Epstein Becker Green (EBG) is pleased to announce the addition of six accomplished attorneys—including four former government officials—to its Health Care & Life Sciences practice. Members of the Firm Raja Sékaran, John Puente, Melissa Borrelli, Senior Counsels Paul DeMuro and Jeremy Avila, and Associate James Reilly have joined the Firm to further bolster EBG’s strategic expansion along the West Coast, which recently included a six-attorney health care team in Portland, Oregon, and several additional hires since then in both Los Angeles and Portland.
Sékaran, Puente, Borrelli, Avila, and Reilly join EBG’s San Francisco office, while DeMuro joins the Firm in Dallas.
“Changes to the California regulatory framework are garnering the attention of health care investors nationwide,” said Mark Lutes, Chair of EBG’s Board of Directors. “This group of lawyers has vast experience in assisting clients with state approvals and guiding the regulatory and transactional aspects of value-based care enterprises, having served in government as well as the private sector.”
Four of them have served in General Counsel or Chief Counsel positions, and four have served in government agencies impactful to health care in California, i.e., the Department of Managed Health Care, the Department of Health Care Services (Medicaid), the Department of Aging, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General.
Sékaran brings to EBG more than 25 years of experience in the health care industry, including industry roles as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, as well as a government role as Senior Counsel in the Office of Inspector General for HHS. He most recently served as Co-Chair of his past firm’s Health Care practice (with Co-Chair Borrelli). He represents health care delivery systems, medical groups, independent practice associations, health plans, hospitals, other providers, private equity investors, and California’s private insurance exchange for small-group employers. Sékaran also played a crucial role in helping clients navigate the rapidly evolving regulatory, operational, and enforcement issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including defending a prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
"EBG offers us a powerful opportunity to amplify our work alongside true health care pioneers and innovators while also embracing our roots in California and the West Coast,” said Sékaran. “Furthermore, EBG’s super-boutique platform will significantly expand our capabilities and allow us to focus on the areas of law we are passionate about and contribute to the Firm's continued success and reputation in health care and life sciences.”
DeMuro is a prolific attorney and consultant who carries a broad swath of health care experience in a career that spans nearly five decades in law firms and in-house, and includes significant work across data analytics and health care information technology. He has served as the Chief Legal Officer for Health and Wellness for a real estate developer in Miami. DeMuro, who has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics from the Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine, will play a crucial role as a strategic advisor at EBG’s affiliate consultancy EBG Advisors, which provides customized business solutions for health care and life sciences stakeholders via a dynamic network of consultants and strategists.
“We are proud of the time-tested, focused platform we have created that enables EBG to attract the best of the best in health care, employment law, and litigation nationally,” said Amy Dow, Co-Chair of the Firm’s national Health Care and Life Sciences Steering Committee. “This formidable group adds even more firepower to the breadth and depth of the services we offer in our Health Care and Life Sciences practice.”
Borrelli brings nearly two decades of experience in health care law and policy. She was previously the Co-Chair of her past firm’s Health Care practice. She represents payors, health systems, providers, and others in the health, managed care, and health insurance industry. Borrelli’s practice includes various areas of managed care, including licensing and compliance, public policy, transactional work, HIPAA, and corporate governance. She has served in-house at a health plan as well as in government service at the California Department of Managed Health Care. Borrelli, who has prior consulting experience, will also play a crucial role as a strategic advisor at EBG Advisors.
Puente joins with nearly three decades of public policy and health care legal experience. He has served in various positions in-house at national health plans as well as in government service as General Counsel for the Medical Board of California, Deputy Director at the California Department of Managed Health Care, and, most recently, as Deputy Director and Chief Counsel of the California Department of Health Care Services. Puente’s practice focuses on counseling health care entities on issues relating to administrative law, public policy, HIPAA, regulatory compliance, licensing, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Marketplace.
Avila, a trial lawyer and former prosecutor, joins after a successful career providing strategic legal advice and counsel in various governmental roles. Most recently, Avila served as Chief Counsel to the California Department of Aging, where he advised on regulatory oversight and compliance for Medicaid waiver programs, federal government grants, and skilled nursing and other long-term care facilities. He was also instrumental in implementing a variety of new state programs that serve the senior and disabled communities throughout California.
Original source can be found here.