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Fundamentals of Health Care Law
Original Program Date :
Ethics | 
Professionalism | 
Trial Practice
- PRESIDING:
- Richard D. Sanders, Program Chair; Southern Health Lawyers LLC, Atlanta, GA
- 8:35
- WELCOME AND PROGRAM OVERVIEW
- Richard D. Sanders
- 8:45
- FEDERAL HEALTHCARE REGULATIONS
- Charlotte A. Combre, BakerHostetler, Atlanta, GA
- Robert M. Keenan III, King and Spalding, Atlanta, GA
- Jonathan L. Rue, Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs, LLP, Atlanta, GA
- 10:15
- CERTIFICATE OF NEED
- Kathlynn Butler Polvino, KBP Law P.C., Atlanta, GA
- 10:45
- BREAK
- 10:55
- LONG-TERM CARE ISSUES
- Brittany H. Cone, Hall Booth Smith, P.C., Atlanta, GA
- 11:25
PROFESSIONALISM ISSUES IN MATTERS WITH STATE AGENCIES
W. Wright Banks, Georgia Office of the Attorney General, Atlanta, GA
Richard D. Sanders
Michelle A. Williams, Baker Donelson, Atlanta, GA - 12:25
- LUNCH
- 1:10
- MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
- Daniel J. Huff, Huff, Powell & Bailey LLC., Atlanta, GA
- 1:40
- IN HOUSE COUNSEL PERSPECTIVE ON HEALTHCARE
- Christy Durden Jordan, Southeast Georgia Health System, Brunswick, GA
- 2:10
- HEALTHCARE FRAUD AND ABUSE ENFORCEMENT UPDATE
- William D. Ezzell, BakerHostetler, Atlanta, GA
- Ellen H. Persons, Polsinelli, Atlanta, GA
- 3:10
- BREAK
- 3:25
- COMPLIANCE ISSUES FOR HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS
- Lynn M. Adam, Adam Law LLC, Decatur, GA
- 4:25
- ADJOURN
Description vOD1, Brochure v1
Mr. Richard Devon Sanders, Southern Health Lawyers LLC
RICHARD D. SANDERS represents a variety of corporate clients and healthcare providers on a broad range of issues, including business transactions, fraud and abuse compliance (Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark), Certificate of Need (CON) issues, medical staff credentialing, Medicare reimbursement, antitrust policy, legislative activities, and assisting businesses in their relationships with federal and state regulatory agencies. Rich advises clients in the formation of corporate entities and has represented his clients on a wide variety of corporate transactional work including corporate financings, private placements and corporate and regulatory compliance.SOUTHERN HEALTH LAWYERS, LLC has an active mergers and acquisitions practice, including work on stock and asset acquisitions and divestitures, mergers and other forms of business combinations. Rich has been named to The Best Lawyers in America for 2011-present, and the firm has separately been named to Best Lawyers, as well. He has extensive experience representing hospital clients and healthcare providers in mediation and arbitration. In addition, he serves a neutral in arbitration and mediation with the American Health Lawyers Association Dispute Resolution Service. After graduating from Duke University in 1992 with a double-major in political science and history, Rich earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Emory University School of Law in 1996. Rich currently serves on the adjunct faculty at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and teaches courses in business and regulatory law. In 2004, he was awarded Professor of the Year. Rich is a former intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy, where he worked with an Atlanta-based unit supporting the U.S. Sixth Fleet in Naples, Italy. Rich is the creator and founder of the charitable organization St. Michael’s Mission, Inc., a ministry organized to assist and serve veterans of the armed services. Rich is very active in the community as a member of various non-profit organizations. He is also very involved in his home church of St. Philip’s Cathedral. He and his family live in Buckhead.
Ms. Charlotte Ann Combre, BakerHostetler LLP
Charlotte Combre is a partner with the national law firm of Baker Hostetler where she focuses her practice on regulatory and compliance matters for health care organizations, specifically Medicare and Medicaid enrollment and payment issues, as well as licensure and accreditation matters. Charlotte is ranked in Georgia by Chambers USA. Active in inclusion and diversity initiatives, Charlotte serves as an advisor to the Baker Hostetler firmwide Inclusion and Diversity Council and co-chairs the Atlanta office Inclusion and Diversity Committee.
Charlotte received her Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. and her juris doctorate from Georgia State University College of Law.
Committed to community service, Charlotte is an active member of Leadership Atlanta (Class ’23) and the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys (“GABWA”). She serves on the Boards of the Georgia Community Trust of Bobby Dodd Institute and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Georgia, where she chairs the governance committee. She has previously served on the Board of Directors of the GABWA Foundation, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, All About Developmental Disabilities, Bobby Dodd Institute, and Leadership DeKalb. For 10 years, she served as chair of Leadership DeKalb’s Health Day program and, in 2004, Charlotte chaired the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Atlanta. Charlotte is a sustainer member of the Junior League of DeKalb County and a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc.
Mr. Robert M. Keenan, III, King & Spalding LLP
Rob Keenan is a partner with the Healthcare Practice Group of King & Spalding in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois and of the University of Georgia School of Law. Rob advises health industry clients on a wide variety of regulatory, contracting and transactional matters, with considerable focus on HIPAA and health information privacy and cybersecurity issues, as well as Stark law compliance, troubleshooting and voluntary disclosures. He is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and is a past president of the Georgia Academy of Healthcare Attorneys.
Mr. Jonathan Lee Rue, Parker Hudson Rainer & Dobbs LLP
Jon Rue is an experienced advocate for healthcare providers. Over the course of his 37+ year career, Jon has handled a wide range of litigation, primarily arising out of healthcare regulation. He brings a confident, comprehensive approach to every case, ensuring that his clients are in the best possible position for a successful resolution. Focused on healthcare regulatory litigation, Jon spends most of his time representing hospitals and other healthcare providers in proceedings in state and federal court, before regulatory agencies, and in arbitration and mediation. These matters include Medicare, Medicaid, and managed care payment disputes (including appeals of audit determinations), certificate of need litigation (including rule challenge proceedings), and other healthcare-related commercial disputes. Jon has also represented hospitals in a variety of regulatory matters, including Medicare and Medicaid decertification actions and EMTALA matters, and he is frequently called on for regulatory compliance advice. Jon is fiercely committed to representing his clients’ rights and interests, and to keeping them informed throughout the litigation process. His deep knowledge of the healthcare landscape, coupled with his advocacy skills, allows Jon to provide comprehensive, highly effective representation for any regulatory issue his clients might face
Ms. Kathlynn Lea Butler, Health Law Strategists, LLC
Kathy Butler Polvino practices exclusively in the area of healthcare law, with a focus on transactions, strategic planning initiatives, and administrative litigation. Ms. Polvino has extensive experience representing healthcare providers in complex transactions involving acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, and other affiliations. She also has experience representing providers in litigation involving healthcare statutory and regulatory issues. She brings a unique perspective with 27 years’ experience in all major specialties within healthcare law: M&A/transactional, litigation, compliance, and regulatory matters.
Ms. Brittany Hannah Cone, Hall Booth Smith PC
Brittany H. Cone is a partner with Hall Booth Smith in its healthcare, regulatory, and long-term care/aging services practice groups.
Certified in Health Care Compliance by the Health Care Compliance Association, Brittany works with providers on the full spectrum of issues they face including Medicare, Medicaid, regulatory compliance, administrative hearings and appeals.
Brittany is experienced in the day-to-day operations issues faced by providers, ranging from Medicare and Medicaid matters, issues involving third-party payers, corporate and regulatory compliance matters, and administrative hearings and appeals. As denials and under-reimbursement become more prevalent from payers including Medicare Advantage Organizations and private insurance companies, Brittany often works with medical providers seeking reimbursement for or defending against the denial of claims submitted to various payers.
Mr. William Wright Banks, Jr., Georgia Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General Chris Carr appointed W. Wright Banks, Jr. to serve as Chief Deputy for the Georgia Department of Law on March 1, 2020.
Previously, Wright served as Deputy Attorney General for the Commercial Transactions and Litigation Division from 2012 - 2019. In that role, he supervised three sections: Business and Finance; Real Property, Construction, Transportation and Authorities; and Tax.
From 2007 to 2012, he served as the Section Leader of the Business and Finance Section. Prior to that time, Wright worked in the Business and Finance Section practicing in a number of areas of law, including alcoholic beverage regulation, bankruptcy, insurance and procurements. He has provided general representation to a number of State entities, including the Georgia Department of Transportation, the Department of Administrative Services, the Department of Revenue, the Georgia Lottery Corporation, the Financing and Investment Division of the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission, the State Road and Tollway Authority, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority and the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority.
Wright graduated from the University of Georgia with an A.B. degree in political science in 1990. He received his law degree from Mercer University cum laude in 1993 where he was a member of the Mercer Law Review and Phi Kappa Phi.
Ms. Michelle Anne Williams, Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
As former in-house counsel at large academic medical centers, Michelle Williams draws on her industry experience to advise on regulatory and structuring aspects of hospital mergers, acquisitions, and integrations. She has a reputation for smoothly obtaining attorney general and federal approvals for complex transactions, and she also advises on EMTALA, QIO hearings, medical staff issues, corporate governance and hospital authorities and districts.
Ms. Williams focuses her practice on the regulatory and structuring aspects of hospital mergers, acquisitions, and integrations. Her experience includes obtaining attorney general and federal approvals for complex transactions and/or conversion from nonprofit to for-profit status, and issues of successor liability. She also advises on corporate governance and Medical Staff governance in connection with changes of control or ownership. She represents clients undergoing CMS, EMTALA and state surveys, Medicare terminations and
regulatory review, and advises on hospital authority law, voluntary disclosures, corporate integrity agreements and qui tam defense.
Since 2012, Michelle has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in Health Care Law. Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business has recognized Michelle for excellence in the area of health care since 2008. Prior to joining Baker Donelson, Michelle was a commissioner on the Advisory Committee on Childhood Vaccines, advising the U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services on the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund. She was a former in-house counsel at University Hospitals of Cleveland and the former
Mount Sinai Hospital, and has been on-loan in-house counsel to general academic medical centers.
Mr. Daniel James Huff, Huff Powell & Bailey LLC
Dan is a founding partner of the law firm Huff, Powell & Bailey, LLC. Dan has tried more than 130 civil jury trials in Georgia. In more than 100 of the trials, Dan represented physicians and hospitals against allegations of medical malpractice.
In October 2022, Dan obtained a defense verdict for a local hospital in a Fulton County case where the jury found against two defendants for $75,000,000 and the Plaintiff sought $40,000,000 against the hospital alone. Dan is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been selected as a Superlawyer for more than 18 years.
Founded in 2003, Huff, Powell & Bailey, LLC has offices throughout Georgia and in North Carolina and South Carolina. HPB prides itself on having a deep bench of diverse first chair medical malpractice lawyers. With over 50 lawyers in three states HPB sets the standard for defending the healthcare industry in the southeast.
Ms. Christy Durden Jordan, Southeast Georgia Health System
Christy D. Jordan joined Southeast Georgia Health System’s legal department in 2012, served as the Director of Risk Management and Assistant General Counsel from 2012-2014 and has served as the Health System’s Vice President, General Counsel/Government Relations since 2014. In that role, she provides legal advice to Health System management and its Boards, oversees the Legal, Compliance, Risk Management, Medical Staff Services and Managed Care departments and coordinates the Health System’s legislative and government affairs activities. In addition to these responsibilities, Ms. Jordan served as Chief Operating Officer from 2018-2020 providing operational leadership for ancillary clinical services, general support services and the Camden Campus during leadership transitions.
Prior to joining the Health System, Ms. Jordan was in private practice for eight years with nationally recognized health law practices, most recently with Arnall Golden Gregory, LLP. She has represented hospitals and health systems, hospice and long-term care providers, home health agencies, durable medical equipment suppliers, physician groups, private investors and other institutions that invest in or support the healthcare industry. Ms. Jordan is also licensed as a registered nurse, a background that gives her a unique perspective and understanding of health care legal and legislative issues.
Ms. Jordan serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of the Golden Isles Development Authority, working to create jobs and investment in the Southeast Georgia region by supporting the attraction, retention and expansion of business. She also serves on the Government Affairs Council of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. She was named to Georgia Trend Magazine’s “Legal Elite” for Healthcare Law in 2017 and to the Becker’s Hospital Review 50 Healthcare Leaders Under 40 in 2016. She has served as President of the Georgia Academy of Healthcare Attorneys and is currently on the Executive Committee of the State Bar of Georgia’s Health Law Section. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Health Law Association and the Georgia State Bar and participated in the Leadership Georgia program in 2022 and the Leadership Southeast Georgia program in 2017. Ms. Jordan is also an Emeritus Board Member of Hospice of the Golden Isles and is a frequent speaker to community and legal groups on health care issues, recently appearing on Bloomberg News to discuss COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Georgia and on National Public Radio to discuss the impact of hurricanes on health care in coastal communities. Ms. Jordan received her undergraduate degree from the Medical College of Georgia and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia School of Law.
Mr. William Douglas Ezzell, BakerHostetler LLP
William is a crisis lawyer. He is an experienced business litigator, internal investigation, and federal criminal defense attorney. He focuses on the representation of individuals, business executives, health care professionals and corporate clients in white collar criminal investigations, prosecutions and civil enforcement proceedings. This past year alone, he defended to verdict an individual in the DOJ's most high-profile healthcare trial, represented a major medical equipment company in dozens of product liability actions, and appeared before the Eleventh Circuit as part his ongoing defense of a former hospital CEO in another high-profile federal trial set to begin this year. His national federal criminal and civil work spans an array of industries, including health care, government contracting and financial industries, and includes investigations and prosecutions of allegations of health care fraud, government procurement fraud, securities fraud, public corruption and money laundering.
Ms. Ellen Harris Persons, Polsinelli PC
As a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Ellen uses her experience to help clients navigate the complexities of government investigations. She represents corporate and individual clients in civil and criminal investigations by the Department of Justice, regulatory investigations and enforcement actions by the SEC and other federal and state agencies. Ellen focuses her practice on defending clients against allegations of fraud including matters involving the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute, health care fraud, anti-trust violations and securities fraud. She has represented clients in the health care, automotive, government contracting, education, banking and manufacturing industries. Ellen also has experience defending companies in complex litigation matters. Ellen also conducts internal investigations on behalf of companies and counsels them on remedial actions and disclosure decisions. Ellen previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. While there she investigated and prosecuted financial fraud against the federal government in the areas of health care, government contracting, education and the mortgage industry. Ellen also defended the United States against civil claims in numerous contexts
Ms. Lynn Michele Adam, Adam Law LLC
Lynn M. Adam founded Adam Law LLC to advise healthcare providers and other organizations on compliance matters, fraud and abuse regulations, internal investigations, subpoena response, privileged audits, and overpayment inquiries. Adam Law is also proud to represent whistleblowers, including many healthcare professionals, in qui tam actions under the False Claims Act. Ms. Adam also serves as an expert witness and speaks and writes on topics involving False Claims Act litigation and healthcare compliance.
Ms. Adam is a past Chair of the Health Law Section for the State Bar of Georgia and a past Co-Chair of the Military Legal Assistance Program for the State Bar of Georgia, where she advocated for veterans court legislation that was signed into Georgia law in 2014. Before forming her firm, Ms. Adam gained significant experience in healthcare litigation with preeminent law firms in Atlanta and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia. She graduated with high honors from the George Washington University Law School where she served as Managing Editor of The George Washington Law Review. Ms. Adam is a veteran of the United States Navy.
Steve Kelly, Northeast Georgia Health System
Steve Kelly joined NGHS as Chief Compliance & Privacy Officer in 2016. In this position, Mr. Kelly is responsible for promoting compliance with the myriad of healthcare laws and regulations affecting acute care hospitals, post-acute care facilities and physician practices. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University, a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh and an LLM in Health Law from Loyola University of Chicago. He is also certified in both healthcare compliance (CHC) and healthcare privacy (CHPC). Mr. Kelly came to NGHS from Aegis Compliance and Ethics Center, where he served as Director of Compliance Consulting. Kelly began his professional career as a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Navy. He later worked for Rush North Shore Medical Center, The Carle Foundation Health System and Accretive Health, all located in Illinois.
Ms. Rachel Louise King, Health Law Strategists LLC
Rachel has more than a decade of experience spanning the intersection of healthcare policy, law, and compliance and holds the Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) designation. Having served as General Counsel for two state healthcare agencies and Chief Compliance Officer of the Southeast’s largest pediatric hospital system, Rachel understands the complex legal landscape of the healthcare industry and is uniquely positioned to counsel clients on a multitude of legal, regulatory, and operational matters.
As General Counsel of the Georgia Department of Community Health, Rachel played a pivotal role in providing advice and counsel on proposed healthcare legislation, policies, and regulations related to a variety of matters including Medicaid, state health benefit plans, pharmacy services, fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs, health planning, facility licensure, and emergency management. She also worked closely with state agencies and the Attorney General’s office reviewing litigation matters, engaging in negotiations, and developing legal strategies.
During her tenure as Executive Director of the Department’s Office of Health Planning, Rachel oversaw the administration and operation of the state Certificate of Need (CON) program, provided guidance on the impact of proposed legislation, issued CON decisions, vetted policy, and engaged with healthcare providers, suppliers, and their attorneys regarding regulatory compliance matters.
As General Counsel of the Georgia Department of Human Services, Rachel provided legal and compliance advice on matters ranging from child and elder welfare to member enrollment in federal programs.
Most recently, during her tenure as Chief Compliance Officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc., Rachel led a team partnering with legal and operational teams to enhance compliance and internal audit policies and practices.
Rachel understands first-hand that the unique challenges healthcare clients face demand tailored legal solutions. Her collaborative business-minded approach enables her to work closely with clients to identify their specific needs and develop strategies that meet legal requirements and foster long- term growth and success. She is a trusted advocate and a strategic partner who helps clients thrive in today’s ever-changing environment.
