Healey alleges law firm took more than $90,000 in kickbacks

Attorney General Maura Healey has filed suit against a Massachusetts law firm alleging it accepted of tens of thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks, but the firm denies the charges against it and says there was no quid pro quo.

The new lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court asserts that Keches Law Group took more than $90,000 in kickbacks from Injured Workers Pharmacy (IWP) in exchange for referring 800 personal injury clients to that pharmacy. The firm is charged with unfair and deceptive practices under state consumer protection laws.

"Lawyers in Massachusetts are expected to follow the law," Healey said in a statement. "Clients should feel confident that they are getting unbiased advice from their lawyers, not being steered towards providers that are secretly paying for referrals."

According to Healey's office, it started examining the law group in connection with an investigation into IWP's dispensing practices, a probe that led to an $11 million consent judgment resolving consumer protection law claims. The lawsuit alleges that a 2017 "marketing agreement" between the firm and IWP was designed to compensate Keches for referring at least 40 of its clients to IWP each month.

Keches Law Group (KLG) said it was "surprised and disappointed" by a suit "based on the firm's short-term marketing arrangement with an online pharmacy."

"KLG cooperated with the AGO's unrelated investigation of that pharmacy and immediately terminated its commercial relationship," Thomas Maffei of Sherin and Lodgen, counsel to KLG, said in a statement. "There was no quid pro quo, and to their knowledge no client was harmed. KLG denies that its conduct was unfair or deceptive in any way and disputes the AGO's characterization of the facts. For 35 years, KLG has fought to protect the rights and interests of thousands of injured Massachusetts workers and accident victims. KLG will continue to do so while it defends this claim."

The suit, which claims Keches' referrals generated more than $1.2 million in revenue for IWP, also alleged that IWP under a 2018 arrangement agreed to pay for Keches' social events in exchange for referrals and paid for events costing more than $74,000. Those events included an X1 racing event, a yacht outing, and a nearly $24,000 holiday luncheon, according to Healey's office.