Laura Hoey
Ropes & Gray
Health care

With an impressive track record of courtroom successes as a government enforcement partner at Ropes & Gray and during her time as an Assistant U.S Attorney, it's no surprise that Laura Hoey's peers call her the "go-to" lawyer in Chicago for defending healthcare fraud cases for individual executives and some of the largest and most successful healthcare and life sciences companies.

In a high profile matter involving the Illinois Insurance Claims Fraud Prevention Act, an Illinois statute with limited precedent, Hoey and Ropes & Gray defended a healthcare provider against whistleblower claims that the provider allegedly overcharged patients, allegations that could have derailed a billion-dollar transaction.

This case is just one example of how Hoey leverages a deep knowledge of healthcare fraud regulations to the benefit of her clients, an extraordinary result that comes as no surprise to her colleagues and peers.

“She has an encyclopedic grasp of the issues affecting clients,” said Peggy Daley, counsel with Chicago’s Berkley Research Group, LLC. “She is a tried and true trial attorney, and has a lightning-quick mind. Throughout Laura’s career, she has demonstrated an impressive ability to bring people together, collaborate effectively and accomplish shared goals.”

Prior to Ropes & Gray, Hoey was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas, expanding her understanding of strategies used to prosecute individuals and companies, especially related to fraud cases, and winning several key victories.

In one case cited by nominator Jane Duke with Little Rock, Arkansas-based law firm Mitchell Williams, Hoey convicted an obstetrician-gynecologist for healthcare fraud and misbranding for billing Medicaid, private insurance companies and individual payers for providing patients with non-FDA-approved IUDs.

As a prosecutor, Hoey pursued a high-profile criminal case against a reputed mobster and convicted murderer and, at age 33, her work led to the conviction of Ralph Deleo, who was the New England street boss of the Colombo crime family of La Cosa Nostra.

“Laura is a tremendous trial lawyer, skilled at distilling complicated facts and law for a jury, and able to command the respect and attention of jurors,” Duke said.

In 2008, Hoey earned the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General’s Integrity Award, an honor recognizing outstanding legal service.

To that end, Hoey is known as an attorney who is fiercely dedicated to her clients and empathizes with their cases. “Laura confronts the process of criminal justice without forgetting the client and the very personal attention that is required to assist someone through a most difficult and challenging time,” said Jeff Morris with Berkowitz Oliver LLP in Kansas City, Missouri. “Many tremendous courtroom lawyers forget to care for the client. Many lawyers who are exceptional with their client may not have the ability to advocate at the highest level. Laura is both an advocate and counselor, and at a superior level.”

In addition to her outstanding legal practice, Hoey is a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel of the Northern District of Illinois, where she provides pro bono federal criminal defense services. Hoey, who is a proud mother of three, also co-chairs Ropes & Gray’s Women’s Forum and is a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. Along with being a Yale Law School alumna, she is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Notre Dame.