MRPFIRM.COM

WELCOME! MIRIAM ALINIKOFF

In October, Miriam (Mimi) Alinikoff joined MRP as a partner. Prior to joining MRP, Mimi served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, where she directed numerous complex fraud investigations involving programs administered by federal agencies. She developed an expertise in violations of the False Claims Act (FCA), the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, and other fraud, waste, and abuse protections, by managed care organizations, hospitals, pharmacies, and physicians. Mimi also pursued violations of the FCA in connection with program fraud committed by non-healthcare entities, such as telecommunications providers, grant recipients, and recipients of funds through the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program. Before serving as an AUSA, Mimi was a partner at a top New York litigation boutique.

NOTABLE FEDERAL CIVIL REPRESENTATIONS

MRP is involved in some of the most significant federal court civil cases in South Florida, including cases where we represent plaintiffs and defendants. 

MRP is co-counsel with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in representing five South Florida hospitals that have sued a national ratings agency for false advertising over so-called failing safety grades it published about them because the hospitals elected not to participate in the agency's’ data survey. The case, Good Samaritan Medical Center, et al. v. The Leapfrog Group, raises important questions regarding commercial advertising and consumer confusion (see Miami Herald coverage here). The team just finished a two-week bench trial before Judge Middlebrooks, where Jeff was a key member of the trial team and took the lead in examining key witnesses. We expect a decision by early April. 

MRP represents William “Beau” Wrigley, the former CEO and chairman of Parallel, a national cannabis multi-state operator based in Florida, in a civil securities fraud trial. The case involves allegations that the defendants misrepresented the financial condition of Parallel to a pair of sophisticated high-net-worth investors, who are seeking compensatory and punitive damages in excess of one hundred million dollars. Jeff Marcus and Kate Meyers lead our trial team along with Wilkie Farr & Gallagher. The parties have fully briefed summary judgment and await a trial date. 

The firm represents the founder and CEO of telehealth platforms in a civil enforcement action by the DOJ under the FTC Act. The government alleges that the defendants violated the Act by sharing customer data with third-parties, by posting fake customer reviews, and by charging customers who sought to cancel their monthly subscriptions, among other things. The case is the largest enforcement action brought by DOJ against a telemedicine company, raising novel issues, including regarding the scope of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. Our team led by Michael Pineiro, Dan Rashbaum, and Miriam Alinikoff has moved to dismiss the government’s complaint on various grounds, which is fully briefed and pending, and the case is in the middle of discovery. 

MRP’S LEADING CRIMINAL PRACTICE

In criminal practice, our best results often occur outside of the courtroom and before a case is ever indicted. Recently, Dan Rashbaum and Kate Meyers represented a client facing an investigation out of the Eastern District of Missouri regarding an alleged kickback fraud involving an international cruise line. After several meetings with the prosecutors, we recently received a notice from the government that it had declined to bring charges against our client. 

Even though the government’s enforcement priorities have certainly changed in the last year, the government is still bringing healthcare fraud cases in South Florida, and MRP is at the forefront of those matters. We currently represent a physician who is accused of healthcare fraud through his pain management clinics (news coverage here). Dan Rashbaum, Kate Meyers, and Jeff Marcus lead that trial team. The case is set for trial in the summer of 2026. 

MRP'S INDUSTRY LEADING DATA PRIVACY CLASS ACTION PRACTICE

MRP has started an extensive data privacy practice—one that is bringing cutting-edge cases on behalf of nationwide classes. Led by Michael Pineiro and Chris Reilly, MRP represents consumers in putative class actions brought in the Northern District of California and the Southern District of Florida alleging data privacy violations. In two of these actions, Smith v. Rack Room Shoes and Cobbs v. PetMeds Express, Inc., MRP recently defeated motions to dismiss involving questions of first impression (see here and here). In Smith, MRP successfully argued that Rack Room Shoes, a retailer with a nationwide presence, engaged in violations of the federal Wiretap Act by closely assisting advertisers like Meta Platforms, Inc., with surreptitiously intercepting consumers’ electronic communications, including communications that contained personally identifiable information. A novel issue at the time, the court in Cobbs later reached the same result, finding that our clients properly alleged that PetMeds, an online veterinary pharmacy, violated the Wiretap Act and the California Invasion Privacy Act by helping advertisers and data brokers siphon personal information from consumers who navigated its website. Along with Smith and Cobbs, MRP has brought similar claims in the Southern District of Florida against Curaleaf, a medical marijuana treatment center, on behalf of patients who purchased medicinal cannabis through Curaleaf’s website (news coverage here). All three actions remain pending.