Whistleblower Attorney Named Among Top 20 Most Notable BU Alumni in Business

Money Inc. recently named David K. Colapinto, partner at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto (KKC), among the 20 most notable Boston University alumni in business. Colapinto, a nationally recognized advocate for whistleblowers with over 30 years of experience successfully representing them, was in the company of influential people on the list, which included, among other things, television network executives, real estate moguls, and software developers. 

After graduating from Boston University in 1984, Colapinto got his J.D. from the Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Colapinto specializes in qui tam/False Claims Act, Dodd-Frank Act SEC whistleblower claims, IRS whistleblower claims, Freedom of Information and Privacy Act litigation, and whistleblower discrimination and retaliation litigation.

He was lead counsel for the employee-whistleblower who brought a major qui tam/False Claims action against the drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb, helping to recover in 2007 more than $500 million for U.S. taxpayers and the government.

Colapinto was co-counsel in the case of the most significant tax fraud whistleblower in U.S. history, Bradley Birkenfeld, who blew the whistle on illegal offshore accounts held in Switzerland by U.S. citizens. Birkenfeld, a former international banker and wealth manager with Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), had been arrested before KKC took over the case.  Colapinto and Birkenfeld’s lead counsel, Stephen Kohn of KKC (also a BU graduate), along with attorney Dean Zerbe, obtained the largest monetary award ever given to an individual whistleblower ($104 million) after several years of litigation. 

Colapinto also represented the first nationally recognized FBI whistleblower, Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, who exposed forensic fraud in the FBI crime lab. Colapinto, along with other KKC attorneys, was responsible for a historic Presidential Executive Order that ensured whistleblower protection rights for FBI agents who expose misconduct.