James, Hoyer Newcomer & Smiljanich is pleased to announce that attorney Chris Casper has been named managing partner and attorneys Jillian Estes, Sean Estes, Jesse Hoyer, and Sean Keefe have been named partners. James Hoyer is an investigative law firm with an emphasis on False Claims Act whistleblower cases.
Chris Casper – Managing Partner
Chris Casper – Partner
Chris Casper joined James Hoyer in 1995 and was named partner in 2000. His practice focuses primarily on representing victims of fraud and deceptive practices, whether individual consumers in class action litigation or the federal and state governments in whistleblower (qui tam) actions.
Christopher is a member of the Florida Bar and admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He has served as Chair of the Trial Lawyers Section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and Civil Chair of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He is also a longtime member of the Federalist Society.
Christopher received his law degree from the University of Florida (J.D., with honors, 1994), and his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University (B.A., 1990). He is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, diving, and spending time with his wife, three daughters and young son.
Phone: 813-397-2300 or 1-800-651-2502 (toll free)
Jillian Estes – Partner
Jillian Estes – Associate
Jillian Estes joined James Hoyer in 2008 with a passion for helping the underprivileged and advocating for “the little guy.” She began in the Consumer Class Action division where she helped initiate a series of class action cases against for-profit higher education institutions related to deceptive marketing practices.
Jillian is now a partner in the firm’s False Claims Act qui tam division. She was lead counsel on a qui tam case involving Medicaid payments to a hospital in violation of the Stark Statute and led the briefing team for James Hoyer’s victory representing the sole relator in the $192 million Endo Pharmaceutical off-label settlement, in addition to working on many other healthcare, pharmaceutical, and defense contracting qui tam cases.
Jillian’s career in advocacy started in the International Division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where she worked in case management from 2004-2005. As a result of that work, Jillian is an active volunteer for the U.S. Department of State’s Attorney Network, taking pro bono cases representing parents whose children were abducted into or are being wrongfully retained in the United States. In 2012, Jillian was awarded with the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit’s Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Young Lawyer award for her efforts in representing a father in Denmark to secure the return of his young daughter who was being wrongfully retained in the United States. In 2014, Jillian also received a Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Department of State in recognition of her efforts as a member of the Hague Convention Attorney Network.
Jillian graduated cum laude from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2008. Prior to law school, she completed her undergraduate work at the University of Florida, where she graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Criminology. During law school, Jillian helped found the Law School Mentoring Project to provide more than 150 mentors to a local underprivileged charter school, was the Student Works Editor for the Journal of Law and Public Policy, while earning a certificate in Estates and Trusts. Jillian also interned with the Eighth Judicial Circuit Probate Division in Gainesville, FL and served as a law clerk with Moody, Salzman & Lash in Gainesville.
Contact Jillian: [email protected]
Phone: 813-397-2300 or 1-800-651-2502 (toll free)
Sean Estes – Partner
Sean Estes – Associate
Sean Estes joined James Hoyer in 2008. He began in the firm’s Consumer Class Action division where he helped represent one of the largest classes ever, involving more than 200 million individuals. The settlement changed the way data aggregators use and disclose information protected by the Drivers Privacy Protection Act. Sean was also a key part of the legal team handling a whistleblower retaliation case, which resulted in a verdict in favor of our James Hoyer client. He is now a partner representing consumers and whistleblowers in the firm’s Consumer Class Action and False Claims Act qui tam divisions.
Sean is a “Double Gator” having graduated cum laude with majors in Economics and Political Science from the University of Florida (B.A., 2005) and cum laude from the University of Florida Levin College of Law (J.D., 2008). While cheering the Gator football and basketball teams on to four national championships, Sean interned for the Honorable Peter K. Sieg of the Eighth Judicial Circuit and the Office of the State Attorney in Levy County. He also worked as a law clerk for Fine, Farkash & Parlapiano, PA. Sean was a Pro-Bono Certificate Recipient and a teaching assistant for the Trial Practice course.
In 2010, he became a member of the Ferguson-White Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to fostering ethics and integrity in the legal profession that was co-founded by senior partner Judy Hoyer. Sean has given accredited CLE courses on the ethics of cloud computing and has also spoken to groups of lawyers and investigators on related ethical issues.
Contact Sean: [email protected]
Phone: 813-397-2300 or 1-800-651-2502 (toll free)
Jesse Hoyer – Partner
Jesse Hoyer – Partner
Jesse Hoyer joined James Hoyer in 2009. She is a partner in the False Claims Act qui tam division, with a focus on education fraud.
From 2010 through 2013, Jesse was a member of the Ferguson-White Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to fostering ethics and integrity in the legal profession that was co-founded by senior partner Judy Hoyer.
At the University of Florida, Jesse received her undergraduate degrees in Criminology (B.A., 2006) and Psychology (B.S., 2006), and her law degree with honors (J.D., 2009). In law school, Jesse focused her attention on the practice of international law and spent one summer abroad studying international business law and white collar crime in Paris and Montpellier, France. She was actively involved in the Criminal Law Society and the International Law Society. She interned in the felony division at the Public Defender’s Office, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Tampa and conducted legal research for the Law Offices of Gilbert A. Schaffnit in Gainesville, Florida.
While at U.F., Jesse was an active, competitive horseback rider and traveler. Now that she’s back in Tampa, Jesse still enjoys being as active as possible. In 2010, she picked up distance running as a hobby. To date, she has completed more than forty half marathons and five full marathons. She’s also tried her hand at several sprint triathlons around the Tampa area. When she can squeeze some free time in between training runs, Jesse loves to watch football—especially her Gators, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jesse is licensed to practice in Florida state courts and the Middle District of Florida.
Contact Jesse: [email protected]
Phone: 813-397-2300 or 1-800-651-2502 (toll free)
Sean Keefe – Partner
Sean P. Keefe – James Hoyer Associate
Sean joined James Hoyer in January 2011, after serving as an assistant state attorney for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit for Hillsborough County for nearly a decade.
In his career as a state prosecutor, Sean gained extensive trial experience prosecuting white collar crimes, drug trafficking cases, and homicides, including death penalty cases. He now works in the firm’s False Claims Act qui tam division. Sean also represents the receiver in a major Ponzi scheme litigation.
Sean majored in history at the University of South Florida (B.A., 1996) and received his law degree from Florida State University in 2000. He is a member of the Herbert G. Goldburg Criminal Law American Inn of Court and the Florida Bar.
Sean enjoys spending his free time with his wife, keeping up with current events and experimenting in the kitchen.
Contact Sean: [email protected]
Phone: 813-397-2300 or 1-800-651-2502 (toll free)
