Ben Hazelwood focuses his practice on complex civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels, as well as government investigations. A significant portion of Ben’s practice relates to healthcare and False Claims Act litigation and investigations. His clients span the health care industry, and include pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device companies, health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, specialty pharmacies, telehealth providers, and hospitals. Ben’s recent experience also includes a particular focus on the defense of professional liability claims brought against lawyers and major law firms.
Ben concentrates his pro bono practice on assisting recent immigrants in obtaining asylum, and representing criminal defendants and incarcerated individuals seeking to reduce the length of their sentences. Ben was part of a team that recently won a landmark Supreme Court ruling regarding the 2018 First Step Act, which allows individuals serving lengthy sentences for decades-old crack-cocaine offenses to obtain a reduction in their prison sentence
Ben grew up in South Kingstown, Rhode Island and earned a B.S. in Philosophy, magna cum laude, from Northeastern University in 2008. In 2011, Ben graduated from The George Washington University Law School, with highest honors. After law school, Ben spent two years litigating civil rights cases for a national First Amendment organization. Before joining Williams & Connolly in 2016, Ben clerked for Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and Judge Karen Nelson Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Representative Experience
Though all cases vary and none is predictive, some of Ben's representative experience includes:
- Represented a national retail pharmacy in False Claims Act litigation alleging that retail promotions violated the Anti-Kickback Statute.
- Represented a specialty pharmacy in two putative consumer class actions relating to the pharmacy’s cold-chain shipping practices for refrigerated drugs. Secured dismissal of one case on a motion to dismiss, and entry of summary judgment and denial of class certification in the other.
- Winning summary judgment in a healthcare dispute concerning an insurer’s policy protecting patients from surprise out-of-network costs when in-network physicians use out-of-network surgical facilities. Ben also successfully argued the appeal of that decision in the California Court of Appeal.
- Representation of a telehealth company in a government FCA investigation that resulted in a declination and dismissal.
- Multiple victories on motions to dismiss in professional liability litigation against lawyers and major law firms.
- Represented a telecommunications company in the first major tax case brought by the New York Attorney General under the New York False Claims Act. The case was settled on mutually agreeable terms.
- Counsel in an insurance-linked dispute involving a contract related to the sale of a portfolio of life insurance policies.