Crowell & Moring Launches Elite New York Health Care Practice

Leading Health Care Team of 9 Transactional Lawyers and Litigators Joins the Firm

New York– October 17, 2018: Crowell & Moring LLP is launching a New York Health Care Practice with the arrival of nine highly regarded lawyers from one of the region’s top health care practices.

The incoming group from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP is led by Paul Mourning and Stephanie Marcantonio, who have developed a significant practice focused on transactional work for health care providers and nonprofit institutions; and litigators Kathy Hirata Chin and Brian McGovern, who have represented providers and provider associations in state and federal court and regulatory and compliance investigations. These four Crowell & Moring partners will be joined by senior counsel Pamela Landman, Deirdre Long Absolonne, and Jared L. Facher and counsel Michael G. DiFiore and Marsena M. Farris, who each bring extensive experience to the team. This addition to the firm’s Health Care Group expands Crowell & Moring’s best-in-class capabilities to better serve health care clients and nonprofit organizations across the United States on a complete spectrum of their legal needs.

“These are the go-to lawyers for complex health care matters in New York,” said Philip T. Inglima, chair of Crowell & Moring. “Much of the institutional health care business in New York is operated by nonprofit providers, and this prominent team is well suited to support those clients and for-profit initiatives. The reputation of this group for closing deals, securing financing, litigating and investigating complex matters, and navigating the unique regulatory climate in New York for health care providers, payers, and other industry participants bolsters our already elite Health Care Group. We are thrilled to welcome them to the firm.”

With 35 years of experience, Paul Mourning, who most recently served as co-chair of Cadwalader’s Health Care Industry Team and chair of its health care and nonprofit practices, is widely recognized as a leader in the establishment, financing, restructuring, and transfer of control of health care and nonprofit organizations, as well as in the disposition of assets and structuring and re-structuring of joint ventures. Clients include acute care, residential long-term care, home care, and hospice providers, as well as managed care and other health insurance organizations. Mourning has served as National Legal Counsel to The Salvation Army for more than 20 years. He serves on the board of trustees for the College of Mount Saint Vincent.

Stephanie Marcantonio advises health care providers, payers, and tax-exempt entities on corporate transactional, regulatory, and governance matters, includingstructuring and negotiating acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures. She also represents lenders and borrowers in health care financings, and has acted as regulatory counsel to leading financial lenders in connection with nine- and 10-figure financings of nursing facilities, assisted-living facilities, and other health care providers, and the related securitizations. She also advises on health care fraud and abuse issues, including representing providers in government audits and investigations and advising providers on reimbursement matters. She serves on the board of directors for Support Our Aging Religious, a nonprofit that provides grants to help religious congregations care for their elderly and infirm members.

Kathy Hirata Chin has successfully represented individual health care providers and provider associations in challenges to actions taken by state and federal agencies, including multiple suits regarding Medicaid reimbursement issues. Chin also has wide experience in various forms of real estate litigation, including disputes over transferable development rights, leasehold valuation, allocation of PILOT monies, and local law compliance issues. She is a member of the Attorney Emeritus Advisory Council and the Commercial Division Advisory Council, positions to which she was appointed by former chief judges of the State of New York; a member of New York’s First Department Judicial Screening Committee, appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo; a member of the Second Circuit Judicial Council Committee on Civic Education & Public Engagement; and vice chair of the board of directors of the Medicare Rights Center – a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping older adults and people with disabilities get good, affordable health care.

With a career spanning the public and private sectors, Brian McGovern represents health providers and health plans in administrative proceedings as well as commercial and reimbursement disputes in state and federal court. McGovern assists clients in responding to government audits and investigations, and counsels them, including provider associations, on statutory, regulatory, and other legal issues, particularly impacting long-term care providers in New York state. He also negotiates managed care, vendor, and other contracts; and assists providers on administrative applications and matters before regulatory agencies. Before entering private practice, McGovern served as an Assistant Attorney General for New York State, where he litigated a variety of matters in state and federal courts, including Medicaid reimbursement and various challenges to statutes, regulations, and agency actions affecting health care providers. He is chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Health Law Committee.

Other members of the health care team are:

• Pamela Landman: Her practice focuses on corporate governance, transactional, employment, and compliance matters involving charitable, religious, educational, and health care organizations.
• Deirdre Long Absolonne: She represents nonprofit religious and charitable organizations, health care and educational institutions, foundations and other tax-exempt entities, advising on a broad range of legal and practical issues.
• Jared L. Facher: He represents health care organizations, insurance companies, and tax-exempt entities on litigation, transactional and regulatory matters.
• Michael G. DiFiore: His practice focuses on representing all manner of health care entities and nonprofit corporations on business, regulatory, and transactional matters.
• Marsena M. Farris:She represents clients in restructuring, mergers, divestitures, and affiliations in all types of complex transactional, regulatory, and employment matters. She also has experience in managed care contracting, compliance and health care fraud and abuse issues.

"Crowell & Moring is strategically expanding our practices to better serve our clients in the highly regulated health care industry and beyond, both in New York and globally,” said Glen G. McGorty, the firm's New York office managing partner. “This distinguished group complements our firm’s considerable bench of high-quality transactional counsel and trial lawyers, and I am proud to call them colleagues.”

Kevin B. Kroeker, co-chair of the firm's Health Care Group, said: “These lawyers have extensive experience representing prestigious nonprofit healthcare organizations in significant matters. Their presence in New York further solidifies the national reach of our Health Care Group, stretching from California to D.C. and now New York.”

Mourning said: “We were seeking a firm with a nationally established health care practice and came away impressed with Crowell & Moring’s quality and depth of first-class talent in regulatory, litigation, investigations, advisory, and transactional matters, as well as its broad experience in tax-exempt and nonprofit matters.”

Mourning, Marcantonio, Landman, Absolonne, DiFiore, and Farris will also join the firm’s Corporate Group. Chin, McGovern, and Facher will also be members of the firm’s Litigation Group.

About Crowell & Moring’s Health Care Group

Crowell & Moring's nationally recognized Health Care Group provides a comprehensive range of litigation, investigation, regulatory compliance, fraud and abuse, transactions and counseling services to health care clients nationwide. Our clients include payers (including the top 10 national health insurers), hospitals and hospital systems, medical groups and medical group managers, dialysis providers, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy benefit managers, academic medical centers, government contractors, as well as established and start-up medical device and biotech companies. Our clients rely on Crowell & Moring's experience and interdisciplinary approach to provide strategic solutions to their complex legal challenges. Chambers USA named Crowell & Moring as a finalist in the health care category for the annual Award for Excellence in 2018. The group publishes the C&M Health Law Blog, which includes analysis, commentary, and the latest developments in health care law and policy. Follow the group on Twitter at @CMHealthCareLaw.

About Crowell & Moring LLP

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with more than 500 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity. The firm has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, London, and Brussels.