing practices for a multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company
• Defended a former chairman of the board and chief executive officer in a criminal investigation and related civil case in the DOJ Southern District of New York
• Defended an investment fund employee in a DOJ Eastern District of Virginia criminal prosecution and a related Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation
• Represented a former chief executive officer of a software/technology company in a securities litigation lawsuit filed in Boston
• Represented a doctor in a DOJ Eastern District of Virginia healthcare fraud investigation
• Defended a medical device manufacturer in a month-long jury trial
• Defended an energy company in a five-week jury trial
• Defended a public long-term care pharmacy services company in a False Claims Act litigation in Virginia
• Defended a U.S. government contractor in a DOJ District of Utah fraud prosecution
• Represented a food manufacturer in an emergency U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection involving the recall of multiple products and daily interaction with the FDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Conducted an internal investigation regarding the False Claims Act and pricing practices for a newly acquired medical device company
• Represented a chain of nursing and rehabilitation centers in a False Claims Act mediation against the DOJ and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Inspector General
• Presented the results of an internal investigation, as well as actions taken, to the board of directors of a multibillion dollar pharmaceutical company
• Conducted an internal investigation regarding an insider trading inquiry by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
• Defended a chief executive officer and government contractor in a DOJ Middle District of Florida fraud investigation
• Defended an energy company in a two-week civil jury trial against allegations of fraud and breach of contract
• Conducted an internal investigation regarding the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute for a medical device and diagnostics company
• Conducted an internal investigation for a multibillion-dollar healthcare company regarding fraud by a third party and reported the findings to the DOJ
• Defended the owner of a medical device company in a qui tam False Claims Act lawsuit