Current Recipient

Congratulations to the recipient of the 2024 Patricia T. Meador Leadership Award:

John Kelly is Chair of Barnes & Thornburg’s national Healthcare Department and Industry Practice, and a former federal healthcare fraud prosecutor and supervisor at the U.S. Department of Justice.  John advises and defends clients in government investigations, criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving healthcare fraud including the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Controlled Substances Act, and other regulatory and compliance issues. John regularly represents providers, hospitals, health systems, clinical labs, pharmacies, drug distributors, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and medical device companies, among others, before the DOJ, HHS-OIG, CMS, FDA, FBI, DEA, and other state and federal agencies.  When needed, John assists with disclosures to federal and state regulatory agencies. 

John serves as outside compliance and investigations counsel for healthcare and life sciences companies including those subject to a corporate integrity agreement. John advises compliance officers and corporate boards on compliance program implementation and best practices. John represents providers in disputes against payors, including responding to and litigating against Medicare and Medicaid contractors. John also has extensive experience in managed care and with Medicare Advantage risk adjustment providing compliance guidance, and best practices.       

Before entering private practice, John had a distinguished career as a federal prosecutor where he managed healthcare fraud cases nationwide while supervising agents and line prosecutors. He held a number of leadership positions at the DOJ including: assistant chief for healthcare fraud in the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, lead prosecutor for the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Los Angeles, and chief of staff and deputy director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.  

John is a frequent speaker and writer on topics related to healthcare fraud and abuse as well as compliance programs. He is invited to speak at conferences across the country and overseas, and was a regular instructor at the DOJ’s national training center. John is often quoted by national media outlets on compliance and government enforcement. His insights have been published in articles by The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Reuters, Bloomberg News, Modern Healthcare, and Law360, among others.  Finally, John serves as an adjunct law professor at the American University Washington College of Law teaching future lawyers about the False Claims Act and Compliance in the Healthcare Industry. 

Watch John find out he was this year's winner.

All Recipients

*denotes deceased