Attorney Clark Bolton and his family after being sworn in by 13th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Gregory Holder.
Attorney Clark Bolton Forges New Path at James Hoyer:
As James Hoyer’s newest attorney, Clark Bolton, brings an extra level of pride to the firm. He took an unlikely path, from whistleblower to attorney representing other whistleblowers seeking justice.
It’s a journey that started about 10 years ago. After more than two decades as a fraud examiner, Clark was recruited to take a job at WellCare and moved his family from Connecticut to Tampa to become WellCare’s Supervisor of Special Investigations. Not long after joining the company, he began to witness questionable activity, brought it to the attention of senior management, and ended up getting fired for it.
That’s what brought him to James Hoyer. We represented him as a whistleblower for the government. It was a very challenging time. There was a lot of money involved with a very powerful company. He was blackballed and could not find work in the insurance industry to help support his family. Determined as ever, he created his own investigative firm and specialized in investigative support for attorneys. Still, the stress of the whistleblower case against WellCare always lurked in the background. Thankfully, hard work and his commitment to doing the right thing ultimately paid off. The case settled for $137.5 million and several WellCare executives were convicted of fraud and sent to prison.
As one of four whistleblowers in the WellCare case, Clark got a portion of the money returned to the government as a reward. He could have just drifted into the shadows at that point, but Clark couldn’t give up fighting fraud. He was compelled to help other whistleblowers. He decided to take a big step and pursue his dream of becoming an attorney that he’d had ever since he was in the Army. In his senior year of law school, Clark joined James Hoyer as a law clerk and investigator, and with his trademark discipline and determination, graduated cum laude. The whole crazy, roller coaster ride of the past decade came to an exciting climax when Clark passed the Florida Bar Exam in April 2018. Pretty amazing for a guy who decided to go to law school at age 50!
Now, as an Associate with James Hoyer, Clark offers unique guidance and insight to the whistleblowers we represent in their cases of fraud against the government. He’s able to help them in ways only someone who has walked in their shoes can. Becoming a whistleblower was a rare and courageous act, and becoming an attorney who represents whistleblowers at this stage of his life is even more rare.
Watch the video above to see Attorney Clark Bolton being sworn into the Florida Bar at a ceremony at Stetson Law School’s Tampa Campus on May 7th, 2018. Judge J. Andrew Atkinson administered the Attorney’s Oath to those who passed the Bar Exam taken in February.
