Ryan Hassanein is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office. He is Co-Chair of the firm’s national False Claims Act Task Force and a member of its Securities Litigation, Government Enforcement, and White-Collar Defense Group. His practice focuses on False Claims Act investigations and lawsuits triggered by qui tam “whistle-blowers,” the Department of Justice, and state Attorneys General. Mr. Hassanein has substantial expertise in matters related to alleged pharmaceutical price reporting fraud, fraud on public pension funds, Anti-Kickback Statute violations, procurement fraud, and false certifications of compliance with government contracts and regulations. He advises clients in connection with internal investigations, due diligence arising from potential mergers and acquisitions, responses to Government subpoenas, and the defense of private suits based on allegations of fraud on private health insurance plans including civil RICO class actions and claims asserted under state unfair business practices statutes.
Mr. Hassanein also represents companies, Board committees, and officers and directors in securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, SEC inquiries, and criminal probes by the Justice Department. His experience crosses a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, software, computer hardware, telecommunications, and financial services.
Mr. Hassanein received a B.A. degree in Philosophy from Colgate University and his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. While at Hastings, he served as senior editor of the Hastings Law Journal. He also externed for the Honorable Joseph C. Spero, U.S. magistrate judge for the Northern District of California, and the Honorable Janice R. Brown, when she was a Justice of the California Supreme Court.
Mr. Hassanein is admitted to practice in California, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Central, Southern, and Eastern Districts of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
