RICO Litigation

Robins Kaplan represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes litigation under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Our lawyers handle civil RICO matters involving fraud, commercial bribery and kickbacks, embezzlement, money laundering, fiduciary misconduct, healthcare fraud, consumer claims, and other alleged patterns of unlawful business conduct.

RICO cases demand more than familiarity with the statute. They require lawyers who can investigate complex facts, trace financial transactions, understand the underlying business, and present a complicated alleged enterprise in a way that judges and juries can understand. Robins Kaplan brings together experienced commercial trial lawyers and former federal prosecutors who have investigated and tried significant racketeering cases. That combination allows us to evaluate RICO cases from both sides—how to build them and how to dismantle them.

We represent clients from pre-suit investigation through trial and appeal. Our experience includes disputes concerning predicate acts, enterprise liability, pattern and continuity, causation and standing, conspiracy, treble damages, class certification, and parallel criminal or regulatory issues.

• Dismissal of all RICO through appeal. Served as lead counsel for three businessmen sued under RICO in the Central District of California. The district court dismissed the claims, the Ninth Circuit affirmed, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari.
• RICO victory involving commercial bribery and kickbacks. Represented a manufacturer in a federal civil RICO action arising from a years-long scheme in which vendors allegedly secured lucrative logistics and installation contracts through commercial bribery, kickbacks, bid manipulation, misuse of confidential pricing information, and fraudulent invoices. We prevailed in significant motion practice, developed compelling evidence through discovery, ultimately resulting in resolution on highly favorable terms.
• Closely-held business RICO dispute. Represent a 50% shareholder, individually and derivatively, in a pending action alleging a long-running scheme to divert millions of dollars from a closely-held company through concealed transactions, falsified financial records, diversion of assets, and money laundering.
• Extensive federal RICO trial and prosecution experience. Our RICO team includes former federal prosecutors with substantial experience investigating and trying complex racketeering, fraud, conspiracy, and organized-crime cases. That experience includes serving as lead trial counsel in multi-defendant federal RICO conspiracy trials spanning months and involving racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, narcotics trafficking, and related offenses.
• Nearly $1.5 billion in opioid settlements for American Indian Tribes. Represented Tribal Nations in the national opioid litigation, including serving on the Tribal Leadership Committee negotiating on behalf of federally recognized Tribes nationwide. The firm helped secure settlements including $439 million from major opioid distributors, $150 million from an opioid manufacturer, and more than $603 million from Teva, Allergan, Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS—bringing total tribal opioid settlements to nearly $1.5 billion.
• Major healthcare fraud and RICO litigation. Our lawyers have represented leading national health insurers in complex fraud and RICO matters involving alleged kickback schemes, fraudulent claims, manipulation of the No Surprises Act arbitration process, improper patient-assistance arrangements, and other alleged schemes involving tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
• $546 million EcoDiesel RICO settlement. Represented consumers and reseller automobile dealers in multidistrict civil RICO and consumer-fraud litigation against Fiat Chrysler and Bosch, resulting in a settlement worth approximately $546 million in cash and repairs.
• Dismissal of $2.7 billion RICO class action. Obtained dismissal with prejudice of federal and state RICO claims against workers’ compensation insurers in litigation arising from alleged $2.7 billion residual-market deficits.