Verified profile

Lisa M. Noller

Investigation, Litigation, Criminal & Civil Law, Appeals

Lisa M. Noller's profile photo
LocationChicagoIllinois, United States
Current roleLitigation Department ChairFoley & Lardner LLP · since Mar 2023
Government service10yrsU.S. Attorney’s Office

About

Lisa Noller gets results.

A trial lawyer and investigator in our Chicago office, Lisa is chair of the firm’s national Litigation Department and former chair of the firm’s Government Enforcement Defense & Investigations Practice Group and the firm’s Management Committee.

Named to the inaugural Forbes America’s Top 200 Lawyers list and recognized by Who’s Who Legal: Investigations in 2024, Lisa has spent over 25 years investigating, litigating, and trying complex criminal and civil cases, responding to government investigations, conducting corporate internal investigations, and persuading the government not to pursue clients. “Lisa has been lauded by clients and colleagues for her subject-matter expertise, investigative prowess, tenaciousness and integrity,” noted the Forbes editor, and “she is an expert in healthcare litigation and white-collar defense.” As a member of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers since 2015, Lisa has been recognized for her trial success in over 30 civil and criminal trials in state and federal courts. She represents companies and individuals in parallel civil and criminal proceedings initiated by government agencies, and proactively counsels clients in enforcement and other litigation matters. Lisa successfully has represented clients in many districts around the country, most often in Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas and Wisconsin.

Lisa is particularly renowned for her excellence in healthcare litigation: sources label her “an exceptional attorney in the area of healthcare.” She represents providers in helping them navigate the False Claims Act and criminal matters, including Anti-kickback Statute (AKS), PPP loans, Managed Care/Medicare Advantage issues, and antitrust defense. Lisa has served as a private mediator in an AKS dispute, and she was court-appointed as the special master for discovery in a complex tax shelter and fraud case.

“[Lisa] is very knowledgeable in the health care regulatory area,” according to Chambers and Partners USA. “Clients love her – she’s very personable, she’s bright and she knows this space incredibly

well.”

“[Lisa] really knows about government investigations. She is very knowledgeable and to-the-point with her advice,” according to Thomson Reuters.

“[Lisa] is one of the best lawyers in Chicago. She has impeccable judgment and is a tremendous trial lawyer.”

Lisa is widely known for her handling of False Claims Act litigation, public corruption charges, antitrust, and high-stakes fraud matters. Clients note:

“[Lisa] keeps us well informed, is pragmatic in her approach and keeps things moving along.” – Chambers and Partners USA

Lisa utilizes her extensive experience as a former civil and criminal prosecutor to defend health care and life science clients against false claims allegations. Clients note:

“She’s a preeminent person in Chicago’s FCA space.”

Lisa is frequently sought nationally and locally to be an author, speaker, panelist, and conference organizer on topics related to False Claims Act defense, government investigations, healthcare antitrust matters, and white-collar criminal defense, among other topics. She is a lecturer in law at the University of Chicago Law School, where she founded and teaches the Prosecution and Defense Clinic and is Chair of the Law School Council. She also is an adjunct professor at Northwestern Law School, where she teaches trial advocacy.

Prior to joining Foley, Lisa was an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, where she worked in both the civil and criminal divisions of the office. She was a member of the U.S. attorney’s team dedicated to the prosecution of healthcare fraud in Northern Illinois, and she has worked on numerous complex fraud cases as well as parallel investigations with other agencies, including HHS-OIG, NIH, and the SEC. Lisa served as a deputy chief in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, most recently in the Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions Section, where she prosecuted complex federal criminal cases from investigation through appeal involving the AKS, Stark Law, public corruption, mortgage fraud, bank fraud, health care fraud, tax fraud, research grant fraud, racketeering, embezzlement, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and terrorism financing.

She earned a Director’s Award for Superior Performance for successfully trying a 100-count RICO case, and she also received the Mitch Mars Prosecutorial Excellence Award from the Chicago Crime Commission. Before joining the Criminal Division, she also worked for three years in the Civil Division, where she represented the United States in affirmative civil enforcement and health care fraud actions, including False Claims Act matters. In addition to her trial experience, Lisa also has successfully argued numerous appeals before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2014, Lisa earned a white belt certificate in Legal Lean Sigma® and project management from the Legal Lean Sigma Institute.

Roles

Mar 2023–Present
Current role

Litigation Department Chair

Foley & Lardner LLP

Chicago, Illinois

Civil LitigationLegalCriminal LawAntitrust

Lead AmLaw50 law firm Litigation Department

Lisa Noller leads Foley’s department of 400 litigators in 26 offices across the country. She is herself one of the firm’s most experienced courtroom trial attorneys, having won 35 civil and criminal trials in federal and state courts. Clients particularly rely on Lisa’s experience and success trying fraud cases, with emphasis defending False Claims Act cases, Anti-kickback statute allegations and public corruption cases. As a federal prosecutor, Lisa was the lead investigator and trial attorney in United States v. Borassi, the Seventh Circuit’s seminal AKS case. In private practice, Lisa has secured victories in fraud trials, and also helps clients avoid trials through pre-trial advocacy.

Mar 2023–Present
Current role

Litigation Department Chair

Foley & Lardner LLP

Chicago, Illinois

Civil LitigationLegal

Lead AmLaw50 law firm Litigation Department

Jan 2007–Present
Current role

Lecturer In Law

University of Chicago Law School

Chicago, Illinois

Criminal DefenseLegalProsecutorTeacher / Professor

Prosecution and Defense Clinic instructor
Federal Criminal Practice instructor

Jan 2010–Jan 2014
Former role

Chair, Government Enforcement Defense & Investigations Practice Group

Foley & Lardner LLP

Chicago, Illinois

Legal ServicesLegal AssistanceLegal InvestigatorLegal

• Trial attorney, investigator and advisor to clients in criminal and civil litigation matters
• Defend and Investigate matters relating to health care fraud, False Claims Act, bank fraud, tax fraud, public corruption, money laundering, racketeering, Antikickback Statute, Stark Law

Jan 2005–Jan 2010
Former role

Adjunct Professor of Law

DePaul Law School

Chicago, Illinois

AttorneyTeacher / Professor

Trial Advocacy instructor

Jan 2000–Jan 2010
Former role

Deputy Chief

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions, General Crimes, Criminal Division, Civil Division

(appointed)Illinois Northern District

Civil LitigationFederal GovernmentLegal ServicesLegal AssistanceLegalProsecutor

Representative matters

Representative Experience

March 2025

Secured Deferred Prosecution Agreement for prominent physicians’ group in criminal antitrust investigation of market allocation for oncology services in Southwest Florida. Obtained Deferred Prosecution Agreement for former Chicago Alderman that resulted in no penalty, following substantial undercover cooperation in sprawling public corruption investigations. Won multiple motions to dismiss state and federal False Claims Act cases, for healthcare entities and individuals, as well as other government contractors. Obtained favorable settlement for educational consultant in an SEC insider trading case. Won motion to dismiss Managed Care Plan from federal False Claims Act lawsuit and litigated other Part C False Claims Act cases. Represent durable medical equipment company in False Claims Act cases and internal investigations relating to commissioned sales force. Convinced criminal prosecutors to forego criminal prosecution and False Claims Act lawsuit of skilled nursing facility chain owners. Led internal investigation team hired by private university sports team where players alleged coach harassment, bullying and misconduct. Represent university in research misconduct investigations relating to grant fraud and False Claims Act issues. Obtained Deferred Prosecution Agreement for a honey importer and processor in a federal criminal investigation regarding anti-dumping and transshipping to avoid customs duties.

Recognition

Honors

Lexology Index: Investigations

January 2025

Listed

Who’s Who Legal

January 2025

Selected as a leading practitioner by Who’s Who Legal (now Lexology Index) in the area of Healthcare and Life Sciences

“America’s Top 200 Lawyers”

Forbes

January 2024

Who’s Who Legal

January 2024

Selected in the Area of Investigations

Stand-out Lawyer

Thomson Reuters

January 2025

Also 2023

Criminal Defense: White Collar

The Best Lawyers in America©

March 2025

From 2018 through 2024

Healthcare Award for Best Healthcare Attorney

Women in Business Worldwide

Illinois | January 2017

Publications & speeches

“You’ve Been Sued: Now What?”

Health Care Law Today

January 2025

Being served with a lawsuit is frustrating, and sometimes nerve-racking, even for seasoned in-house counsel. Having a plan in place to quickly and appropriately address new lawsuits can ease the stress of being sued. Although no two suits are identical, we provide a checklist of general best practices to follow when your company faces new litigation. These steps will help to ensure critical deadlines are not missed and your company is quickly in the best position to defend itself. While we have focused on federal lawsuits, most states will have similar requirements, albeit with different specifics like differing due dates for specific actions.

Link

“Loper Bright False Claims Act Developments”

Health Care Law Today

October 2024

In our July 15, 2024 post, we analyzed the Supreme Court’s landmark case Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and the opportunities the decision might offer False Claims Act (FCA) defendants. As a brief reminder, Loper Bright overturned Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., which required judicial deference to administrative agency interpretations of statutes in certain instances. We noted, “Chevron was a 40-year bedrock of administrative law, and Loper Bright is a seismic shift to the landscape of agency enforcement.” Further, we predicted Loper Bright has the potential to “shake up” FCA cases.

Link

“Health Care Enforcement: ‘Tea Leaves’ in the 2024 National Health Care Fraud Summer Takedown”

Health Care Law Today

August 2024

The Justice Department’s 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action Press Release, issued on June 27, 2024 surveys the DOJ’s 2024 summer sweep, involving criminal charges against 193 defendants, including 76 doctors, nurse practitioners, and other licensed medical professionals in 32 federal districts across the United States, for their alleged participation in various health care fraud schemes involving approximately $2.75 billion in intended losses and $1.6 billion in actual losses, by DOJ estimations.

Link

“Chevron’s Demise Creates New False Claims Act Defenses”

Foley Insights

July 2024

On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court, in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, put an end to Chevron deference to agency interpretation of silent or ambiguous portions of statutes.[1] After Loper Bright, challenges to agency regulations will not look to Chevron when deciding how to interpret silence or an ambiguity in a statute. Instead, the Supreme Court decided it is for the judiciary to interpret a statute, not an executive branch agency. Chevron was a 40-year bedrock of administrative law, and Loper Bright is a seismic shift to the landscape of agency enforcement. Loper Bright has the potential to shake up FCA cases, especially as creative defense attorneys apply the ruling to specific cases and facts. To explore the issue, consider a hypothetical FCA case based on the facts of Loper Bright. To summarize, in the actual case, a fishing fleet operator sought to invalidate a regulation of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that required operators to pay the cost of a fishery monitor, where only the regulation, and not the statute passed by Congress, required a monitor for Atlantic herring fishing and required the operator to pay $750 per day for the monitor. Let’s assume hypothetically that the regulation at issue required the fleet operator to expressly certify compliance with all regulations and the operator complied — except it did not pay the $750-per-day cost for the monitor.[2] Let’s also assume the operator then submitted a claim for a federal subsidy and certified regulatory compliance, despite not having paid for the monitor. Two years later, an FCA case brought by a whistleblower (a “relator”) is unsealed, alleging the operator knowingly filed a false claim for payment, in violation of the FCA, by falsely certifying compliance with all regulations.

Link

“Supreme Court Rules Bribery Law Doesn’t Criminalize Gratuities — How Does that Impact the Anti-Corruption Legal Landscape?”

Foley Insights

June 2024

On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued a 6–3 decision in Snyder v. United States, overturning the jury conviction of an Indiana mayor under Title 18, Section 666, of the U.S. Code for accepting gratuities. In overturning the conviction, the Supreme Court resolved a circuit split between the 1st and 5th Circuits on the one hand, and the 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 11th Circuits on the other, over the scope of what activities Section 666 criminalized. In a blow to Section 666, which federal prosecutors often charge to target alleged public corruption, the Supreme Court found the statute intended to criminalize bribes (i.e., a payment in return for being influenced) and not gratuities (i.e., a payment given without the intention of influence and after an act occurred). This decision severely narrows the scope of Section 666, but the Supreme Court was clear the opinion only applies to that law. The decision begs the question: What is the potential impact of Snyder on other federal and state bribery laws?

Link

“Qui Tam Section: Balance of Payments: Carrots, Sticks, and the Effect of Continuing to Reimburse after Escobar”

Federal Bar Association

December 2023

Panelist

“Chicago officials are joining the effort to crack down on cases of COVID aid fraud,”

NPR’s All Things Considered — Chicago, Illinois

August 2023

Speaker

“Prepping Your Client for Cross-Examination,”

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Annual Meeting

August 2023

Speaker

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Annual Meeting

Federal Bar Association Qui Tam Section (webinar series)

May 2021

Panelist

“Criminal Antitrust Investigations During A Pandemic”

New York State Bar Association Webinar

October 2020

Speaker