Melanie G. Wegner
Associate
Melanie Wegner is a litigation associate based in Ropes & Gray’s Chicago office. Melanie’s practice includes representing clients facing government investigations and False Claims Act lawsuits, conducting internal investigations, and developing and implementing compliance monitoring programs. She has experience representing a range of clients, particularly health care clients, including in the pharmaceutical, medical device, laboratory testing, and dental industries.
During law school, Melanie worked as a judicial intern for the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the Honorable Carol Ann Dalton of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Experience
- Advising the board members of a medical technology company in connection with several related matters, including civil and criminal investigations by the DOJ and FDA, qui tam (whistleblower) complaints, a class action lawsuit, and multiple shareholder derivative suits.
- Representing a laboratory testing company in connection with a civil investigation by the DOJ, HHS-OIG, and state Attorney General’s office.
- Representing a public company in an SEC accounting investigation.
- Represented a group of surgeons in a False Claims Act qui tam lawsuit relating to alleged unlawful billing of services.
- Represented a private equity sponsor in expedited Delaware merger litigation concerning the application of a “material adverse event” clause in light of a public company’s performance during the COVID pandemic.
- Represented a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in an investigation by the Department of Justice concerning alleged violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
- Conducted internal investigation relating to potential Anti-Kickback Statute violations for a multinational pharmaceutical company.
- Conducted internal investigation for American multinational technology company regarding potential FCPA violations.
- Assisted in the representation of a client before the Federal Trade Commission.
- Pro Bono – Obtained asylum for Tajik woman persecuted on account of her non-conformity with prevailing social, political, and religious norms and who feared future persecution on account of her sexual orientation.
Education
- JD, with high honors, The George Washington University Law School, 2016; Order of the Coif; member,The George Washington Law Review
- BA (Psychology and Political Science), with highest distinction, Indiana University, 2013; General Honors Notation from Hutton Honors College
Admissions / Qualifications
Qualifications
- Illinois, 2016
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois