DC Fellow Bill Coffield of Washington, DC, based Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, won a defense verdict for Government Logistics, NV, a Belgian corporation, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The case, United States of America, ex rel. Kurt Bunk v. Government Logisitics, NV, No. 1:02-cv-1168 (AJT/MSN), was tried in May of 2017 before US District Judge Anthony Trenga. The Court’s opinion, issued on August 22, 2017, held Government Logistics not liable as a successor in interest for a $24 million False Claims Act judgment against another Belgian company.
The United States Government had originally sought to hold Government Logistics liable as an alleged successor entity for over $125 million dollars of False Claims Act penalties and damages against Gosselin Group, NV. In rejecting the Government’s allegations that Government Logistics had entered into a fraudulent transaction intended to hinder potential judgment creditors, the Court, in its Memorandum Opinion stated, “The GovLog principals were not aware of any potential civil liability that the Gosselin Defendants faced when they entered into the Gosselin-GovLog transactions and by entering into those transactions, did not intend to assist the Gosselin Defendants in any effort to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors in general or the United States in particular.”
Bill led the defense team from Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, that included partner Laina Lopez. In addition to being an LCA Fellow, Bill is AV Peer Rated by Martindale Hubbell, is ranked a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters, and has been named a Top One Hundred Trial Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers Association. His areas of practice and expertise include white collar and complex civil litigation. He has advised corporations, ranging from billion-dollar international public companies to private businesses, and public-sector officials, including The White House and The United States Congress.