Sara McLean

Sara McLean is a False Claims Act and Qui Tam Defense partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where she leverages decades of Department of Justice experience to provide compliance counseling and representation to clients facing False Claims Act and other civil fraud issues, investigations, and litigation. Before joining Akin in November 2025, she was an Assistant Director in DOJ’s Civil Fraud Section for sixteen years, leading nationwide DOJ FCA enforcement, and, prior to that, she served for ten years as a Civil Fraud Section trial attorney handling FCA cases. She handled and supervised all aspects of FCA investigations, settlements, and litigation, in procurement and other matters. Among other responsibilities, she led the implementation of DOJ’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, she trained DOJ attorneys on settlement, and she had responsibility for DOJ’s model FCA settlement agreements.