More than a month after the University of Virginia brought on a Washington, D.C., law firm to investigate allegations of criminal and unethical behavior at the university’s hospital and medical school, roughly 40 physicians and faculty members say they have brought on legal counsel themselves.
Gladstone Jones, an attorney with the New Orleans-based Jones, Swanson, Huddell law firm, has been contracted to represent the physicians and professors while they are interviewed by the Williams & Connolly lawyers hired by UVa.
Williams & Connolly, recognized as one of the best litigation firms in the world, was hired by the university’s governing Board of Visitors’ Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee after 128 anonymous UVa physicians and professors signed a letter of no confidence in UVa Health CEO Dr. Craig Kent and UVa Medical School Dean Melina Kibbe. Delivered to the board on Sept. 5, the document alleges the pair committed a slew of procedural, ethical and legal violations — including purposely overcharging patients — while also maintaining a "culture of fear and retaliation" that kept dissenters quiet.
“A group of faculty have engaged Gladstone Jones to represent in their interviews and participation in the Board of Visitors-Jim Ryan hired investigation by Williams & Connolly,” the physicians and faculty members told The Daily Progress in a statement delivered to the newspaper by professor Walt Heinecke, president of the UVa chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Jones, a graduate of Tulane Law School, specializes in environmental and commercial litigation. According to his firm’s website, his first major case was against Exxon Corporation back in 1997, the outcome of which “prompted changes in Louisiana’s rules concerning the handling and disposal of oilfield waste." The Daily Progress reached out to Jones on multiple occasions with no response.
It remains unclear whether Jones has been directly involved in the Williams & Connolly investigation or has simply provided legal advice to the physicians and faculty members.
UVa has asserted that Williams & Connolly has been brought on to serve as "outside counsel to conduct an independent review" of the allegations, but many have called into question the independence of the investigation considering UVa President Jim Ryan has already said the findings will only ever be shared with the Board of Visitors and high-ranking administrators.
“If the crises in higher education over the past 30 years have taught me anything, this is precisely the wrong way to conduct an investigation without extensive information and collaborative discussion,” associate professor Brian Pusser told his colleagues on the UVa Faculty Senate in a meeting last month.
It’s exactly that concern — in addition to a fear that the university will retaliate against the physicians and professors who signed their names to the letter of no confidence — that prompted the roughly 40 hospital and medical school workers to retain Jones.
That group initially requested the university to cover the cost.
The state’s attorney general, who authorizes any and all legal expenses at state institutions, denied that request.
“In light of what we have witnessed at UVA Health, this seems to us to be eminently sensible counsel,” wrote the physicians and faculty members in a letter to Attorney General Jason Miyares on Oct. 14. “In fact, we believe that to proceed in this investigation without legal representation would be not only irresponsible on our part, but detrimental to your investigation.”
“However, when we requested funding for this legal representation, we were informed that you had refused our request,” they said.
The office has already “retained a respected law firm to inquire into and help resolve issues,” Miyares’ office said in a statement delivered to The Daily Progress. Funding another law firm to handle the matter is unnecessary, the attorney general said.
Miyares urges UVa physicians and faculty members to speak to Williams & Connolly if they have concerns about the hospital or medical school.
“It is imperative that anyone else with relevant information speak with the law firm as soon as possible,” the attorney general’s office said in its statement. “There are robust protections in place aimed to prevent retaliation against witnesses who come forward.”
UVa administrators have said that any hospital or medical school personnel who are worried about facing consequences for speaking out may contact Carolyn Saint, UVa’s chief audit executive, through a newly established and confidential reporting system.
Despite this, the authors of the letter to the attorney general argue that having their own legal counsel present during any meetings with Williams & Connolly is imperative to ensuring that “any conclusions reached can be verified and fact checked.”
“We will be discussing patient safety issues including deaths, financial malfeasance including criminal fraud, and retaliatory incidents that have resulted in some of our colleagues being demoted and fired,” reads the letter. “We have been advised consistently by attorneys and others that under no circumstances should we engage in interviews concerning these serious matters with UVa’s retained litigators without having our own legal representation present.”
Not only are some of the physicians uneasy about the contents of any future discussions with the Williams & Connolly lawyers, but their letter goes on to say many are bothered by the manner in which they have been “directly contacted by Williams & Connolly.”
“Often these outreaches have occurred outside of normal business hours, in what might be described as an intimidating or even aggressive manner,” according to the letter.
There are at least two Williams & Connolly lawyers on the case that physicians and faculty members have identified to The Daily Progress: Katherine Turner and Emmet Flood.
Turner, a Harvard University graduate and co-chair of the firm’s accountant liability and congressional investigations practices, specializes in leading internal investigations into audit and accounting matters. Benchmark Litigation, a guide to America’s leading litigation law firms and attorneys, a "Litigation Star" in the commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense fields.
Turner’s congressional experience includes serving as counsel to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while she was being investigated by a House select committee for the role she played in the 2012 terrorist attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya.
Flood also has significant experience representing clients in the federal government. The Yale Law School-educated attorney has been involved in a number of high-profile cases that include representing former Vice President Mike Pence and and his chief of staff Marc Short during the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack investigation as well as former President Donald Trump while he was being investigated for potential ties to Russia during the 2016 election.
While the outcomes of those investigations are widely known, the outcome of Turner and Flood’s investigation at UVa will likely never see the light of day.
UVa spokesman Brian Coy told The Daily Progress that the decision to conceal the law firm’s findings was based on the possibility of any sensitive information being revealed to the public.
“Given the nature of the allegations made in the anonymous letter, this review will cover sensitive personnel and legal matters and will be conducted under privilege,” he said in an email.
That decision has not only raised eyebrows at UVa Medical Center but also in the greater Charlottesville community, whose residents rely on the health system for medical care.
Local attorney Jeff Fogel told The Daily Progress that no matter the results, Ryan has already made clear his support of Kent and Kibbe.
“If he feels he wants to cover it up, then he’s going to cover it up,” said Fogel. “He has no obligation, because it’s been conveyed to him in the lawyer-client relationship.”
The physicians’ letter to Miyares echoes Fogel, and noted that the additional support of Jones would be beneficial to boosting the credibility of the investigation.
“Assuming we do indeed share the same goal of arriving at the truth, why wouldn’t you want to create an environment in which UVA’s own doctors, nurses, and staff can share their evidence with you?” reads the letter. “Why hasn’t Williams & Connolly done so already?”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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