Reese Marketos wins NLJ Governmental Representation award

Reese Marketos was named winner of the National Law Journal’s Governmental Representation award at the Elite Trial Lawyers 2026 event in New York. The recognition spotlights the Dallas firm’s fast-growing False Claims Act practice and its recent run of large government-recovery wins.

Why it matters: - The award puts Reese Marketos among a small group of firms recognized by the National Law Journal for standout plaintiff-side results. - The honor underscores how quickly the firm’s False Claims Act practice has become a force in government-representation litigation. - The firm’s cases have helped the government recover hundreds of millions of dollars for U.S. taxpayers.

What happened: - The National Law Journal gave Reese Marketos its Governmental Representation award at the Elite Trial Lawyers 2026 event. - The ceremony took place July 23 at the JW Marriott Essex House New York. - The category included three other finalist firms. - Partners Andrew Wirmani and Josh Russ accepted the award on behalf of the firm.

The details: - Reese Marketos launched its False Claims Act practice in late 2019. - The firm has posted several major results since then, including a $1.64 billion FCA trial judgment against Johnson & Johnson. - Reese Marketos also reached a $100 million eve-of-trial settlement against a pharmacy services provider. - The firm secured a $38.5 million eve-of-trial settlement in a mortgage fraud case. - Reese Marketos obtained a $36 million jury verdict against defense contractor MD Helicopters. - Other attorneys involved in the matters included Allison Cook, Jamison Joiner, Brett Rosenthal, Adam Sanderson, Whitney Wendel, Pete Marketos, Tyler Bexley and Leslie Chaggaris. - The National Law Journal said Elite Trial Lawyers recognizes select law firms across the U.S. that have achieved standout results for plaintiffs.

Between the lines: - The award reflects both litigation outcomes and the speed of the firm’s rise in whistleblower work. - Russ said the FCA practice was built from scratch and credited elite trial advocacy and preparation for the results. - Wirmani said the firm is proud of what it has built and expects more work ahead because fraud against the government remains widespread.

What's next: - Reese Marketos said it intends to keep pursuing False Claims Act cases and holding bad actors accountable. - The firm continues to focus exclusively on plaintiffs in False Claims Act and other whistleblower matters while also handling complex commercial, energy and intellectual property disputes.

The bottom line: - Reese Marketos used a relatively new False Claims Act practice to win one of the National Law Journal’s top trial-law honors and cement its profile in government-recovery litigation.