Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP Attorneys Michael Dailey and Toby Schisler - Members of Class XI of CALL
(CINCINNATI) Michael Dailey and Toby Schisler have been accepted as members of Class XI of the Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers (CALL). CALL is an experienced-based program that promotes and encourages leadership, professionalism and service among practicing lawyers in Greater Cincinnati.

12-07-2006

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Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

67 Dinsmore & Shohl LLP Attorneys Named to Best Lawyers in America
(CINCINNATI) Sixty-seven lawyers from Dinsmore & Shohl LLP were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2007 : Gregory P. Adams, Christopher A. Benintendi, Mark C. Bissinger, J. David Brittingham, Bonnie G. Camden, Edmund M. Carney, Mark A. Carter, John E. Christopher, James A. Comodeca, J. Michael Cooney, Chauncey S.R. Curtz, Anna M. Dailey, Deborah DeLong, Frank P. Doheny, Michael D. Eagen, Barbara B. Edelman, Jon L. Fleischaker, William M. Freedman, Michael S. Glassman, James F. Gottman, K. C. Green, Timothy W. Hagan, Douglas J. Halpert, Gregory A. Harrison, Michael W. Hawkins, Mary J. Healy, Charles F. Hertlein, Marvin J. Hirn, Nicholas C. Hollenkamp, John F. Hussell, Monika J. Hussell, W. Henry Jernigan, Richard A. Killworth, Holly D. Kozlowski, Rick A. Lavinsky, Nancy A. Lawson, Kim Martin Lewis, John D. Luken, Paul R. Mattingly, Brian P. Perry, Christopher B. Power, Steven H. Ray, Thomas C. Reed, John R. Rhorer, Jr., Clifford A. Roe, Jr., Charles M. Roesch, Lynda E. Roesch, Forrest H. Roles, B. Joseph Schaeff, Joanne M. Schreiner, John E. Selent, Thomas J. Sherman, Michael L. Squillace, Vincent B. Stamp, Timothy A. Tepe, Joseph H. Terry, Richard B. Tranter, Merideth A. Trott, Mark A. Vander Laan, Joan M. Verchot, George H. Vincent, Marilena R. Walters, Gerald V. Weigle, Jr., Thomas J. Westerfield, George B. Wilkinson, Frank C. Woodside, III, and Susan B. Zaunbrecher.

ABOUT BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA
Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which 16,000 leading attorneys throughout the country cast more than a half million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their specialties, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor.

12-07-2006

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Bracewell & Giuliani LLP

Bracewell & Giuliani Advises Reliant Energy in its Credit Retail Agreement with Merrill Lynch
Bracewell & Giuliani LLP advised Reliant Energy Inc. in its credit-enhanced retail structure agreement with Merrill Lynch which closed Dec. 1.

Under the terms of the agreement, Merrill Lynch guarantees the supply purchases and related transactions of Reliant's retail business. As a result, Reliant is no longer required to post collateral for its retail supply purchases. Merrill Lynch provides a credit facility to finance some of the working capital needs of the retail business.

In conjunction with the agreement, the company has also completed a series of refinancing activities which should result in a gross debt reduction of more than $500 million. Reliant has refinanced its $1.7 billion revolving credit facility, $530 million of term loans, and $450 million retail receivables securitization facility with new credit facilities including a $700 million revolving credit facility, a $400 million term loan and a $300 million synthetic letter of credit facility.

Reliant Energy, based in Houston, is one of the largest independent power producers in the nation with approximately 16,000 megawatts of power generation capacity across the United States.

12-07-2006

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Blank Rome LLP.

J. Caleb Boggs III Elected President of Republican National Lawyers Association
Blank Rome is pleased to announce that Partner J. Caleb Boggs III (“J.C.”) has been unanimously elected to serve as President of the Republican National Lawyers Association (“RNLA”). Mr. Boggs succeeds RNLA President Harvey Tettlebaum of Missouri.

Mr. Boggs has held leadership positions with the RNLA since 2000, having served as Chairman of the D.C. Operations Committee and RNLA First Vice President. As RNLA President, Mr. Boggs will lead the Association in carrying out its primary missions of advancing attorney professionalism, seeking open, fair and honest elections, providing opportunities for its membership and building on Republican Party goals. The RNLA is the principal national organization of Republican lawyers comprised of more than 3,000 lawyer-professionals from across the United States.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to take on this important leadership position, and by the trust that my colleagues have placed in me,” said Mr. Boggs. “The strength of the RNLA is its talented members and I look forward to working with them to make a positive difference for our country’s electoral and judicial systems.”

Outgoing President Harvey Tettlebaum remarked that, “J.C. has proven himself a leader among Republican lawyers and has gained the respect of both his colleagues and his counterparts on the other side of the political aisle. With his fine intellect, energy and experience, the Republican National Lawyers Association will continue to grow in both numbers and importance.”

A Partner with the law firm of Blank Rome LLP, Mr. Boggs concentrates his practice in government law, public policy and legislative and regulatory representation. He maintains offices in Washington, D.C. and Wilmington, Delaware.

Mr. Boggs served as Delaware Chairman, Lawyers for Bush-Cheney '04 and was part of the Florida recount team during the 2000 Presidential election. He previously served as Republican counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and has advised numerous candidates for state and federal elective office, including several Presidential campaigns.

Admitted to practice in Washington, D.C. and Delaware, Mr. Boggs received his Juris Doctor from The Catholic University of America and his Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University. Mr. Boggs also holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Richmond.

12-07-2006

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McGuireWoods LLP

Physician-Owned Hospitals – The Best of Times and the Worst of Times
For physician owned hospitals, this is truly the best of times and the worse of times. The following briefly describes six reasons why this can be viewed as a terrific time for physician owned hospitals. Then, the letter describes why in contrast, this can be viewed as the worst of times.

I. The Best of Times

1. The Moratorium on the Development of Physician Owned Hospitals Ends. In August of 2006, after an initial legislative moratorium passed as part of the Medicare Modernization Act and an extension of the moratorium, the prohibition on the development on new hospitals by physicians ended. Thus, for the first time in several years, physicians no longer face a prohibition on developing a new physician-owned hospital and having it become Medicare certified.

2. DHHS Final Report. The Department of Health and Human Services issued its Final Report in August 2006. In the final report, the Department of Health and Human Services found that there was no need to prohibit physician ownership of hospitals "at this time."

3. Growth. It is expected that there will be tremendous growth in the development of physician owned hospitals. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") counted approximately 130 specialty hospitals throughout the country as of its last study. Further, the Wall Street Journal, relying on similar figures, showed approximately 130 specialty hospitals.

The best defense to the development of prohibitory legislation is the growth in the industry. Years ago, certain individuals at CMS stated that they would be pleased with a prohibition on physician ownership of ambulatory surgery centers. However, they noted that there were simply too many ASCs at that time to pass any sort of prohibition. In contrast, physician-owned hospitals, due to their smaller amounts of numbers, are still vulnerable to such a challenge.

4. Changes in ASC Reimbursement. The systematic provision of higher reimbursement to hospitals over ambulatory surgery centers for the exact same services has the unintended effect of making it more palatable for physicians to develop hospitals instead of ambulatory surgery centers. This will lead to further growth in physician owned hospitals.

5. Patients of Smaller Physician Owned Specialty Hospitals. Studies appear to demonstrate that the quality of care and patient satisfaction small, focused physician-owned hospitals are extremely high compared to the similar results for community and general acute care hospitals.

6. Profits of Community Hospitals are at Record Amounts. It was recently reported that community hospitals, as a whole, managed to make profits of approximately $29 Billion Dollars in 2005. With this high profit number, it makes it increasingly more difficult to argue that specialty hospitals and physician-owned hospitals are significantly affecting profits or providing significant harm to general and acute care hospitals. In essence, profits at community hospitals are at record numbers despite the growth of ambulatory surgery centers and specialty hospitals.

II. Physician Owned Hospitals – The Worst of Times

For a variety of reasons, the current positive outlook, due to the six factors noted above is offset in large part by substantial problems and concerns. Certain of these problems and concerns are as follows:

1. The Senate Does Not Seem to Like Physician Owned Hospitals. Neither the Republican leadership (Charles Grassley) nor the Democratic leadership (Max Baucus) on healthcare issues seems to like physician-owned hospitals, with each arguing for prohibitions on the development of physician owned hospitals. With Charles Grassley, the contradiction in views on physician-owned hospitals compared to his position on ambulatory surgery centers is striking. In short, he tends to love ambulatory surgery centers but seems to hate physician owned hospitals. Perhaps, this is because, while there are no physician-owned hospitals in Iowa, the state has physician-owned surgery centers.

2. The House of Representatives Has Been the Biggest Ally of Physician-Owned Hospitals. The substantial change in the House make-up is likely to change this dynamic. In essence, rather than rely upon parties to the right of center who tend to be pro competition, it is likely that allies that are more left of center and moderate will need to be sought out in the House of Representatives. Members, such as Pete Stark, who are unlikely to ever be a friend to physician ownership, have already articulated physician owned hospitals as one on the key avenues of attack as the Democrats have significant control of both the Senate and the House.

3. DHHS Final Report. The Department of Health and Human Services Final Report while overall positive for physician-owned hospitals, still provides plenty of statistical data that can be used by the Federation of American Hospitals and the American Hospital Association to argue that specialty hospitals are bad for healthcare. In essence, in each of the many reports that have been developed by the federal government over the last several years, there is information and statistics that can be used by both sides of the debate to try and press their point.

4. Physician Owned Hospitals are Particularly Concentrated in Several States. Physician owned hospitals are very prevalent in approximately 10 states and overwhelmingly not present in states with strong certificate of need laws. This means that if you are a Congressman (whether a Representative or Senator) in one of the states that does not have physician owned hospitals, there are very little political consequences to voting along the lines of a Baucus Grassley bill. In essence, you do not have constituents that would tend to want to remove you from office due to your vote.

5. Single Patient Death. Last year, a patient died in a specialty hospital in Portland, Oregon. The industry was then subject to a whole scale review and negative commentary by Charles Grassley and others. In essence, he asked for an entire investigation of safety practices in specialty hospitals. It is unusual, that a single death in an industry leads to an entire review of that industry. This shows that this is still a vulnerable issue on a federal and state level.

6.The Battle At the State Level Remains Brisk. In several states, legislators have worked to try and pass legislation that would prohibit the development of physician owned hospitals. For example, Montana has passed a temporary moratorium. California and Pennsylvania almost passed similar legislation this past year.

7. The Middle of the House. As Congress changes and evolves, the battle for the middle of the House becomes more and more critical. Parties such as the American Hospital Association and the Physician Owned Hospital Association will be aggressively attempting to seek alliances in the middle of the House to try and push or avoid legislation.

8. Omnibus Bill. Until at least 2008, there will still be a President and an administration that is in favor of physician owned hospitals and competition. One of the real risks to the industry arises in the context of an omnibus, rather than a single issue bill. For example, if the Republican representatives in the House and Senate believe that they need "something" as part of an omnibus reconciliation package or other package, this is the situation in which a law related to physician ownership of hospitals can become part of a much larger legislative package.

To receive Health Care or other legal updates go to our e-mail subscription page. Should you have questions on issues related to physician ownership of hospitals or other issues in this article, please contact the author.

12-07-2006

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Robinson & Cole LLP

Robinson & Cole LandLaw Analyst Elected Vice President of Connecticut Association of Wetland Scientists
R&C LandLaw Analyst John M. Anderson was recently elected vice president of the Connecticut Association of Wetland Scientists (CAWS) at their annual planning meeting in November. CAWS is a 50 plus member professional organization, founded in 1997, dedicated to the advancement of wetland science, increasing public awareness, and promotion of the profession. John has been a member of the organization since its inception and looks forward to working to increase the group’s membership and support for wetlands research and protection.

12-07-2006

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Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Maria Vullo Argues Before U.S. Supreme Court on False Claims Act Suit
litigation partner Maria Vullo argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case presenting significant issues under the False Claims Act, one of the fastest growing areas of federal civil litigation today. In Rockwell International Corp. v. U.S. and ex rel. Stone, the justices examined the "original source" provision, which determines who may bring qui tam lawsuits under the False Claims Act. The case deals with a 17-year-old whistle-blower suit brought by a former Rockwell engineer, at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado. In 1986 the engineer, James Stone, told federal officials he thought the plant contractor, Rockwell International Corp., was violating environment laws in the way it was handling hazardous waste from plutonium operations. The company subsequently pled guilty to environmental violations and paid $18.5 million in criminal fines. The Department of Justice intervened in the civil suit filed by Stone under the False Claims Act and Maria successfully tried the case to a Denver jury in 1999, which awarded $4.1 million in damages. The issue before the Supreme Court centers around whether Stone is entitled to a share of that recovery. The Solicitor General has supported Stone's position and argued before the Supreme Court on Thursday following and in support of Maria's argument. As the December 6 Rocky Mountain News noted, "If the U.S. Supreme Court defines "original source" quite strictly, it could mean that whistle-blowers would need more specific, firsthand knowledge of potential wrongdoing to share in such lawsuits. The November 27 National Law Journal featured a cover story about the case in which Maria is quoted as saying, "I think the way the circuits have approached the issue is really a function of how they describe particular facts of the case. The plain language of the statute is what it is and to the extent Rockwell has a gripe, that's a gripe for the Congress to add some standard that's not existing in the statutory language right now." A decision in the case is expected in the next few months.

12-07-2006

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