WASHINGTON, D.C. July 1, 2008 Ober|Kaler is pleased to announce that Richard W. Westling has joined the firm's Health Law and White Collar Criminal Defense Groups as a principal in the Washington, D.C. office.

Mr. Westling brings over twenty years of experience, both as a government attorney and in private practice, particularly in matters involving fraud, compliance and related litigation. Prior to joining Ober|Kaler, Mr. Westling served as General Counsel of Peoples Health Network, a Louisiana-based physician-hospital organization that administers a Medicare Advantage HMO serving more than 40,000 members. Prior to that, he founded and managed the Law Offices of Richard W. Westling, LLC, a firm specializing in the defense of complex criminal and civil enforcement matters, including those involving health care fraud, tax and securities fraud, environmental violations, public corruption and asset forfeiture. Earlier in his career, Mr. Westling spent seven years as a federal prosecutor serving as a Trial Attorney in the Criminal Section of the Justice Department’s Tax Division in Washington, D.C. and later, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans.

Mr. Westling is admitted to the bar in Maryland, New Jersey and Louisiana. He is a member of the American, Federal and Louisiana State Bar Associations, the American Health Lawyers Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and has served as a Board Member of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Mr. Westling graduated from Sewanee - The University of the South (B.A., 1985) and Tulane Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1988), where he served on the Board of Editors of the Tulane Law Review.

He resides in Washington, D.C. and Sewanee, Tennessee.

About Ober|Kaler
Ober|Kaler is a national law firm providing integrated regulatory, transactional, and litigation services to financial, health care, construction, and other business organizations. The firm has more than 125 attorneys, and offices in Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Falls Church.

Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver

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