Member Spotlight

Here are some excerpts from Bill’s interview with HLS Chair Rupa Lloyd.

Q: Please introduce yourself.

A: I am a shareholder and Practice Group Leader for the Regulated Industries and Professions Practice Group at the Gunster law firm. Gunster is a statewide firm that recently celebrated 100 years of service in Florida. My practice is primarily focused on health law transactional and regulatory matters. I am proud of the fact that I have had the opportunity to work with Federally Qualified Health Centers in Florida and nationally for over 28 years.  These FQHCs, are safety net providers that provide high quality and accessible health care services to medically underserved populations. Additionally, I have done quite a bit of work relating to HIPAA and health care privacy and security issues. I was fortunate enough to work as an outside Privacy and Security Consultant with the Agency for Health Care Administration from 2007 to 2009. During that time, I had the opportunity to understand the nuts and bolts of health care privacy and its application in the real world. I was even able to assist in drafting legislation that helped to remove some of the unnecessary barriers to health information exchange.

Q: What was your career-defining moment?

A: It’s really hard to identify a single moment but if I had to pick one it would be having to step in and guide a not-for-profit health care provider through an absolute compliance nightmare. The client was literally on brink of going out of business which would have not only impacted hundreds of the client’s employees but would have created significant health care access problems in the community served by the client. Away from home for weeks at a time, I was able to work side by side with individuals that were giving it their all to get the company back on track.

Q: What do you do outside of work that keeps you busy?

A: I have always been active in sports from track and field to weightlifting to Ironman triathlons (pre-titanium hip replacement) and continue be active as both a participant and coach. I was fortunate enough to coach a couple of age-group triathletes at the 2024 Ironman World Championship held in Nice, France. I have also coached high school track and field (shot put and discus) the last 6 years and for 2027 my wife has agreed to be the race directors for Tallahassee’s Spring Time Festival 10k, one of Tallahassee’s largest running events.

Q: What advice would you like to share with more junior attorneys who are just starting out in the practice of law?

A: Take the time to understand your client’s business and operations. So many times, lawyers approach a project from a purely legal perspective and do not take the time to understand that part of their job is help the client achieve their business goals if possible. I remember first starting out and doing the typical new lawyer thing of saying “no” to everything the client wanted to do. The CEO for that client took me aside and said “Bill I know you are just trying to protect us but at the end of the day we do actually have to treat these patients.”

Q: What do you see as the emerging area in health care law?

A: This won’t be much of a surprise, GenAI. GenAI is all the rage now and is featured in almost any CLE or seminar that you go to, but it really is a transformative issue that is going to impact all of us whether we like it or not.

Visit the Health Law Section YouTube page to view Stefan’s Fireside Chat.

Here are some excerpts from Stefan’s interview with HLS Chair Rupa Lloyd.

Q: Please introduce yourself.

A: I am a lobbyist and consultant at Johnson and Blanton in Tallahassee. Our firm has been around for close to three decades and we work with a range of clients to find solutions in state government ranging from passing or defeating legislation, budget appropriations, developing business with government, and many times just helping clients to untangle issues at state agencies. While not solely health care focused, we do a lot of work in the health care space and with Florida’s HHS agencies — we are the only firm in the state with two former AHCA chiefs of staff, and we pride ourselves in not just relationships and influence but also in a deep understanding of the issues. Having worked at AHCA as both chief of staff and general counsel, I also have a national Medicaid consulting practice and law firm. Medicaid is complicated and unique to each state, and I enjoy helping my clients navigate its complexities and maintaining relationships with Medicaid agencies around the country.

Q: What was your career-defining moment?

A: When I was sitting at lunch with the then AHCA Secretary and he asked me to be his chief of staff. Having the opportunity to be the second-in-command at one of Florida’s largest, busiest agencies was a Master Class in state government. It was deeply meaningful work and there were some very challenging moments, but it shaped the future of my career.

Q: What do you do outside of work that keeps you busy?

A: I have a hobby farm in rural north Florida. In a profession that keeps me in my head a lot, I find satisfaction in gardening, caring for our horses, and doing projects around the property. When fall rolls around, I take hunting trips (yes, I drive!) with my bird dogs and camper to states like Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota. In the summers I travel a lot to conference around the country, and I like to bring my family to explore new places.

Q: If you have any kind of advice that you could share with more junior attorneys who are just starting out in the practice of law.

A: Don’t settle. If you don’t like what you’re doing, where you are working, or how much you are working, find somewhere else. The practice of law is so large and varied, you can find your place if you set your mind to it. If you are unsure of how to do that, reach out to me and I will help you think through it.

Q: What do you see as the emerging area in health care law?

A: The Trump Administration is examining a lot of areas in health care right now, like Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and payor accountability. I think it is an exciting time to see what changes will occur as a result of this.

Visit the Health Law Section YouTube page to view Matthew’s interview.

Q: What was your career-defining moment?

A: While I am still early in my career, I would say my career-defining moment so far was briefing and participating in two multi-week arbitrations involving a national health system and national payers. These cases focused on complex managed care contractual disputes, including issues like sequestration reductions, site of care policies, prepayment review policies, clinical validation audits, specialty pharmacy policies, and readmission denials, among other policy and affiliate access issues. The arbitrations were rare opportunities to learn how complex managed care cases are built, argued, and decided.

Q: What do you do outside of work that keeps you busy?

A: Outside of work, I enjoy game nights with friends and spending time training our dogs and caring for our cat with my wife, Devon.

Q: If you have any kind of advice that you could share with more junior attorneys who are just starting out in the practice of law.

A: My advice to early career attorneys is to immerse yourself in emerging issues and trends within your practice area and your clients’ industries. By becoming a go-to resource on the latest statutes, regulations, and cases, you’ll immediately add value to your team while building a strong foundation for long-term success.

Q: What do you see as the emerging area in health care law?

A: I am currently tracking case law concerning the interplay between federal and state statutes and regulations on provider-payer out-of-network coverage and reimbursement disputes, federal preemption issues, and causes of action. Specifically, the No Surprises Act has required providers to adopt diverse approaches to out-of-network claims denial management, litigation, and compliance standards, which must meet varying requirements depending on the state, service type, provider type, and plan/policy type involved in the underlying services.

Visit the Health Law Section YouTube page to view Jackie’s interview.

Q: What was your career-defining moment?
A: I did international M&A for 10 years after law school before switching to health care 30 years ago. Working in Prague for a few years after the Berlin Wall came down was an amazing experience – I worked on privatizing entire industries and helped Eastern European companies transition from communism to capitalism which was definitely a highlight of my career.  Since switching to healthcare I have had the privilege of working both in house (with health plans) and in private practice. They both offer their advantages – in-house you learn the business in-depth but often don’t have the time to do in-depth legal analysis.  Private practice is the opposite in my experience.  I have been a partner with Epstein Becker Green for 17 years working in the NY office and now in Florida, specializing in managed care contracts between payers and providers and vendors and focusing heavily on reimbursement issues such as value based payment arrangements and price transparency.  I represent health care providers, insurers, employers, and technology vendors on their unique managed care issues. I also help ACOs/IPAs and startup technology companies with commercializing their innovations in health care and life sciences.

Q: What do you do outside of work that keeps you busy?
A: I spend my free time with my husband, children and 2 dogs, cooking and travel. Also we just downsized by selling house up north and buying a place in Florida so the last year has been very busy one.

Q: If you have any kind of advice that you could share with more junior attorneys who are just starting out in the practice of law.
A: Be open to opportunities even if you aren’t looking for them.  Try to do work you enjoy as the hours can be long.  Healthcare can be complicated and is changing rapidly so specializing in one or two areas of interest can make you a sought after expert.  Be responsive to your clients –  know that at the end of the day your reputation is your main asset so make decisions accordingly.

Q: What do you see as the emerging area in health care law?
A: Well at this particular juncture I would have to say the changes under the new administration look like they will impact health care in a big way – the downsizing of government and the focus on chronic disease, Medicaid, research funding and DEI are several examples.  Besides the changes under the new administration, I think AI is going to have critical impact on the entire industry over time.  I am seeing it in my work on payment and contracting issues.  And of course in the practice of law in general.

The latest Health Law Section member spotlight is on Jaide Lee Beverly, the Associate Divisional Chief Legal Officer of AdventHealth. She works in the company’s West Florida Division and is responsible for legal counsel on a variety of healthcare issues including employment agreements, compliance with federal and state health care and fraud and abuse laws.

Here are some excerpts from Jaide’s interview by HLS member Elena Kohn, Esq., who also is an AdventHealth attorney. Visit the Health Law Section YouTube page to view Jaide’s interview.

Q: What was your career-defining moment?
A: Just out of law school, I was a summer associate at a law firm in Sarasota and was hired as a civil and commercial litigation and medical malpractice defense attorney, one of the first African-American attorneys in the firm’s then almost 90-year history. I had just given birth to our first child three weeks after I took the Bar exam, and as a new lawyer, I was given the opportunity to work with our not-for-profit hospital client as outside general counsel. I was able to interact directly with the risk management employee providers and advised them on how to handle some complex litigation matters—and I realized then how important it was to understand the business needs of the organization to interact with the team and the operators.

Q: What do you do outside of work that keeps you busy?
A: When I’m not working, I love to spend time with my family. I have two small children, and we love to travel to new places whenever possible. We’ve recently visited Jamaica and had an authentic experience outdoors and experiencing the local culture. I think it’s just really important to be able to unwind and create meaningful memories.

Q: If you have any kind of advice that you could share with more junior attorneys who are just starting out in the practice of law.
A: You know I would say that health care is full of acronyms and it’s definitely very important to learn the language. Also just knowing your audience, too. If you’re interacting with providers and doctors, remember that they deal with life and death and patients on a daily basis and they may not be thrilled or actually appreciate the nuances of contract law, so you want to make sure that you keep it simple. Also, know that it’s our job to prevent chaos and issues but a lot of times we’re the ones that are cleaning it up. And finally, get a mentor. We’re all learning; we’re all doing this thing called life for the first time and I’m sure there’s a lot of people out there who are willing to help and teach.

Q: What do you see as the emerging area in health care law?
A: My practice is focused a lot on physician compensation arrangements, and I think that will continue to be something that the regulators look closely at—how organizations are establishing fair market value. I would say another significant area is likely the intersection between technology and patient data privacy. I know AI is still kind of emerging and telehealth’s regulatory frameworks are continuing to evolve and change. So the legal frameworks are still evolving to address some of these issues and it’s going to be a critical area of focus for the coming years.

Visit the Health Law Section YouTube page to view Kevin’s interview.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: I am an attorney at Stok Kon + Braverman in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My health law practice focuses on managed care litigation (disputes between providers and payors) and representing healthcare entities, including hospital systems, physician groups, and other providers, in general contract disputes.

Q: What is your career defining moment?

A: It’s difficult to identify a single moment, but for me, the most rewarding experiences are when I achieve meaningful results for my clients or help them resolve challenging issues. These moments are the reason I became a lawyer, and I believe they are what truly define me in my legal career.

Q: What are you doing when you’re not working? What is a unique thing about you outside of lawyering?

A: I enjoy spending time with my wife and my baby, which takes up most of my time. In the past, I have snowboarded, traveled, and done a bit gaming. I am also a big South Florida sports fan and enjoy cheering on the Panthers, Dolphins, Heat, and Hurricanes.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area or topic?

A: While there are many disputes regarding coverage between patients/providers and payors, one emerging issue that is gaining attention is coverage for IVF treatments. I believe we will see a lot more discussion around it in the future.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A:  I am a senior attorney at The Health Law Firm in Altamonte Springs, Florida. I represent nurses, physicians, and other health care providers, including and health care facilities (surgery centers, health care clinics, home health agencies, assistant living facilities, clinical laboratories, and others).

Q:  What is your career defining moment?

A:  I’ve been working in health law for in excess of twenty years, so it’s hard to define one particular moment that stands out among the rest.  When I was in law school I got an opportunity to have lunch in Parliament with a law judge and tour England for a few months, which was a tremendous in highlighting the history of our legal system.

However, if I was giving advice to anyone considering going to law school, I would highly recommend doing it and seeking a specialty area as interesting as the practice of health law. The practice of law takes you places you would never think to go and provides opportunities that you could never have imagined.

Q: What are you doing when you’re not working? What is a unique thing about you outside of lawyering?

A:  When I’m not working, I like to take walks and go bicycling. I garden and maintain a salt water aquarium.

Q:  What do you see as an emerging area or topic?

A:  From a practitioner standpoint in the field of health law, I think that the expanding roles of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the delivery of health services and legal issues that will arise from this, will be a growing legal area in the future.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization? 

I work at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in the Government Enforcement and Investigations Practice Group, focusing on healthcare fraud both in the civil and criminal context. Most of my work centers on the Anti-Kickback Statute, the False Claims Act, and Stark Law.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment? 

The most significant moment of my legal career thus far was convincing the DOJ to dismiss all criminal charges against my client for violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute. I helped draft a presentation explaining why my client’s conduct was lawful and why his prosecution did not serve the interests of justice. Despite my client facing a lengthy prison sentence, the DOJ dropped all charges against him and requested a complete dismissal of the case before trial—a rare feat and terrific outcome for my client.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique thing about you that has nothing to do with lawyering? 

When I am not working, you can find me at the golf course with my husband or reading a book on my front porch.

Before attending law school, I worked at a literary agency that represented historic authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Langston Hughes, and Lois Lowry. I first became interested in attending law school after working on a project where I had to trace the television rights to one of Fitzgerald’s short story collections by reviewing his old publishing contracts and last will and testament.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic? 

A growing chorus of courts have adopted a more stringent causation standard in False Claims Act cases that are predicated on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, but a circuit split remains—teeing up potential intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Sixth and Eighth Circuits have both held that but-for causation is needed; in other words, a showing that the defendant would not have submitted the alleged false claim to a federal healthcare program but for the payment of the alleged kickback. But the Third Circuit has adopted a more lenient standard, which merely requires a “link” between the alleged false claim and the alleged kickback. The First Circuit is expected to rule on this issue later this year after two district courts in its jurisdiction reached opposite conclusions.

Defendants should raise this issue early in their cases, highlighting the growing judicial approval of but-for causation and attacking relators’ claims for failure to plausibly allege that the false claims would not have been submitted to the government without the alleged kickbacks.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: I work at GrayRobinson, P.A. as an associate in our Miami office. As part of my health law practice, I focus on a wide array of areas including privacy and data security, fraud and abuse, corporate governance, licensure and discipline, regulatory compliance, and healthcare risk management. I also work as a lobbyist with the Government Affairs and Lobbying Section of GrayRobinson representing private health care sector clients before Florida’s legislative and executive branches of government.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment?

A: While not necessarily related to my practice given the early stage in my career, my highlight reel includes my time working as a legislative aide in the Florida House of Representatives. During this pre-COVID-19 time, as a legislative aide, I assisted in writing and pushing across the finish line HB 23 (2019) – Telehealth. Before COVID made telehealth the standard practice for physicians and other health care professionals across the state, there were no laws regulating its use. As part of HB 23, the Florida Legislature established standards of practice for telehealth providers and authorized specified telehealth providers to be able to use telehealth to prescribe certain controlled substances. Less than one year later, this legislation turned out to be critically important as in-person appointments ceased and telehealth visits became the norm.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique thing about you that has nothing to do with lawyering? 

A: When I am not working, I am planning a wedding with my fiancé who is also a lawyer in Miami. Aside from that, we enjoy trying new restaurants in Miami (especially sushi bars), coffee shops, and local Cuban bakeries trying to find the best pastelito in Miami! I also thoroughly enjoy Florida Gators athletics and spending time with friends and family.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic? 

A: A topic that I find particularly interesting is the government’s lack of interest in passing a national data privacy protection framework with the ever-growing and -increasing prevalence of AI in all sectors of society, especially health care. Protecting data—specifically PHI—has become and will continue to become of the utmost importance as AI begins to be utilized on a mass scale. I predict that as more and more states pass their own individual laws, Congress will be forced to enact further protections on a national scale. In those protections, I’d anticipate significant protections of one’s PHI, which will add to the already complex regulatory framework that health care entities must navigate.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization? 

A: I am in-house at AdventHealth where I serve as Chief Legal Officer for the Primary Health Division. The Primary Health Division is focused on strengthening AdventHealth’s approach to whole person care and leading out in value-based care.  I collaborate with our primary care, post-acute, and retail teams and assist our population health services organization and our entities that focus on value-based care, such as our clinically integrated networks and accountable care organizations.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment? 

A: My first in house role was as Vice President of Legal and Compliance for a home health agency. I had just given birth to our first son and took a chance as I had little experience in home health except for helping on some occasional projects related to home health licensure. Before starting, I researched everything I could about home health and although it was useful, I soon realized how important it was for me to work with the operators to really understand the business needs and goals of a home health agency to do well in my role. I let my innate curiosity guide me through many aspects from learning about billing and revenue cycle to spending time with our caregivers to understand how healthcare is provided in the home. I am so fortunate to now serve as the Chief Legal Officer of the Primary Health Division and partly, I credit my own curiosity and readiness to broaden my knowledge base given the everchanging environment of healthcare law.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique thing about you that has nothing to do with lawyering? 

A: When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my family, my husband Kevin, and my two sons, Colton and Hunter.  We enjoy engaging in outdoor activities, including golf, fishing, working out, running, and watching their sporting events. These activities allow us all to unwind, stay active, and create meaningful memories.

I love to keep learning and growing personally, and I always look for new ways to challenge myself, whether it’s running a farther distance or finding out more about a topic that intrigues me.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic? 

A: An emerging area within the healthcare law space is around artificial intelligence (AI). As technology continues to advance, more vendors are creating tools and software that utilize AI to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes as more value-based payment models evolve. This presents new legal challenges and considerations for healthcare providers and organizations as they navigate the use of AI in a highly regulated industry.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization? 

A: I am an attorney with The Health Law Firm which represents health care providers. I specialize in professional license defense, regulatory matters, Medicare and Medicaid compliance, medical business transactions, Stark and Antikickback compliance, reviewing physician contracts and mergers and acquisitions.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment? 

A: I have had a lot of moments in my career that I am proud of so it is hard to pick just one. I will say that getting adverse licensing decisions reversed on appeal are the cases that I get the most satisfaction from winning. Some highlights of my time at The Health Law Firm include assisting a North Carolina Medicaid provider in reducing a $1.4 million Medicaid overpayment demand by more than 98%, successfully appealing a Board of Pharmacy decision revoking a pharmacist’s license, and defending an Indian Health Service physician from revocation of his DEA registration.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique thing about you that has nothing to do with lawyering? 

A: My wife and I have five children. When I am not practicing, I am spending time with my family. It’s safe to say there is a lot of kid stuff in my life.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic? 

A: The continued consolidation of health plans and physician practices. These consolidations reduce options for consumers both from a practice standpoint and an insurance standpoint.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: I am Counsel at Nixon Gwilt Law, where I have the privilege of working with a wide variety of innovators in the healthcare space. My clients range from pre-seed stage startups to international brands, from software vendors to providers, all of whom are looking to revolutionize the healthcare industry. I’m constantly learning from each client’s unique perspective. I advise clients on all aspects of their business, including helping them build revenue models, understand the ever-changing reimbursement landscape, develop strong data practices, and protect their interests at the contracting table.

Q: What is your highlight reel?

A: Your career defining moment thus far? Being relatively early in my career it’s hard to say something has been “the” career-defining moment. I will say something that drives me every day is working with people who are incredibly passionate about improving the healthcare landscape. So many of the founders I work with have personal stories that led to them creating these brilliant solutions that are/will shift our traditional concepts of healthcare delivery. While there will always be a space for the brick-and-mortar clinic, seeing the different ways telehealth and remote monitoring can improve patient lives in a profound way is something that will never get old for me.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique think about you that has nothing to do with lawyering?

A: You’d probably find me on a golf course or traveling with my wife. We met at the University of Georgia, so our fall is usually spent following the UGA football team. We were lucky enough to start this year watching the Dawgs win the national title in Los Angeles so our next trip will need to be something incredible to top that – hopefully, a tee time or two is involved.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic?

A: Telehealth and remote monitoring boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic and shouldn’t be thought of as some far-off future offering — they’re here now and they’re here to stay. While the regulatory landscape, including regulatory enforcement, is still catching up, the technology that will shape the latter half of this decade is developing now. Virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence will catapult care delivery and we need to be ready to understand these technologies as well as the legal fallout around data rights, licensing, and so on. Outside of VR, I am personally focused on the emergence of digital sports medicine and fitness. The availability of wearables and other digital sports tech will optimize athlete performance all the way from the professional level through high-school athletics. As a sports fanatic, I can’t wait to see how the sports world embraces digital health.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: I work at the Florida Healthcare Law Firm. We’re a boutique firm focused solely on healthcare law. We service clients throughout Florida and a variety of other states. I specialize in healthcare start-ups and advise on all relevant issues, such as regulatory compliance, leasing/purchasing real estate, corporate structure, employment contracts, patient forms and more.

Q: What is your highlight real? Your career defining moment thus far?

A: As a fairly new lawyer, I don’t have a long list of academic or social achievements to cite (yet). I do have a personal achievement, however. During law school, I immersed myself in various fields to get a taste of each and find my passion. Despite my hard work, I still didn’t have a passion when I graduated from school. I was concerned I’d find myself in a position doing something I didn’t love or even like to get by. I am beyond fortunate I connected with the Florida Healthcare Law Firm early in my career. The mentorship, my colleagues and everyday work are unparalleled. I get to help my clients get their practices and feet off the ground. Seeing each of them open their doors is the ever-continuing highlight of my career.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique thing about you that has nothing to do with lawyering?

A: When I’m not working, you can find me enjoying the outdoors or posting up at my chosen restaurant of the week, trying new foods with my family and friends. If I stay home, I’m probably working on a jigsaw puzzle; the largest I’ve completed was 24,000 pieces. It took a couple of months, as you can imagine! Although not related to lawyering, my unique love for solving jigsaw puzzles translates to my love for solving real-life puzzles, especially when I’m lawyering.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic?

A: An old but always emerging area I am watching is certain healthcare fields shying away from insurance. Most non-traditional practices like medical spas and IV therapy run on a cash basis. I’ve noticed more and more traditional practices making the change to cash to avoid insurance. It will be interesting to see the shift and impact.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: I work at Akerman LLP.  I have been there since 1997, over 25 years.  As for health care specialization, it is generally litigation related topics.  I work on Peer Review matters in all capacities, representing hospitals, physicians, and as the hearing officer.  I do a number of different types of litigation in healthcare, most recently physician “divorces”.   I have always been involved with Risk Management issues particularly when I do medical malpractice related issues.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment?

A: In 40 years of doing this, I have had many “ah ha” moments.  Life and the law are a sign curve with hills and valleys.  My early highlights were realizing that regardless if I had the ONLY case in the State of Florida on the issue, and it supported me…….the judge still could rule against me.  (He did by the way, warning my opponents that they did appreciate that it would be my #1 issue on appeal.)   I quickly caught on that LOSING made me learn a lot more.  I was carrying the proverbial briefcase, in my first trial ever,  2 years into practice when our client was hit with the largest verdict in Pinellas County ever at the time, 2.2 million dollars.   I did not sleep for 3 days and kept seeing the clerk say, “ 2.2 million dollars!!!!!”   My boss said, “well Kirk, your career has no place left to go other than UP, because this is as low as it gets”.   That caused me to take a broader view of the law.  I’ve seen the multitude of cases, from the horribly tragic through many exciting events, all which have shaped my life.

My assistants gave me a solar powered small globe with a plaque on it stating “ Kirk’s World:  THINK, REMEMBER AND ANTICIPATE”. Those guiding principals have done me very well.

My career defining moment was marrying my wife Aileen, 6 days after we graduated from law school, on Christmas Eve.  We had to start work on January 2, and that is when the Bar review courses started. Now 40 years later having her wisdom and calm demeanor helped me be a better human being and lawyer.   Working together in the same firm for the last 25 years has been an added bonus.  We have been surrounded by incredibly intelligent people who shared wonderful ideas, presented us with opportunities we never could have imagined, which helped both of us together to thrive.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique think about you that has nothing to do with lawyering?

A: I enjoy cooking, playing golf and wine.  Cooking and wine are a way of sharing experiences with others.  You learn so much sharing a great bottle of wine.

I have always had a sense of humor.  You have to learn to laugh to fully enjoy life.  George Carlin always made fun with his sarcasm about everyday life.  We cannot make up some of the things that we  experience.  Sharing laughter makes the world a better place.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic?

A: The “corporate takeover” of professionals.  We can put both health care and legal professionals in that arena.   All of us need to maintain our “humanness” and not become the machine “widget” that take over the profession.  Private equity determining my health care, and my legal rights?  People are NOT interchangeable, unless we allow ourselves to be.   We have to prevent that, and it will not be easy.  So the emerging topic is how to balance efficiencies without losing the humanness that makes us great.   AI could take over all diagnoses?  Is that what we want?  Does the humanness of the professional not impact our wellness?  I am a physician and nurse’s son, and I saw how their listening and understanding were essential to help heal people.  We should all want to help others, and not allow the personal touch to disappear.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization? 

A: I serve as Associate Divisional Chief Legal Officer at AdventHealth, an 82,000-employee healthcare system.  I work in the West Florida Division of AdventHealth and represent the medical group and our Carrollwood Hospital.  I am responsible for legal counsel on healthcare issues, including physician employment agreements, practice acquisitions, corporate matters, EMTALA, hospital law, physician and credentialing process, and federal and state fraud and abuse laws.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment? 

A: I was 10 years old when the Soviet Union collapsed.  The world as I knew it turned upside down.  Instability and chaos ensued.  Prices for the most basic of items, such as food, skyrocketed overnight.  Food supply became scarce.  Extreme hardship continued for a number of years.  That brutal period following the collapse of the Soviet Union, with its lawlessness, corruption, and societal disintegration, took a toll on everyone around me.  It was this experience that first ignited my passion for the law.  I dreamed of living in a more stable, law-based society, where individual rights could be protected.  Many years later, I applied to law school in the U.S. and got accepted. That day changed my life. Upon graduation, I was fortunate to be offered an associate attorney position in the healthcare group of an AmLaw 200 law firm.  That position taught me how to practice health law, and I remain grateful.  After the law firm, I worked for several healthcare companies in an executive capacity in such industries as dental, primary care MSO, physical therapy and ObGyn.  Serving as in-house counsel in those companies truly let me experience health care from the inside.  I now serve AdventHealth on the hospital and medical group side.  While I didn’t plan on becoming a healthcare lawyer, I feel blessed that my career journey has been focused on health law.  It allows me to be as close to patient care and helping people as possible, because I am supporting our physicians and hospitals.  I sincerely enjoy representing AdventHealth, an organization that offers a whole person approach to its patients and employees.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique think about you that has nothing to do with lawyering? 

A: For the past year ever since the full-scale Russian invasion into sovereign Ukraine, I have been engaged in various humanitarian efforts to help the Ukrainian people. This will remain my focus until Ukraine wins. Additionally, last year, along with 22 other women lawyers, I co-authored an anthology, “Women in Law – Discovering the True Meaning of Success,” which is a book highlighting various career paths available in the legal profession.  All proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the non-profit Ms. JD.  Also, I am currently training for my first half-marathon, which is scheduled to take place on March 25, 2023.  I have been married to my best friend for 21 years.  We have two children who keep us on our toes.  I love fine-tuning my debate skills with my young daughter.  For an extra challenge, I take on my teenage son – and sometimes win.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic? 

A: The following three topics are at the forefront of health care for me: (1) continued emphasis on the development of telehealth; (2) the potential ban on all physician non-competition agreements; and (3) emphasis on cybersecurity and prevention of cyber breaches.  Cyber breaches can be politically motivated and are becoming part of global cyber warfare.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: McDermott Will & Emery in our Miami office and I am serving as our office managing partner. I switched areas of specialization over the years, starting as a fraud and abuse defense litigator, and then moved to MWE’s transactional practice. I focus mostly on mergers and acquisitions, mostly in private equity the healthcare services and healthcare IT space, and sometimes in the medical device space, but generally not in pharma. I work with clients such as private equity funds and entrepreneurs selling their businesses and provide counseling on regulatory matters, licensure, fraud and abuse, and compliance. At this point in my career, about two thirds of my work is deal related and one third is general advice and counseling.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment?

A: It was one of the most significant transactions I worked on as a young deal lawyer: the original sale of Surgery Partners to a PE fund and it was, for me, one of the first bigger deals that I worked on. It was complicated and had an accelerated timeline, and I was second chair on that deal. What is neat, in my mind, is that the company is sort of a client again at MWE, so to have seen them go through multiple transactions and now be a publicly traded company, and it is a very full circle moment to see a founder-owned company being sold to a large public company doing a lot of cool things.

Additionally, I was involved in my first IPO of a client in 2021. Most of the work I do is private company work, or even when we work with public companies, it is deal work that is not public. This IPO was for a privately held, PE-backed company and I worked with our securities team providing regulatory and corporate counsel — it was a cool process. It IPO’d right as the market was getting rocky, so it was rewarding to see the IPO go through right before the market got worse.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique thing about you that has nothing to do with lawyering?

A: Most of my time not working is spent with my family. I have two boys, ages 9 and 11, who are very active in football, basketball, and other sports. We love to travel and we go on lots of trips whenever possible. We particularly had significant cabin fever post-COVID and went on multiple trips to make up for the lost time, including our first family ski trip in Aspen.

Before I was a lawyer, I was a practicing physical therapist and it was a really cool job and I really liked working with people directly and being able to help people. Despite liking the job and being surrounded by great people in the profession, I just wanted something more challenging – so I went back to law school. Was being a physical therapist useful for my law career? Yes and no — I didn’t practice physical therapy long enough to learn the business side of it, but it was useful to be able to speak the language of healthcare providers, to relate to other providers who are clients, and also being able to learn how to deal with someone who has a problem and being able to work with people in stressful situations.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic?

A: Value-based care. Ever since 2010 when the ACA passed, the industry has been trying to figure out what value-based care really means and how to work towards it. It reminds me of when HIPAA first started, and it was on the books, yet enforcement didn’t happen for 9-10 years afterwards. During that time, clients and attorneys both didn’t really appreciate HIPAA because there were no consequences as of yet, and then the other shoe dropped and everyone suddenly cared about HIPAA. In a similar way, since the ACA, value-based care is a buzz word and everyone is working towards it, but I think we are finally getting to a place where to move the health care system, we do need to provide value, take risk, and be able to manage quality of care and cost and outcomes. There is still so much wrong with the healthcare system in the U.S., so I think the interest in value-based care will only take off. There is a lot more on the way.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: I work in-house with Publix Super Markets as the Director of Healthcare and Privacy Legal. I spend most of my time assisting Publix with pharmacy regulatory and transactional matters. I also assist with privacy matters, both within and outside of the healthcare industry.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment?

A: I spent approximately 10 years in healthcare finance and operations prior to attending law school. This experience helped shape my understanding of the law and my client’s business needs. My transition into the legal field was based on a sincere interest in research, analysis, and advocacy. Although the practice is often challenging, stressful and all-consuming, my personal and professional satisfaction is buttressed a genuine interest in the subject matter. If I were to pick a career defining moment, it would be the initial choice to jump into the legal field after already having a solid career in healthcare administration. That decision involved a lot of risk and required the support of my wonderful family. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique think about you that has nothing to do with lawyering?

A: I have the great blessing of a wonderful family with an amazing wife and two small children. When I am not practicing, I am happiest visiting new places, camping outdoors, and exploring our beautiful waterways surrounded by my loved ones.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic?

A: Privacy is a bipartisan issue that captures the interest of the public and regulators. According to the International Association of Privacy Professionals, 39 states have introduced comprehensive consumer privacy laws since 2018. There was a 106% increase in the number of privacy bills introduced at the state level in 2022 alone. At the federal level, multiple significant bi-partisan bills have been introduced, and the FTC is currently working on multi-pronged privacy rulemaking efforts. Earlier this month President Biden penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal contending that Congress can find common ground on the protection of privacy, competition and American children. The field is complex, developing, and engaging.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: As the Divisional Chief Legal Officer for the West Florida Division of AdventHealth, I advise hospitals, laboratories, physician groups, and ambulatory service lines on a full range of health law issues, including general contracts, hospital-physician joint ventures, co-management agreements with specialty providers, EMTALA, marketing rules, Stark and Anti-Kickback issues, fraud and abuse compliance, informed consent, accreditation and licensure issues, risk management, revenue cycle and billing, clinical and affiliation agreements, board governance, and medical staff matters.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment?

A: I was fortunate to begin my career on the provider side of healthcare as the General Counsel for the pathology group Ruffolo, Hooper & Associates in a multi-company environment with its associated laboratory and billing company.  I love continuing to support physicians in my current role on the hospital side with AdventHealth.  I am passionate about supporting physicians and hospitals from a legal perspective so the talented, and caring providers on the front-lines can support our patients and community.  I was proud and humbled to receive a promotion to lead the AH West Florida Division Legal Department in April, 2022; my expanded position has been energizing and exciting, defined by the amazing and strategic leadership with whom I work and the smart and talented team of lawyers around me.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique thing about you that has nothing to do with lawyering?

A: When I’m not working, I am having fun with my husband, son, Bennett (5), and our two cats (Penelope and Waffles).  My immediate family lives within a few miles, and we love spending time together.   I am passionate about traveling, reading, and watching hockey.  I went to law school because I wanted to be Commissioner of the National Hockey League; however, the NHL was on strike the year I graduated law school, a situation for which I am now thankful as I love working in healthcare and couldn’t imagine doing anything different.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic?

A: Potential federal government changes/challenges to non-competes are on top of my list for this year.  Potential prohibition on the practice of non-competes can be a blessing or a curse, and the FTC’s recent move to ban them is worth keeping a close eye.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: I work in the Office of General Counsel at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, where I am Assistant General Counsel. My practice includes a wide range of health law matters, including clinical and academic affiliations, negotiating complex agreements, fraud and abuse (Stark, AKS) compliance, HIPAA/HITECH, AMCs, and teaching hospitals, and medical staff matters. Prior to becoming in-house counsel, I was in law firm practice in Sarasota, Florida.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career-defining moment?

A: The highlights of my career thus far have been two-fold. First, I was honored to achieve board certification in Health Law from The Florida Bar. This valuable credential has helped me to demonstrate to clients my significant experience and special knowledge in Health Law, as well as my ethical and professional practice. Second, I am grateful to be working at Moffitt Cancer Center where every day I work alongside a dedicated team of healthcare professionals and scientists that provide world-class cancer care and are committed to the treatment and research of cancer.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique thing about you that has nothing to do with lawyering?

A: My wife and I enjoy traveling to national parks and other nature/outdoor locations. In June 2022, we visited Glacier National Park in Montana where we rafted the Flathead River and hiked Road to the Sun trail. In 2023, we hope to visit another national park, perhaps Yellowstone or Yosemite. I am an avid sports fan and enjoy attending or watching sporting events especially if they involve any of my favorite teams like Tampa, Pittsburgh, and Penn State University.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic?

A: A rapidly evolving area of law is Healthcare Informatics especially as it applies to genetic information privacy. Florida’s Protecting DNA Privacy Act is a game-changer for our health law clients in view of the new rights created for DNA contributors/owners and the new requirements created for healthcare providers and others.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: I lead the legal department at American Oncology Network, LLC, a nationwide network of community oncology practices. My practice touches nearly all areas of health law, but the majority of my time is spent on healthcare M&A and ensuring compliance with the Stark Law and other fraud and abuse laws and regulations.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment?

A: I think the biggest career-defining moment for me was when I completely “failed” at the traditional summer associate on-campus interview process. I was at the top of my class, but at a newer law school that did not have a strong foothold in the community yet. I had a handful of OCIs, one call-back, and 0 offers. I was devastated. My vision for “success” as an attorney was graduating at the top of my class, working at a big law firm, and making partner. After I realized that I was not going to start down that path as a summer associate, I applied to a position as a legal intern at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Ultimately, that opportunity allowed me to combine my passion for helping people with my legal expertise and shaped my entire career and the person I have become. I continued to work at CHOP during my 3L year and they created a brand-new legal fellowship for me for a year following law school graduation. I am so appreciative for the attorneys who took a chance on me as a 2L and continued to mentor me even long after I finished my 2-year stint at CHOP.

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique think about you that has nothing to do with lawyering?

A: I spend the majority of my time with my husband and two young kids, Landon (5) and Blake (3) – they keep me plenty busy! I am also extremely passionate about volunteerism and giving back to my community. I am very involved in supporting several Tampa non-profits (the Children’s Cancer Center, Clothes to Kids, Kennedy Cares Tampa Bay, and West Florida Foster Care Services, to name a few) and spend a great deal of time collecting in-kind-donations and distributing them to organizations and individuals in-need.

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic?

A: I think healthcare informatics (data usage and sale) is one of the biggest and most important emerging topics. We are going to see increased interest in using healthcare data and there are and will be a number of implications, especially as we see more stringent state privacy laws going into effect.

The Florida Bar Health Law Section has introduced a new program with Member Spotlights.  Twice a month a member of the Section will be spotlighted on social media outlets after being interviewed by a Spotlight Committee member.  These spotlights are meant to be fun and informal.

We hope this new initiative provides our members an opportunity to collaborate and have access to a virtual rolodex of potential referrals, co-counsel opportunities and new professional relationships.  If you are interested in being spotlighted please contact the Program Administrator.

For the inaugural Member Spotlight, the committee selected Jason Mehta, Chair-Elect of the Section and all-around cool guy.

Q: Where do you work and what is your area of health law specialization?

A: I just switched law firms as of October 31 (Spooky!).  I am now at Foley and Lardner in Tampa.  I specialize in government investigations and fraud, waste, and abuse act allegations.  I defend individuals in criminal and civil investigations.

Q: What is your highlight reel? Your career defining moment?

A: I served as a long-time federal prosecutor where I focused on healthcare fraud cases.  In my five years as a prosecutor, I recovered more than a quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer money and prosecuted dozens of individuals.  My defining moment, though, was a trial victory on the other side earlier this year!  After a five-week grueling criminal federal healthcare trial, I—along with my colleagues—secured acquittals for my client accused of running a healthcare fraud scheme.  While the jury deadlocked on some counts, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on all counts that they could reach a unanimous verdict.  I was very proud of the result—and even more proud that I survived five weeks of the Buffalo, New York winter!

Q: What are you doing when you are not working? What is a unique think about you that has nothing to do with lawyering?

A: I love chasing my six year old son and seven year old daughter around our lawn.  I also love scuba diving, having just returned from cave diving in the cenotes in Mexico.  I proposed to my wife underwater (it helped me avoid having to give a proposal speech!).

Q: What do you see as an emerging area/topic?

A: I think telehealth is continuing to explode in popularity—and it will be a key focus of government investigation and scrutiny in the coming months and years.  I think we’d all be well-served to focus on telehealth, as it is the future.