Our Law Firm, Hirst Law Group, P.C.
Attorney - Michael A. Hirst
Recognized as a Super Lawyer in 2024 for his work on whistleblower cases, Attorney Michael A. Hirst is the founder of Hirst Law Group, P.C. in Davis, California. Mr. Hirst was born and raised in Greenwich Village in New York City. He was a Regents Scholar at Hamilton College '80. While attending law school, he was ranked number one in his first-year law school class. Later, he was designated as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar at Columbia University School of Law '87. In 2005, Mr. Hirst formed Hirst & Chanler LLP, and in 2009, he founded Hirst Law Group, P.C. Prior to starting his own firm, Mr. Hirst worked at the law firm of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enersen (now Bingham McCutchen) in San Francisco.
From there, he went on to have a distinguished 15-year career as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California. While working for the government, Mr. Hirst served as the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Coordinator, the Health Care Fraud Coordinator, and eventually the Co-Chief of the Civil Division and Chief of Affirmative Civil Litigation, in which he supervised all civil investigations and cases brought by the office within the 34 counties in the district, including all fraud and False Claims Act prosecutions.
Described by the San Jose Mercury News as one of the "leading prosecutors in California" after only 4 years with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Hirst has received numerous awards and recognitions. Nominated for the National Assistant United States Attorney of the Year in 2004, Mr. Hirst has received multiple sustained superior performance awards and a Director's Award from the Department of Justice, presented by Attorney General Janet Reno. He has received awards from other federal agencies, including Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Agriculture, and the Civil Rights Division. Mr. Hirst received the highest award given by the Department of Health and Human Services and various awards and recognitions from the Forest Service, including from Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth, who recognized Mr. Hirst's "tireless efforts in preparation and brilliant performance at trial."
Mr. Hirst's record-setting $62.55 million prosecution of Redding Medical Center and Tenet Healthcare, Inc. is the largest recovery in a medical necessity fraud case, and the largest recovery against a single hospital, in United States history. Following that case, Attorney General John Ashcroft wrote that Mr. Hirst was an "exceptional litigator who has performed a significant public service." Attorney General Ashcroft stated: "The successful outcome in this case significantly advanced the Department's efforts to combat fraudulent health care practices." Featured in a book about the case, Coronary (Simon and Schuster, 2007) by New York Times journalist and author Stephen Klaidman, Mr. Hirst was described as a "quiet but tough negotiator." Mr. Hirst has also been featured in two books by a successful whistleblower, entitled Whistleblower and Retaliation (Bay Tree Publishing 2010, 2013), in which author Amy Block Joy described Mr. Hirst as "gifted," and stated that "[Mr. Hirst] had done brilliant work for me, for which I will always be grateful."
Mr. Hirst's cases have been reported on television, radio and newspapers throughout the country and abroad, including on 60 Minutes, 20-20, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, NPR, in front page stories in the New York Times and the Financial Times of London, in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press, Reuters, the National Journal, the Sacramento Bee, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and numerous other publications.
Mr. Hirst lives in Davis, California. He teaches federal court litigation and trial technique classes at UC Davis Law School for the International Law program.
Investigator and Auditor - Jerry Hurst
Mr. Hurst has been a CPA since 1981 (currently holding a California license as retired). He has extensive experience in investigating Medicare and Medicaid fraud, having spent 26 years with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. He was also the Health Care Fraud Auditor with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California, from July 2001 to November 2005. Mr. Hurst left the government in November 2005 to join Mr. Hirst in his own firm.
Mr. Hurst's auditing work in federal and state health care programs includes nursing homes, hospitals, physicians, medical supply companies, home health care agencies, pharmaceutical companies, rural health clinics, and durable medical equipment companies, to name a few. He has extensive experience working with government agents from the FBI, HHS-OIG, DCIS, etc., who may be involved in your case once it is filed.
Attorney - Marisela Bernal
Marisela Bernal is the most recent addition to Hirst Law Group, P.C. and a California native. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in both Psychology and Legal Studies and graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2019 with a Juris Doctorate. She began her legal career in 2012 working with a firm focusing on transactions and litigation with trusts, estates, adoptions, and guardianships. She is experienced in both appeals and litigation brought under seal.
As a law student, Ms. Bernal completed the King Hall Public Service Law Program and the Intellectual Property Law Program, while receiving a Witkin Award for academic excellence. She was a quarterfinalist at the 2018 John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition out of 46 teams, and also earned participation in the 2019 Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition held at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. Ms. Bernal served as a chaired member of the 2018-2019 Moot Court Honors Board, a Senior Articles Editor for the U.C. Davis Business Law Journal, and a Research Editor for the U.C. Davis Journal of International Law & Policy. She interned at California Rural Legal Assistance and was a judicial extern at the federal District Court for the Northern District of California. During law school, Ms. Bernal worked as a law clerk for Hirst Law Group and was eager to return as a full-time attorney.
Law Clerks from U.C. Davis School of Law
Each year, out of many competitive applicants, Hirst Law Group has hired law clerks from U.C. Davis School of Law to assist our attorneys. We thank our numerous law clerks who have contributed to our case successes.
We believe our experienced staff will ensure that your case receives unmatched personal attention and support. If the government declines to intervene in the action, we have the necessary resources to proceed independently, if warranted.
The information on this website is not intended, and cannot be considered, as legal advice or opinion. If you are reading this website in order to understand the False Claims Act or other cases, and you are not not currently represented by an attorney, we recommend that you seek experienced counsel to evaluate and, if appropriate, file and pursue, any potential case on your behalf.
