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Our Law Firm, Hirst Law Group P.C.

Attorneys

Michael A. Hirst

Attorney Michael A. Hirst is the founder of Hirst Law Group P.C. in Davis, California.

Mr. Hirst was born and raised in Greenwich Village in New York City. He was a Regents Scholar at Hamilton College '80. While attending law school, he was ranked number one in his first-year law school class. Later, he was designated as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar at Columbia University School of Law '87.

Prior to starting the firm, Mr. Hirst worked at the law firm of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enersen in San Francisco. From there, he went on to have a distinguished 15 year career as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California. In 2005, he left the government to form, Hirst & Chanler LLP, at which he remained until 2010.

While working for the government, Mr. Hirst served as the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Coordinator, the Health Care Fraud Coordinator, and eventually the Chief of Affirmative Civil Litigation, in which he supervised all civil investigations and cases brought by the office within the 34 counties in the district, including all fraud and False Claims Act prosecutions.

Described by the San Jose Mercury News as one of the "leading prosecutors in California" after only 4 years with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Hirst has received numerous awards and recognitions. Nominated for the National Assistant United States Attorney of the Year in 2004, Mr. Hirst has received multiple sustained superior performance awards and a Director's Award from the Department of Justice, presented by Attorney General Janet Reno. He has received countless awards from other federal agencies, including the highest award given by the Department of Health and Human Services and various awards and recognitions from the Forest Service, including from Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth, who recognized Mr. Hirst's "tireless efforts in preparation and brilliant performance at trial."

Mr. Hirst's record-setting $62.55 million prosecution of Redding Medical Center and Tenet Healthcare, Inc. is the largest recovery in a medical necessity fraud case, and the largest recovery against a single hospital, in United States Department of Justice history. Following that case, Attorney General John Ashcroft wrote that Mr. Hirst was an "exceptional litigator who has performed a significant public service." Attorney General Ashcroft stated: "The successful outcome in this case significantly advanced the Department's efforts to combat fraudulent health care practices." Featured in a book about the case, Coronary (Simon and Schuster, 2007) by New York Times journalist and author Stephen Klaidman, Mr. Hirst was described as a "quiet but tough negotiator."

Mr. Hirst's cases have been reported on television, radio and newspapers throughout the country and abroad, including on 60 Minutes, 20-20, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, NPR, in front page stories in the New York Times and the Financial Times of London, in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press, Reuters, the National Journal, the Sacramento Bee, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and numerous other publications.

Mr. Hirst lives in Davis, California, with his wife and three children. He has taught trial technique classes at UC Davis Law School for the International Law program.

Leslie Guillon

Ms. Guillon received her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California in 1998. After having been awarded an academic scholarship, she graduated from the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 2002. She has practiced law continuously in California since 2002, and became a member of the Illinois bar in 2003. Prior to joining Hirst & Chanler LLP in 2006, and the Hirst Law Group P.C. in 2010, Ms. Guillon was employed with Tharpe & Howell, a Los Angeles defense firm.

Investigator and Auditor

Jerry Hurst

Mr. Hurst has been a CPA since 1981 (currently holding an inactive California license). He has extensive experience in investigating Medicare and Medicaid fraud, having spent 26 years with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. He was also the Health Care Fraud Auditor with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California, from July 2001 to November 2005. Mr. Hurst left the government in November 2005 to join Hirst & Chanler LLP.

Mr. Hurst's auditing work in federal and state health care programs includes nursing homes, hospitals, physicians, medical supply companies, home health care agencies, pharmaceutical companies, rural health clinics, and durable medical equipment companies, to name a few. He has extensive experience working with government agents from the FBI, HHS-OIG, DCIS, etc., who may be involved in your case once it is filed.

We believe our experienced staff will ensure that your case receives unmatched support. If the government declines to intervene in the action, we have the necessary resources to proceed independently, if warranted.

The information on this webiste is not intended, and cannot be considered, as legal advice or opinion. If you are reading this website in order to understand the False Claims Act or other cases, and you are not not currently represented by an attorney, we recommend that you seek experienced counsel to evaluate and, if appropriate, file and pursue, any potential case on your behalf.