James F. Barger, Jr.

Attorney James F. Barger, Jr., is a partner with the Frohsin Barger & Walthall law firm, which has offices in Birmingham, Alabama, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and St. Simons Island, Georgia. Serving clients throughout Alabama and Georgia, Mr. Barger devotes his practice primarily to handling high-stakes, highly complex qui tam whistleblower litigation under the False Claims Act, especially as it relates to Medicare and Medicaid fraud, pharmaceutical fraud, financial fraud, government contractor fraud, and customs and trade fraud.

Over the course of his more than 14-year legal career, Mr. Barger has established himself as a leading authority on qui tam whistleblower claims, and he has recovered millions of dollars in settlements and awards on behalf of his clients. He has worked on some of the largest Medicaid and Medicare hospice fraud cases in the country, obtaining settlements of $150 million and $75 million against two prominent home health care companies, along with many other substantial recoveries.

In addition to maintaining a successful trial practice, Mr. Barger also routinely consults companies on health care fraud liability and compliance to help them mitigate their risk exposure and avoid any potential problems in the future.

Drawing upon his extensive legal knowledge, he has served on the adjunct legal faculty at the University of Alabama School of Law, where he has facilitated classes involving the False Claims Act, white collar crime investigations, health care fraud and other subjects. He has also published several articles in various legal journals and conducted numerous lectures and seminars across the country on a variety of topics. Most recently, he helped author the update to the Health Care Fraud, Enforcement and Compliance treatise.

In recognition for his outstanding professionalism and service, Mr. Barger has earned consistent designation from The Best Lawyers in America©, and Benchmark Plaintiff has named him a "Litigation Star" each year since 2012. He has also received a "Top Attorney" designation from Birmingham Magazine, and Business Alabama Magazine voted him among “The State’s Outstanding Young Lawyers” in 2010. He is also a Fellow with the Litigation Counsel of America, and he is one of a select few attorneys in the nation to serve as private attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mr. Barger graduated from Furman University in 1994 and earned his master's degree from the University of Mississippi in 1996. Upon deciding to pursue his legal career, he attended the University of Alabama School of Law, where he obtained his Juris Doctor magna cum laude in 2005. He is admitted to practice before all U.S. District Courts in Alabama, the District of Colorado and the Eastern District of Wisconsin as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th and 11th Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court.

While in law school, he served as senior editor for the Alabama Law Review and was an active member of the John A. Campbell Moot Court Board. He was also a member of the Alpha Epsilon Lambda Professional Honors Society, the Bench And Bar Legal Honor Society and the Public Interest Institute board. He currently serves as Trustee for the University of Alabama School of Law's Farrah Law Society.

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