Anne E. Railton

Annie Railton is a partner in Goodwin’s Government Investigations & Enforcement practice. She currently co-leads the firm’s Healthcare Government Enforcement & False Claims Act Defense, Financial Services Litigation & Investigations, and Investment Management Litigation practices.

Recognized by Chambers USA as a “terrific lawyer” with “a good reputation and judgment” who has “a tremendous ability to fully dissect the government’s arguments through her advocacy,” Annie represents companies, boards, executives, and other individuals in government and internal investigations, regulatory and enforcement proceedings, and complex commercial litigation, with a focus on the healthcare, life sciences, and financial industries. She regularly represents clients before federal and state regulators, including investigations by the DOJ, SEC, FINRA, and various state Attorneys General and Inspectors General. She has also conducted numerous internal investigations for companies, boards of directors, and special board committees.

Annie represents companies and individuals at all stages of investigations and litigation, including defending clients in several criminal and civil trials. Her matters include: 

Healthcare and Life Sciences 

• Won an acquittal at a federal criminal trial for W. Carl Reichel, the former president of pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott, on charges related to illegal marketing and anti-kickback violations
• Representing multiple former employees in DOJ and FTC investigations of a telehealth company’s prescribing and marketing practices related to controlled substances
• Representing a board member in a DOJ investigation of a pharmaceutical company’s anti-diversion practices related to the sale of controlled substances
• Representing multiple former employees of a biopharmaceutical company in a False Claims Act investigation by the DOJ and various state AG offices involving manufacturing of a controlled substance
• Representing private equity investors and their portfolio companies in investigations involving health care services, including investigations of a medical coding and billing company and a provider of home health services
• Representing multiple former employees in a DOJ and NYAG False Claims Act and anti-kickback investigation of a pharmaceutical company’s sales and marketing practices
• Representing a doctor who served as a consultant to a medical device manufacturer in a DOJ kickback investigation 
• Represented the former CEO of a behavioral healthcare organization in False Claims Act litigation related to staffing, supervision, and licensure
• Represented an operations manager in a DOJ investigation of a medical device company’s design and manufacturing practices
• Represented a clinical trial company in internal investigations related to its compliance with FDA regulations, including related to good clinical practice 
• Represented a genetic testing company in an inquiry brought by a State Inspector General’s Office regarding laboratory practices and an internal investigation related to marketing and billing activities
• Represented a public biotech pharmaceutical company, along with several officers, directors and employees, in an SEC investigation into potential insider trading
• Represented the Audit Committee of a public company in internal investigations related to compliance with FDA manufacturing regulations and anti-corruption laws

Financial Industry

• Represented a multi-national financial institution in an internal investigation regarding potential conflict of interest and bribery issues and related inquiries from federal and state regulators
• Representing a multi-national financial institution in an SEC investigation involving derivative trading and pricing 
• Representing an investment bank in DOJ and SEC investigations of a cryptocurrency hedge fund
• Representing an investment banker in an SEC investigation involving trading practices and off-channel communications
• Represented a venture capital firm and adviser in an SEC investigation into fund decision-making and fiduciary duty issues  
• Represented a real estate investment manager and adviser in an SEC investigation regarding potential conflict of interest and fiduciary duty issues
• Represented an asset manager and financial publisher in an SEC investigation of crypto indices
• Represented a venture capital firm in an internal investigation into potential insider trading 
• Won full dismissal following a month-long bench trial for Deutsche Bank trader Jon Paul Rorech in an SEC enforcement action alleging the first-ever insider trading case involving credit default swaps
• Represented Wegelin & Co., the world’s oldest private Swiss bank, in conducting an internal investigation and defending against criminal tax challenges from the DOJ, IRS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office that the bank assisted U.S. clients in evading their tax obligations
• Represented a New York City tax preparer in defending against criminal tax fraud, identity theft, and related charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, culminating in a three-week jury trial
• Representing multiple institutional clients, executives, and other individuals in SEC investigations involving corporate accounting practices and financial controls, disclosure issues, and stock issuances
• Representing funds, registered investment advisers, and their boards of directors/independent trustees in connection with inquiries from the SEC Division of Examinations 

Annie also represents clients across a range of industries in government and internal investigations involving allegations related to insider trading, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, bribery of public officials, violations of U.S. tariff and customs laws, and securities fraud.

Annie also provides regulatory compliance counseling and advises companies on the development and implementation of appropriate risk management policies and procedures, including with respect to the False Claims Act and healthcare compliance and reporting obligations. She worked for several years on an independent monitoring team focusing on the domestic ethics program of one of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States.

Annie worked as a Special Assistant District Attorney for the Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney’s Office in 2013, where she prosecuted felony cases and conducted several jury trials and evidentiary hearings.

Annie also has an active pro bono practice, representing individuals and entities in a variety of federal and state matters, including several clients in federal criminal cases. She also represented the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in an amicus brief filed with the US Supreme Court.

At Goodwin, Annie is actively involved in associate mentoring and serves on her group’s Attorney Development Committee. As a member of the Community Service Committee, she also helped plan the annual New York Day of Service for several years. 

Annie is a member of the Federal Bar Council, the New York City Bar Association, the Women’s White Collar Defense Association and the National Association of Women Lawyers.

Annie is recognized by Chambers USA for her work in White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations and in Healthcare, where she is described as “a terrific lawyer” who has “a lot of great trial experience and is fantastic.” She is also recommended by The Legal 500 US for her corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense practice.

Annie has been recognized as a Future Star by Benchmark Litigation and a Rising Star by the New York Law Journal. She was also recognized by Law360 as a White Collar “Rising Star” in 2017, one of only five attorneys nationwide to receive the award that year.

In 2018, Annie served as co-lead counsel in a federal criminal trial in the Southern District of New York, after which the judge praised “defense counsel’s excellent representation of the defendant throughout the case,” noting that “it’s plain that defense counsel did an extraordinary job, including making a successful motion to suppress, getting the count that the defendant had pleaded guilty to dismissed, and getting additional counts dismissed, either because the government couldn’t pursue them or the jury did not find them to be proven.”

At New York University School of Law, Annie was a Student Articles Development Editor for NYU’s Review of Law and Social Change.

Annie regularly writes and comments on developments related to government investigations and enforcement.

Annie’s recent publications include:

• Co-Author, “The Big Lessons from the SEC Speaks Conference 2024,” The Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog, April 2024
• Co-Author, “Blueprint of the Advisers Act-Related SPAC Enforcement Actions So Far,” Goodwin Client Alert, June 2023
• Co-Author, “The Supreme Court Holds that the False Claims Act’s Scienter Element Turns on Defendant’s Subjective Beliefs, Rejecting Seventh Circuit’s Objective Standard,” Goodwin Client Alert, June 2023
• Co-Author, “The False Claims Act and Kickbacks: Factual Causality Required,” New York Law Journal, April 2023
• Co-Author, “DOJ Revises Corporate Compliance Guidance to Take on Compensation Incentives and Communications Preservation – With a Continued Emphasis on Individual Accountability,” Goodwin Client Alert, March 2023
• Co-Author, “DOJ Announces Nationwide Voluntary Corporate Self-Disclosure Policy in Effort to Standardize and Incentivize Timely Self-Reporting,” Goodwin Client Alert, February 2023
• Co-Author, “Whistleblower Lawyers Use False Claims Act to Target Private Equity Firms Invested in Healthcare and Life Sciences,” Journal of Health Care Compliance, June 2022
• Co-Author, “HHS OIG Opines on Longstanding Medtech Legal Issue—Physician-Owned Device Distributors,” WLF Legal Pulse, May 2022
• Co-Author, “Newly Appointed Federal Watchdogs Warn They Are Focused on Private Funds,” Goodwin Client Alert, April 2022
• Co-Author, “The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity Litigation,” Business Crimes Bulletin, March 2022
• Co-Author, “Senate Judiciary Committee Advances False Claims Act Amendment to Full Senate,” Life Sciences Perspectives, November 2021
• Co-Author, “PE Investment in Health Care Attracting Greater Federal Scrutiny,” New York Law Journal, June 2021 
• Co-Author, “Life Sciences Companies Face Heightened Insider Trading Risks and Scrutiny,” Compliance & Enforcement, April 2021
• Co-Author, “For Civil Enforcement, The Pandemic Is Just Beginning,” New York Law Journal, April 2021
• Author, “Enhanced Scrutiny of COVID-19 Medicare Payments and Data Reporting for Hospitals,” New York Law Journal, October 2020
• Co-Author, “Next for America’s Nursing Homes: A Legal Pandemic,” New York Law Journal, June 2020
• Co-Author, “To Fight the Pandemic, Health Care Companies Face New Opportunities But Old Legal Risks,” New York Law Journal, April 2020
• Co-Author, “New Attack on Physician Compensation Models Under the Stark Law,” New York Law Journal, December 2019
• Co-Author, “Does Violating Medicare Regulatory Guidance Still Create False Claims Act Liability?,” New York Law Journal, June 2019
• Co-Author, “Claim Certifying Medical Necessity Must Meet Definition of ‘Reasonable and Necessary,” New York Law Journal, March 2019
• Co-Author, “New DOJ Policies May Help Companies Better Navigate False Claims Act Investigations,” Risk & Compliance Magazine, October 2018
• Co-Author, “DOJ Announces Public Release of the Cyber-Digital Task Force’s First Report; Impact on and Role of the Private Sector Likely to be a Focus in the Coming Months,” Compliance & Enforcement, August 2018
• Co-Author, “DOJ Announces Establishment of Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud; SEC Chairman Highlights Actions Involving ICOs,” Digital Currency & Blockchain Perspectives, July 2018
• Co-Author, “Two Recent Cases Illustrate Need to Rely on Causal Concepts in FCA Cases,” New York Law Journal, June 2018

Annie’s recent speaking engagements include:

• Speaker, “Private Equity Investment Risks in Healthcare,” ABA National Institute on Health Care Fraud, June 2022
• Speaker, “Internal Investigations and the Prosecutor’s Perspective,” Compliance Savvy Executive Series, April 2022
• Speaker, “Compliance Program Growth – Internal Investigations,” Goodwin Foundations In Healthcare Compliance Series, December 2021 
• Speaker, “False Claims Act Risks and Trends in U.S. Higher Education,” Boston Bar Association Virtual Higher Education Legal Conference, March 2021
• Speaker, “False Claims Act Risks and Trends in U.S. Higher Education,” Goodwin Higher Education Symposium, October 2020
• Speaker, “Healthcare Issues + Trends: The False Claims Act and Other Government Enforcement,” Goodwin Webinar Series, July 2020
• Speaker, “Legal Risks Associated with PPP Loan Applications,” Airbase Navigating Uncertainty Series, May 2020
• Speaker, “Enforcement Trends and Risks in Healthcare and Life Sciences,” New York Healthcare + Biotech CLE Day, October 2019
• Speaker, “Government Investigations and Compliance,” Benchmark Women in Litigation Forum, September 2017