Li Yu is a partner out of BLB&G’s New York office. Having served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Senior Counsel for the Civil Fraud Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for more than a decade, Li is a seasoned trial and appellate lawyer with deep experience in healthcare fraud, financial fraud, and other types of complex litigation.
A recognized expert in qui tam cases, Li investigated and litigated a series of cutting-edge False Claims Act cases at the Southern District of New York against Medicare Advantage organizations, drug manufacturers, pharmacy chains, medical device suppliers, and mortgage lenders. Li’s efforts led to major settlements in kickback, risk adjustment payment fraud, drug marketing fraud, and pharmacy billing fraud cases that totaled more than $800 million. Li also authored briefs for the government that clarified key legal standards in Medicare Advantage fraud cases.
Since returning to private practice in 2023, Li has successfully represented whistleblowers and investors in a range of cases. He helped qui tam whistleblowers obtain significant settlements in two healthcare qui tam cases and defeat the defendants’ motion to dismiss a PPP fraud case. Also, in a fiduciary duty case brought by investors against the wealth management division of a national bank, Li defeated the defendants’ Daubert and summary judgment motions.
Li also has experience in securities enforcement and congressional investigations. In 2022 and 2023, he worked as investigative counsel at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. In 2021 and 2022, he served as senior counsel to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations under Sen. Jon Ossoff, where he conducted consequential investigations into the mistreatment of military families by a large housing contractor and the sexual abuse of women prisoners by federal prison staff. Earlier in his career, Li served as a law clerk for the Hon. Sidney H. Stein of the Southern District of New York and worked at two international law firms.
Li is a frequent contributor to Law360, where he provides expert analysis on the False Claims Act and related topics, and serves as an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School. He also is member of the Federal Bar Council Inn of Courts and the Federal Courts Committee of the New York City Bar Association.
Outside of work, Li is an active volunteer, including with InTandem Cycling, which provides tandem bicycling programs to people who are blind, have low vision, or cannot ride independently due to other disabilities.