Susan Gouinlock
Senior Partner
For more than seventeen years, Susan Gouinlock’s legal practice has been devoted to representing whistleblowers under the False Claims Act. Her legal career has been successful and diverse, including a unique mixture of working for the government as a lawyer and working in large and small law firms, representing individuals and businesses in highly regulated industries. Susan understands regulated businesses from the inside, having spent six (6) years as in-house general counsel to a major corporation in a highly regulated industry. She has significant federal and state court litigation experience, including obtaining jury verdicts, successfully winning cases on motion and obtaining record setting settlements for her clients.
Susan started her law career with a large law firm in Chicago, Illinois, doing complex commercial litigation. She then accepted a government legal position, serving as a Special Assistant Attorney General and Legal Counsel to the Illinois agency that developed and regulated commercial gambling in Illinois from its initial legalization through its maturation as an industry. Her work involved daily interaction with United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Illinois Attorney General, Illinois Gubernatorial staff and Illinois State Police agents and officials. In short, Susan has ‘walked the walk’ of the federal and state government lawyers and agents who are integral to her clients’ successful False Claims Act cases.
Susan is an expert communicator and a seasoned litigator who adds her talents to the expertise of Marlan Wilbanks, one of the most successful whistleblower attorneys in the country. Susan is often asked to speak at continuing legal education seminars for lawyers and to law school classes on False Claims Act issues. She is an active member of Taxpayers Against Fraud, the nonprofit, public interest organization dedicated to combating fraud against the government through the promotion and use of the False Claims Act.
An Atlanta native, Susan attended Emory University, graduating summa cum laude, and then attended Northwestern Law School in Chicago, Illinois. Susan practiced law in Chicago from 1988 to 2000 when she returned to Atlanta where she has practiced ever since. She resides in Atlanta with her family and is an avid tennis player and NBA fan.
Additional Information
Bar and Court Admissions:
State Bar of Georgia (admitted 2003)
State Bar of Illinois (admitted 1988)
United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia
United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia
United States District Court, Middle District of Florida
United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
United States District Court, Northern District of California
United States District Court, Southern District of California
Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
Areas of Practice Specialization:
Federal and State False Claims Acts Litigation
Education:
Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia