The Legal 500

McDermott Will & Emery LLP’s lawyers ‘demonstrate excellent expertise in all areas, depth of knowledge, and an ability to apply that knowledge effectively’. The firm’s ‘flagship’ healthcare practice is heavily involved in reform under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) with both Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and health exchanges. Chicago-based Bernadette Broccolo continues to be well known for her advice to provider networks on responding to reform, and health information network development, and is currently advising Allina Health System on its ACO strategy. The firm’s deep regulatory bench complements its corporate healthcare expertise. Recent work includes assisting Steward Health System on its acquisition of New England Sinai hospital; and Vanguard Health Systems on two affiliation projects in Arizona and Massachusetts, respectively. Miami-based Stark Law and compliance expert Gary Davis is ‘an exemplary lawyer with great understanding of the healthcare business - able to help structure the most complicated deals’. Daniel Gottlieb, who specializes in Medicare fraud and abuse, ‘has a good personal touch, is very thoughtful and provides good, practical, usable advice’. According to one client, Michael Peregrine’s ‘unique strengths include attention to the numerous priorities of his general counsel clients, and his capabilities as an advisor to general counsel and governing boards on governance’. Private equity lawyers Ryan Harris and Andrew McCune also attract praise for healthcare-related work. Gottlieb, Peregrine, Harris and McCune are all based in Chicago, as is highly regarded transactional and regulatory lawyer Kerrin Slattery. The practice is also notable for having an international healthcare presence in Germany and Turkey, the latter through an association with Istanbul-based Fora & Sanli begun in 2012. Boston-based Stephen Bernstein heads the group.

Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. is ‘uniquely expert in the field’ and its ‘overall level of service unmatched in the healthcare sector’. With a deep bench of around 135 healthcare lawyers, the group is renowned for regulatory work, and its historic role in the development of US healthcare legislation. It represents the full spectrum of service provider clients from hospital systems to long-term care providers, as well as assisting venture capital firms on their investments into the healthcare sector. Douglas Hastings, who led advice to The George Washington University Medical Faculty on its strategic affiliation with Adventist HealthCare, is ‘truly in a class of his own on corporate structure, demonstration projects and payment reforms’. David Matyas - ‘terrific in regulatory matters’ - is defending two provider clients against government investigations, one of which concerns billing under the False Claims Act. Founding partner Jeffrey Becker - ‘an established leader in the field of New York health care law’ - assists Mount Sinai Medical Center as part of an overall client relationship including joint ventures, affiliation issues and ACO development - an area in which the firm is well placed to advise provider clients. Katherine Lofft is ‘terrific at overall corporate governance and strategic initiatives’; and New York-based Jay Gerzog is ‘top of his field in not-for-profit governance’. Apart from Gerzog all the lawyers named above are based in Washington DC, but the firm also has healthcare teams in its ten other offices, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.

Hogan Lovells LLP’s full-service practice provides national coverage and includes a renowned regulatory team. The firm serves as outside counsel to the American Hospital Association with recent work including filing Amicus briefs regarding the PPACA on its behalf in the Supreme Court; and analyzing the prospects for a potential challenge to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) policy requiring direct physician supervision of hospital outpatient therapeutic services. Clifford Stromberg and Torrey McClary were part of a team that represented the University of Colorado Hospital Authority in its merger with Poudre Valley Health Care to create the $2.5bn University of Colorado Health system. The group is involved in significant transactional and regulatory work for Texas and Florida-based clients and includes a practice group dedicated to long-term care providers - particularly those based in New York state. Isabel Dunst head the group which includes regulatory lawyers Sheree Kanner and Stuart Langbein; highly regarded Stark Law and anti-kickback expert Thomas Bulleit; and antitrust specialist Robert Liebenluft.

King & Spalding LLP’s national practice serves the full spectrum of providers including practitioners and investors. The group is divided into separate units including those for government investigation defense; services and payments; healthcare technology; and transactions. Highly respected Washington DC healthcare head Dennis Barry led the team which won a $1.4bn Medicare reimbursement settlement for 700 hospital clients in Cape Cod Hospital v Sebelius at the US Court of Appeals. Barry also led a team that represented the American Hospital Association in its successful application to the CMS to reverse a denial of incentive payments to more than 1,300 critical access hospitals which had acquired Electronic Health Records (EHR) hardware and software through capital leases. In transactional work, Atlanta-based Paul Quiros and John Harris were part of a team which advised St Joseph’s Health System on its $250m joint venture with Emory Healthcare to operate two hospitals in metropolitan Atlanta. Other key figures include Richard Shackleford and group chair Glenn Reed, both based in Atlanta, as well as Gary Eiland, who is head of the Texas healthcare group.

Ropes & Gray LLP advises on the full range of issues and is known for its representation of academic medical centers, large health systems and community hospitals. The practice has handled high volumes of recent work for client North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System in regulatory and transactional matters, including the successful denial of a petition by a whistleblower in a qui tam action previously settled by the firm. The firm is primary outside counsel to Partners Healthcare System, which it has recently been advising on an ongoing review by the Department of Health and Human Services in relation to a previous security audit under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). San Francisco-based John Chesley has been advising Californian client Daughters of Charity Health System on its implementation of an EHR system, including licensing and technology service agreements. Other major clients include Young Adult Institute and Stanford University School of Medicine - recent work for the latter has included advising on collaborations with medical devices companies. The practice is co-headed by New York-based Stephen Warnke and Boston-based Anne Ogilby, who are highly regarded for their regulatory and corporate expertise, respectively. Boston-based Nancy Forbes, a former director of both the American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys and the American Health Lawyers Association, is highly respected.

Dentons serves as outside counsel to HCA Healthcare and routinely assists MedStar Health with issues such as FCA claims, Stark Law and internal investigations. The practice is well known for its representation of academic medical centers, and group head Gadi Weinreich leads a team, which also includes Holley Lutz and Charles Luband, which advises all of the State University of New York’s teaching hospitals on regulatory matters. The group includes several lawyers with government experience including Bruce Fried and Thomas Hutchinson, both based in Washington DC, who both previously held senior positions at the CMS. The group assists clients on ACO and health exchange reform and has a substantial practice advising hospitals and systems on privacy under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Fulbright & Jaworski LLP’s Texas-focused practice also has healthcare capability in St Louis, Los Angeles and Minneapolis as well as a strong regulatory team in Washington DC. Austin-based practice co-head Jerry Bell represented Baptist St Anthony’s Health System during its sale to Ardent Health Services. A team from Dallas is advising Seton Healthcare on the formation of its ACO with Austin Regional Clinic, one of the first ACO projects in Texas, and the St Louis office is also acting on several ACO developments. The practice is highly active on the litigation and government investigations front, and recent work includes acting for plaintiff Tenet in its multi-party false claim suit against Humana, as part of which it successfully defeated a $78m counterclaim. Houston-based Robert Swift co-heads the practice with Bell.

One of the few firms focused on the representation of service provider clients, Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, PC expanded its traditional California coverage with the opening of a Washington DC office in 2010. The firm’s 60-plus lawyers are divided into separate units for areas including compliance, transactions, litigation, and healthcare reform. The firm has been active in Medicaid rate cases being argued at the Supreme Court, and successfully enjoined the state of California from implementing a 10% rate cut to adult day health centers at the Ninth Circuit. Transactional work has included advising a provider client on its acquisition of a multi-facility imaging center business located in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. Key contacts include founding partners Patric Hooper and Lloyd Bookman; and managing partner Robert Lundy, all of whom are based in Los Angeles.

Latham & Watkins LLP’s ‘excellent’ healthcare group represents providers across the full spectrum of issues nationwide. Particularly well known for its transactional work, representative highlights included advising Univita Health on its acquisition of home-based care provider All-Med Services; and DaVita on regulatory and structuring aspects of its $4.4bn acquisition of HealthCare Partners. A team comprising Katherine Lauer, Roger Goldman, Daniel Meron and Alice Fisher is representing multiple hospital defendants in an investigation by the Department of Justice regarding reimbursement for defibrillator devices. Lauer, who is based in San Diego and is recommended for her DoJ work, is also acting for TridentUSA Health in an unsealed FCA qui tam matter alleging kickbacks through pricing discounts in California. Washington DC-based Fisher and Los Angeles-based Daniel Settelmayer are also recommended for SEC investigations. Washington DC-based Stuart Kurlander attracts praise for his regulatory expertise. Paul DeMuro joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt as special counsel in October 2012.

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP’s ‘excellent’ group has a reputation for acting on innovative, complex provider partnerships and for cutting edge work under the PPACA. The firm continues to advise nine states on implementation of reform, particularly with regard to health benefit exchanges and Medicaid requirements. A team from three of the firm’s Californian offices advised Dignity Health on its organizational restructuring to a mixed Catholic/secular system, having previously been known as Catholic Healthcare West. Group head William Bernstein, Deborah Bachrach, Patricia Boozang and Joel Ario, all based in New York, attract praise from one client as ‘extraordinarily well informed, providing counsel that is clear and actionable’. Ario and Boozang are managing directors of Manatt Health Solutions, a cross-practice unit intended to advise clients on issues such as reform implementation, healthcare IT and government relations.

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.’s experience includes advising Amicas on its $215m sale to Merge Healthcare and acting on several transactions with a high-tech IT element, such as advising an online care provider on issues including consumer health portals and e-prescribing vendors. The group also defends clients against FCA and Stark Law enforcement as well as advising on Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement.

Ober Kaler attracts significant praise from peers for its regulatory expertise with its healthcare experts based in Baltimore and Washington DC. The group contains significant antitrust capability, with William Berlin being part of a team which defended Renown Health in an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and the Nevada Attorney General into its acquisition of two cardiology groups in Reno. The firm has two separate practice groups dedicated to ACO reform and the Electronic Health Records Incentive Program, respectively, as well as its own Healthcare General Counsel Institute to advise in-house legal departments. Sanford Teplitzky is a national authority on regulatory issues, especially whistleblower actions and Stark Law.

Polsinelli Shughart continued its program of expansion with the recruitment of a seven-lawyer team from Bryan Cave LLP in May 2012, including regulatory specialists Jane Arnold and Donna Ruzicka. The firm’s sizeable national practice has especially strong healthcare coverage in the Midwest and covers the full gamut of service provider issues. Matthew Murer chairs the group from the firm’s Chicago office.

According to one client, Proskauer Rose LLP is ‘an extraordinary firm that prides itself on good customer service’. The firm handles transactional, litigation and private equity matters, and also has a respected regulatory practice. A team including group head Richard Zall recently advised Ascension Health Care Network on its proposed acquisition of several New Jersey hospitals. Washington DC-based Malcolm Harkins III and James Segroves ‘go above and beyond the call, are extremely knowledgeable and very customer focused’. New York-based Zall ‘has a great deal of integrity, knows healthcare law extremely well and is very easy to work with’. The group also includes Monte Dube and Edward Kornreich, who are highly respected transactional and regulatory experts, respectively.

Reed Smith LLP’s sizeable regulatory team has been heavily involved in FCA litigation, and recently settled a long-running qui tam action against client Voyager HospiceCare. A team led by vice-chair Scot Hasselman acts as national counsel for Life Care Centers of America on FCA litigation concerning therapy practices at more than 200 skilled nursing facilities. Transactional highlights included representing MedCath during the $200m sale of its MedCath Partners’ subsidiary and eight hospitals, all of which are physician joint ventures. Carol Loepere chairs the group. Both Loepere and Hasselman are based in Washington DC.

Arent Fox LLP ‘demonstrates clear, thorough knowledge of the law related to Medicare rules, procedures and guidelines’, representing healthcare clients from its three offices in Washington DC, New York and Los Angeles. Clients include Community Memorial Health System and The Family Care Group - and the New York office enjoys a strong reputation in the long-term care and home care space. The team is acting for Fresenius Medical Care in several regulatory matters including FCA litigation and a major government investigation. Practice head Lisa Estrada and associate Brian Schneider, who are both based in Washington DC, attract praise for ‘taking the time (without wasting it) to educate the client’.

DLA Piper has a notably large regulatory bench and assists a wide range of service providers on transactional and contentious matters. Miami-based group co-chair Joshua Kaye led a mixed US and UK team that advised Synergy Health on its tender offer and merger of SRI/Surgical Express. Kaye is also defending State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and Florida Department of Health in a pending class action lawsuit and in a DOJ investigation involving Medicare claims. Kaye is ‘not a good lawyer, he is a great lawyer - with a superb team’. Of counsel Adam Rogers, also based in Miami, is recommended ‘for regulatory, compliance and some transactional work’; as is Dallas-based Frank Sheeder for ‘compliance program design and implementation’.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has a strong presence in the Pacific North West and notable expertise in niche areas such as ‘walk-in’ retail health clinics and mobile healthcare payment applications. The group has been heavily involved in reform under the PPACA with recent examples including: acting for Tri-County Medicaid Collaborative in its coordinated care model; and advising Hawaii Pacific Health on the development of its ACO model - the first in the state. Richard Ellingsen chairs the team from Los Angeles.

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP’s respected practice advises a range of service providers on issues such as antitrust, strategic transactions and health information technology. Representative experience includes advising a community-based hospital on its merger with a Chicago health system; and acting as long-term outside general counsel for a pediatric medical center. The group includes a separate unit, Innovative Health Solutions, to advise on outsourcing and procurement strategies. Chicago-based Douglas Swill chairs the healthcare group. Jennifer Breuer, also based in Chicago, is a regulatory expert.

Foley & Lardner LLP’s practice, chaired by Boston-based Lawrence Vernaglia, has a strong focus advising service providers in major transactions. The team represented Trinity Health on its acquisition of academic medical center Loyola University Health System; and highly regarded Michael Blau, known for his work in health-related venture capital and healthcare IT, is advising on the formation of Lifespan Physician Group, a hospital and physician enterprise to employ both academic and community-based physicians. The group also has a strong practice advising clients on CMS overpayment matters.

Nixon Peabody LLP’s mainly New York practice advises providers such as Providence Health System on regulatory and transactional matters. The firm has an impressive track record in healthcare reform having advised three of the first systems to have been granted ACO status by the CMS, and continues to advise one New Jersey client on physician integration and alignment initiatives under the PPACA. Michele Masucci heads the group and James Fabian is a key contact on the regulatory side.

Focusing on large-scale M&A, Paul Hastings LLP has benefited from the recent surge in consolidation in the service provider space. Los Angeles-based practice chair James Owens has recently handled deals for Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation and MemorialCare Medical Foundation, including advising MemorialCare on its $1.1bn affiliation with Greater Newport Physicians Medical Group. The firm added Phillip Street and of counsel Craig Smith to its Atlanta office in April 2012, both joining from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, where Street had chaired the healthcare department. The group also has regulatory and litigation capabilities.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP is known for its employment and labor law work for service provider clients and has impressive experience on corporate and transactional matters, Chicago-based Neal Goldstein is ‘phenomenal and all members of his team excellent’ according to one M&A client. Chicago-based co-chair Joan Casciari is ‘viewed by peers as a subject expert on the Family and Medical Leave Act’. Fellow co-chair Deborah Gordon, also based in Chicago, is also recommended along with Jeffrey Berman in Los Angeles, and of counsel Sheri Dacso in Houston.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP’s group head Eric Klein - who is ‘extremely well versed in healthcare law, and an excellent strategist’ - was part of the team that was lead counsel to DaVita on its $4.2bn acquisition of HealthCare Partners; and advised Facey Medical Foundation on its affiliation with Providence Health & Services. This California-based practice also has a robust regulatory practice, with Ken Yood being a key contact in Los Angeles and the firm’s Washington DC office having expertise in compliance. The group has a substantial niche on the healthcare IT and healthcare exchange side, and Klein recently represented Motion Picture & Television Fund, an integrated healthcare delivery system for the entertainment industry, on its EHR contracting project.