Anne M. Voigts

Anne M. Voigts is a partner in King & Spalding LLP's appellate, constitutional and administrative law practice. She specializes in cases before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She has argued more than 60 cases in federal and state appellate courts.

She joined the firm in 2016 after a dozen years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the appellate sections of the Northern District and the Central District.

The switch to private practice brought benefits, Voigts said. "It's nice to have big firm resources and to be able to work in teams. For me now, doing appeals is a less isolated process."

In late April, she was awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in a case over Medicare payments to hospitals that disproportionately serve low-income patients. Empire Health Foundation v. Becerra, 20- 1312 (S.Ct., argued Nov. 29, 2021).

Voigts obtained a significant win at the 9th Circuit for her client, Empire Health, in a successful challenge of the validity of a rule that would lower such payments. She and law partner Daniel J. Hettich then successfully opposed rehearing. After the high court granted the government's cert petition, Voights and Hettich briefed the merits case. She then second-chaired and Hettich argued before the justices.

Waiting can be stressful, but Voigts said her crowded docket keeps her occupied. "I've been lucky enough be working too hard on other matters to have much time to think about it."

In a pending cert petition, Voigts represents Molina Healthcare of Illinois Inc. in a whistleblower suit. She and colleagues successfully sought review after the 7th Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of the False Claims Act complaint. The case raises two questions that are the subjects of circuit splits: a pleading-with-particularity requirement in FCA suits and a question over an implied false certification theory. Molina Healthcare of Illinois v. Prose, 21-1145 (S.Ct., cert. pet. filed Feb. 14, 2022)

Both are important and recurring issues of nationwide importance, Voigts said, noting that the high court has asked the solicitor general's views in another petition raising the same particularity issue.

At the 9th Circuit, Voigts won reversal of class certification for her client Benefytt Inc. in a case that raised an undecided question regarding personal jurisdiction: does the U.S. Supreme Court's 2017 opinion in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California, San Francisco County, 16-466, apply to class actions and to mass actions? Moser et al. v. Benefytt Inc. et al., 19-56224 (9th Cir., op. filed Aug. 10, 2021).

"This comes up a lot, and it's potentially a really significant issue. And there's dissent in the district courts over this," Voigts said.

- John Roemer