Baron & Budd Expands Fraud-Fighting Practice, Adds False Claims Expert Jan Soifer

DALLAS, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Chief of the Texas Attorney General's Charitable Trusts Section and Deputy Chief of the Consumer Protection Division Jan Soifer has joined Dallas-based Baron & Budd, P.C. to work on its Qui Tam litigation team, announced the firm today.

Austin-based Soifer will serve as Special Counsel in the Qui Tam / False Claims Act practice area, led by former head of the Texas Attorney General's Civil Medicaid Fraud Section, Patrick O'Connell.

"We're very proud to add Jan's 25 years of experience and commitment to protecting U.S. taxpayers against fraud to our firm's portfolio," said Baron & Budd managing shareholder Russell Budd. "Her extensive record of success and leadership in the legal community will be a great asset as we expand this area of our practice."

"I'm very excited about this partnership because it will enable me to apply Baron & Budd's significant legal resources toward aggressively enforcing False Claims Acts throughout the country," said Soifer. "This should come as good news to state and federal governments seeking to prosecute the perpetrators of fraud -- and bad news to those who are engaging in it."

Soifer, formerly a partner in the firm Lawrence & Soifer LLP, is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and Yale University. She has been recognized for her success in representing clients before state and federal trial and appellate courts of Texas, named the Outstanding Young Lawyer in Texas in 1991 by the Texas Young Lawyers Association and a Texas Super Lawyer in 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Law & Politics and Texas Monthly magazine.

Soifer is Board Certified in Consumer and Commercial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell Legal Directory, its highest rating. She has served as a Trustee of the Texas Bar Foundation, a Director of the State Bar of Texas, a member of the Supreme Court Gender Bias Reform Implementation Committee, and President of the Austin Bar Association, and she is currently a member of the State Bar's Women in the Profession Committee and the Austin Bar Association's Judicial Affairs Committee.

A former president of Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas, a bar-sponsored project that provides free legal services to people in need, Soifer received the 1995 J. Chrys Dougherty Award for exemplary dedication and commitment to the principle of access to justice for all people regardless of income. She was also appointed one of the initial Commissioners on the Texas Access to Justice Commission, and currently serves on its Legislative Committee.

In addition to her work on Qui Tam and False Claims Act cases, Soifer has successfully represented plaintiffs suing officers and directors who breach their fiduciary duties and commit fraud against nonprofit organizations. She has also been a member of the adjunct faculty of the University of Texas School of Law since 1992, where she teaches trial advocacy classes.

About Baron & Budd, P.C.

For more than 30 years, the law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C. has championed the rights of people and communities harmed by corporate misconduct. With more than 50 attorneys and offices in California, Texas and Louisiana, Baron & Budd enjoys a national reputation as a leader of the plaintiffs' bar. The firm represents individuals with mesothelioma and other diseases caused by asbestos; leukemia caused by benzene; injuries caused by other toxic substances and unsafe pharmaceuticals; water authorities seeking clean-up costs for drinking water contamination; government entities and whistleblowers fighting corporate fraud through Qui Tam and False Claims Act cases; securities investors defrauded by corporate wrongdoing; and consumers in class actions.

CONTACT: Susan Jones Knape

              214-523-6226