Dominique Rioux is an associate in Ropes & Gray’s litigation and enforcement practice group. Her practice includes government investigations, white collar criminal defense, and complex civil litigation. Dominique has experience in all stages of litigation, including dispositive motion practice, discovery, working with expert witnesses, preparing for depositions, and appeal. She has represented multiple clients in matters involving the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute. Dominique returned to the firm in 2021 after a year-long clerkship with the Honorable Paul L. Friedman of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Dominique maintains an active pro bono practice, with a focus on constitutional issues and impact litigation. She previously represented Christopher Lee Price, an inmate on death row, in his Eighth Amendment challenge to Alabama’s lethal injection protocol before the Southern District of Alabama, the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Dominique argued Sluss v. DOJ before the D.C. Circuit through the Georgetown Appellate Litigation Clinic. During law school, she also interned for the Honorable Patricia A. Millett of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Prior to law school, Dominique worked in the Governor’s Office of Massachusetts for both Governors Patrick and Baker on the team implementing Massachusetts’ new health care system under the Affordable Care Act. In this role, she worked closely with federal and state agencies including HHS, the Massachusetts Health Connector, and MassHealth.
Experience
- Represents an electronic health records company before an HHS Administrative Law Judge, including drafting a motion for summary judgment.
- Defended a health care technology company in a criminal government investigation of alleged Anti-Kickback Statute violations, including extensive fact development.
- Defended a life science company in civil False Claims Act qui tam litigation, including drafting responses and objections to requests for production, and conducting fact development.
- Represented Christopher Lee Price, an Alabama death row inmate and pro bono client of the firm, in his Eighth Amendment challenge to Alabama’s lethal injection protocol. Within four months, Dominique helped draft 10 motions before the district court, including a cross motion for summary judgment, two emergency motions for a preliminary injunction, and a motion for judgment on partial findings. She also helped draft three Eleventh Circuit appeals, a motion before the Alabama Supreme Court, and a cert. petition and two emergency stay motions before the United States Supreme Court. In that same timeframe, Dominique simultaneously helped the team prepare for trial by working with experts and second chairing a deposition.