Akin Gump Profiled by Law360 as a Health Care Practice Group of the Year
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In selecting Akin Gump once again as one of its Health Care Groups of the Year, after having recognized the firm multiple times in the past, Law360 writes that the firm “secured an impressive number of accomplishments over the last year.” This included leading Allina Health Services to a big win at the Supreme Court and advising on one of the largest U.S. hospital mergers to date.
Health care practice head John Jacob attributed the group’s success to its more-than 90 lawyers spread across the firm, working in a wide range of areas. He described the collaboration between the firm’s health care regulatory and policy practices as “a real asset and frankly a differentiator between Akin Gump and other firms.”
The Allina victory, which was secured by Akin Gump’s health care litigation and appellate team, will have a significant impact on the development of Medicare payment policy and could lead the way for new agency challenges.
On the transactional side, Law360 highlights Akin Gump’s work advising hospital operator RCCH HealthCare Partners, owned by Apollo Global affiliate-managed funds, in a deal to take LifePoint Health private. (Click here to learn more.)
As one of the largest hospital mergers in the country, Jacob said the deal required input from attorneys across the firm, including health care regulatory lawyers, regulatory reimbursement lawyers, and fraud and health care policy lawyers—all of it exemplifying the firm’s successful use of collaboration.
“Given the size and scope of almost 90 hospitals in 90 different communities, the breadth of the merger and number of facilities involved made it uniquely challenging,” Jacob said. “When you’re dealing with these kinds of mergers you need to cover the entire ground.”
Looking ahead, Jacob observed that “at the highest levels the firm is continuing to look to grow and expand the breadth and reach of our health care practice. [That] really makes what we’re doing and what we’ll be doing over the next decade really exciting.”