BRENNA JENNY leverages her experience in senior roles both within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Division to represent clients in the healthcare industry in government enforcement actions, internal investigations, and compliance reviews. Brenna has been recognized by Law360 as a “Rising Star” in Healthcare (2021) and is ranked in Chambers based on client feedback characterizing her as “thorough, strategic and insightful.”
Strategic guidance informed by government leadership: Brenna is one of the few attorneys in private practice to have held senior legal positions within both HHS and DOJ. During the first Trump administration, Brenna served as the Principal Deputy General Counsel at HHS and the Chief Legal Officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In that role, Brenna supervised an unprecedented wave of regulatory flexibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, including waivers related to telehealth services. She also served as the principal legal adviser to the $178 billion CARES Act Provider Relief Fund and led HHS’s coordination with DOJ and the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) on civil and criminal enforcement of fraud relating to the Provider Relief Fund. In addition, Brenna was a co-founder of the HHS False Claims Act Working Group and regularly consulted with law enforcement at DOJ and HHS-OIG on a broad range of fraud and abuse matters relating to HHS programs. Prior to joining HHS, Brenna served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division of DOJ. In this capacity, Brenna supervised False Claims Act matters and opioid-related investigations, in addition to advising on litigation strategy for healthcare-related lawsuits.
Defense of False Claims Act and other enforcement matters: Brenna has defended dozens of False Claims Act investigations, all for healthcare companies, responding to allegations ranging from coding and billing accuracy, off-label promotion, the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, broker arrangements, and non-compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices regulations and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Many of these cases have resulted in declinations from all federal and state governments. Where relators choose to proceed with litigation, Brenna aggressively defends the case, leveraging her government service to strategically obtain helpful discovery from relevant government agencies. Brenna also applies her extensive FCA experience to defend companies outside the healthcare industry in DOJ investigations and litigation. Brenna has successfully represented providers at the federal and state level in obtaining reinstatement of Medicare and Medicaid billing privileges following adverse audit results. In addition, Brenna counsels clients on a range of fraud and abuse risk areas, including remediation through self-disclosures to HHS and responding to inquiries by Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPICs).
Regulatory litigation: Both at DOJ and HHS, Brenna supervised teams of government attorneys who defended HHS in Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenges to regulatory actions. Experiencing how the government defends itself in these matters has given Brenna unique insight into how best to bring such cases for clients. Among other APA litigation, Brenna has led the legal team that has successfully challenged numerous aspects of the regulations implementing the No Surprises Act. Brenna also advises provider clients on compliance with, and litigation strategy relating to, the No Surprises Act.
Congressional investigations: While at HHS, Brenna led, on an interim basis, the HHS Office of the General Counsel team working on House oversight inquiries and investigations.
Before joining Sidley, Brenna clerked for the Honorable Raymond W. Gruender of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Brenna received her law degree and Masters in Public Health in a joint degree program from Harvard University.