
Amanda Masselam Strachan
Partner
Amanda Masselam Strachan is a seasoned trial lawyer who advises clients in corporate investigations and litigation with an emphasis on white-collar criminal defense and health care fraud enforcement. She leverages her eighteen years as a federal prosecutor, including her roles as Chief of the Criminal Division and Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit for the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, to help clients navigate complex legal questions arising from the inquiries of federal and state prosecutorial authorities, regulators, and private litigants. Ms. Masselam Strachan has extensive experience conducting corporate investigations and trying complex cases. She is a member of the firm's industry-leading White-Collar Defense and Investigations practice.
While serving as Criminal Chief, Ms. Masselam Strachan supervised approximately 100 federal prosecutors and every criminal matter in the District of Massachusetts, including health care fraud and other complex corporate investigations, and matters involving securities fraud, national security, government contract fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and cyber fraud.
Before her time as Criminal Chief, she served as Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit, where she was a national leader in DOJ's efforts to combat fraud and abuse in the health care industry. Ms. Masselam Strachan prosecuted and tried some of the most high profile federal criminal prosecutions in the district, including the well-publicized New England Compounding Center (NECC) cases, in which she convicted following multiple jury trials various individuals associated with the compounding pharmacy, which was responsible for producing contaminated steroids that caused the nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in which over 800 patients were sickened and more than 100 died. As Health Care Fraud Chief, she oversaw all parallel criminal and civil health care fraud investigations in the district, including whistleblower complaints alleging violations of the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute. During her tenure at the US Attorney’s Office, she handled other several landmark health care fraud cases, including the $650 million settlement with a strategy and management consulting firm for its work advising opioid manufacturers; the criminal prosecution of Insys Therapeutics, Inc. for fraud and providing kickbacks through its speaker programs; and a $3 billion global plea and settlement with a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company relating to allegations of misbranding under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Ms. Masselam Strachan began her legal career at WilmerHale as a member of the White-Collar Defense and Investigations and Securities Litigation practices. During her time at the firm, she served as a Special Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County of Massachusetts, where she tried seventeen cases to verdict.
Professional Activities
Ms. Masselam Strachan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and law schools on issues related to DOJ’s corporate criminal and health care fraud enforcement work. She is a member of the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association and a mentor in Boston University School of Law’s Health Law Program.
Recognition
- J. Michael Bradford Memorial Award for Most Outstanding Assistant United States Attorney from the National Association of Former United States Attorneys (NAFUSA) (2023)
- FDA Commissioner’s Special Citation (2020)
- The EOUSA Director’s Award for Superior Performance (2020)
- The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service (2013 and 2020)
- Top Women of Law, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (2019)
- The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association’s 2020 Investigation of the Year Award and 2019 Investigation of the Year Honorable Mention Award
- The United States Attorney’s Office Crime Victims’ Rights Recognition Award (2017)
- The HHS Inspector General’s Cooperative Achievement Award (2013)
- The VA Office of Inspector General Certificate of Appreciation (2013)
Insights & News
Credentials
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Education
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JD, Boston University School of Law, 1998
cum laude
Editor, Boston University Law Review
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BA, Government and Legal Studies, Bowdoin College, 1995
cum laude
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Admissions
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Massachusetts
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Government Experience
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Department of Justice
United States Attorney's Office
Chief, Criminal Division, District of Massachusetts -
Department of Justice
United States Attorney's Office
Chief, Health Care Fraud Unit, District of Massachusetts -
State and Local Government
Special Assistant District Attorney, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
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Credentials
-
Education
-
JD, Boston University School of Law, 1998
cum laude
Editor, Boston University Law Review
-
BA, Government and Legal Studies, Bowdoin College, 1995
cum laude
-
-
Admissions
-
Massachusetts
-
-
Government Experience
-
Department of Justice
United States Attorney's Office
Chief, Criminal Division, District of Massachusetts -
Department of Justice
United States Attorney's Office
Chief, Health Care Fraud Unit, District of Massachusetts -
State and Local Government
Special Assistant District Attorney, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
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