Overview
Nickolas Merrill primarily represents health care clients in federal class action and qui tam litigation. He leverages robust trial skills to counsel clients in complex health care, antitrust and civil RICO lawsuits.
Health Care Litigation
Nick has experience with multiple aspects of civil litigation, in particular with dispositive motion practice. The health care clients that Nick represents include charitable co-pay assistance foundations, industry executives, hospitals and other health care providers. The issues facing these clients are complex and often involve conspiracy allegations with various co-defendants.
His experience includes:
- Nick was part of the team who won dismissal of complex civil RICO claims for a charitable co-pay assistance foundation that allegedly received improper donations from pharmaceutical companies.
- Nick is part of the team defending an executive of a generics pharmaceutical company against Sherman Act claims.
- Nick is heavily involved in class action litigation defending a hospital provider from both state and federal antitrust allegations grounded in the hospital’s managed care contracts with payors.
- Nick has been defending a hospital provider and its associated entities in qui tam litigation involving both federal and state Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, and False Claims Act claims.
Other Litigation Experience
- Won dismissal of high-stakes civil RICO claims against Native American tribe and individual tribal members arising from illegal gaming allegations.
- Won dismissal of several suits brought by consumers against a large financial institution for claims sounding in consumer fraud.
- Oversaw class action settlement and court-ordered consent agreement for real estate clients.
Prior Experience
Before joining the firm, Nick served a clerkship with Judge Stephen J. Murphy III at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Personal Interests
Nick is an avid pickleball player, big professional and college football fan, and often tries out new sous vide recipes when cooking for friends and family.
Related Legal Services
Credentials
Bar Admissions
District of Columbia
Maryland
Court Admissions
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Clerkships
U.S. District Court for the District of Eastern Michigan, Hon. Stephen J. Murphy III, 2020-2022
Education
Boston College Law School
J.D. cum laude, Uniform Commercial Code Reporter-Digest (managing editor) (2020)
Tulane University
B.A. in Political Science and International Relations, cum laude (2015)
Tulane University
B.S. in Economics, cum laude (2015)
Insights & Events
Latest
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Leadership & Community
Pro Bono
Nick handles several pro bono matters each year. Most notably, Nick won summary judgment for a U.S. Navy veteran in an Administrative Procedure Act case for judicial review of a decision by the Board for Corrections of Naval Records that denied medical disability retirement for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder. Nick has also created compliance training for nonprofits and participates monthly in the Catholic Charities Legal Network intake clinic.
Honors
- District of Columbia Courts — Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2023-24
- Faegre Drinker — Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2023-24
No aspect of these recognitions has been approved by the highest court of any state.