Mark H. Schlein - Los Angeles, CA

At Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman), Mark H. Schlein focuses on the firm's whistleblower cases. During his more than 40 years as a police officer and lawyer, Mark has remained committed to public service and protection. His unique experience as an urban police officer and attorney has made him particularly effective at fighting government fraud.

Career History

Mark has litigated cases at the state and federal level since 1993.

Before joining Wisner Baum, Mark worked as a government attorney, recovering billions of dollars for plaintiffs in whistleblower litigation. He has extensive experience working with whistleblowers in qui tam actions brought forth under the False Claims Act, also known as the "Lincoln Law."

Mark began his career in the Broward County Sheriff's Office (BSO), where he took on a position as a deputy in the patrol division. For 20 years, he commanded virtually every major operational component of the BSO. This included the patrol division, the criminal investigations division, and the special operations group, which consisted of the aviation unit, marine unit, dive team, S.W.A.T., traffic, homicide, and mounted patrol.

He also served as Accreditation Manager for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA®), where he directed a broad revision of department operating policies and procedures. His work resulted in BSO becoming the country's 68th fully accredited law enforcement agency. In 1993, Mark retired as a lieutenant colonel and the Director of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Only a year later, the Florida Attorney General Robert A. Butterworth asked Mark to head the state Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), the only agency in state government that is both a certified state police agency and a law firm. In this position, Mark directed a staff of 143-including 14 Assistant Attorney Generals and over 90 sworn criminal investigators-that conducted criminal investigations in the thousands. His team made more than 1300 arrests, as well as litigated hundreds of civil cases. Mark further managed the successful settlement of multimillion-dollar health care fraud cases and helped develop global litigation strategies for the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU).

Mark helped the state MFCU become a nationally recognized leader in health care fraud enforcement; in particular, it became known for utilizing a civil enforcement strategy to complement arrest and criminal prosecution as a deterrent against health care fraud. Using civil remedies, such as the False Claims Act, the MFCU recovered billions of dollars from corporate offenders at the state and federal level.

After his tenure with the Florida Attorney General's Office, Mark was compelled to enter private practice at one of the state's largest and most respected law firms. He worked as part of the firm's white-collar crime and health care fraud group.

Mark's history also includes his time as Special Deputy General Counsel in the Florida Department of Health, a police legal advisor with the Florida Department of Financial Services, and the manager of the major case squad in the Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF).

Education

Mark graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967 before earning his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1970. He later graduated from the FBI's hostage negotiation school in 1979, then from the Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP), Police Executive Research Forum at Harvard University in 1991.

Court Admissions & Memberships

Mark was admitted to practice law in the state of New York in 1971 and the state of Florida in 1994. He was also admitted to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, and U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, as well as the General Bar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Further, he holds/has held membership to the following professional organizations:

• Florida Association of Police Attorneys

• Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund

• Co-Chair - American Association for Justice's Qui Tam Litigation Group, 2014-2015

• Florida Criminal Justice Executive Institute, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Tallahassee, Florida

After 11 years of working full-time as our law firm's top whistleblower attorney, Mark transitioned to "of counsel" status in 2022. He continues to work on the firm's whistleblower cases and provides each whistleblower he represents with an in-depth understanding of their situation, a unique perspective on the best strategy for their case, and highly dedicated representation. His broad experience and background heavily inform and strengthen his approach to legal advocacy.