Husch Blackwell Lands Two Healthcare Groups in Wisconsin

In a major expansion of its healthcare group, Husch Blackwell announced today that 12 attorneys have joined the firm’s Healthcare, Life Sciences & Education industry team. The incoming lawyers are all primarily based in Madison, Wisconsin, and join Husch Blackwell from two other law firms.

“Even before the arrival of these Madison-based groups, our healthcare practice was ranked among the top ten in the U.S. in the latest American Health Lawyers Association headcount rankings,” said Curt Chase, the head of Husch Blackwell’s Healthcare, Life Sciences and Education industry group. “With their arrival, our new colleagues affirm our leading position in healthcare law on a coast-to-coast basis with an especially strong bench in the Wisconsin market, adding to the excellent team in place led by Bruce Arnold in Milwaukee.”

“That two prominent groups of lawyers from two different firms see the same potential and opportunity at Husch Blackwell speaks volumes about our firm’s commitment to Madison and the larger Wisconsin market,” said Paul Eberle, Husch Blackwell’s Chief Executive.

The new arrivals include a team led by partners Tom Shorter, Jed Roher, and Jon Anderson, who join from Godfrey & Kahn S.C., where Shorter served as chair of that firm’s Health Care Industry Group and Anderson served as its Madison office managing partner. The team also includes Tom O’Day, Peggy Barlett, Kelsey Anderson, Bill Foley and Matthew Ludden. The team’s healthcare experience is vast and varied, ranging from mergers and acquisitions and affiliation models to labor and employment law. Members of the team have also handled significant matters involving educational institutions as well as business cooperatives.

A second healthcare team focuses on hospice and palliative care and is led by Meg Pekarske and Bryan Nowicki, both of whom join the firm as partners, and includes attorneys Andrew Brenton and Erin Burns. The team arrives from Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, S.C., where Pekarske served as chair of that firm’s Hospice and Palliative Care Practice Group. The group’s practice is national in scope, representing hospices on the full spectrum of operational challenges they face, including regulatory compliance, palliative care program development, inpatient unit structures, government investigations, enforcement actions, and a wide range of contracting issues.

“The healthcare industry is unlike any other. Providing legal counsel to healthcare entities requires deep operational knowledge paired with subject-matter expertise of the regulatory complexities,” said Shorter. “Husch Blackwell’s commitment to serving this industry is readily evident, and the firm’s healthcare team is on a very short list of those that can address practically every issue a healthcare operation will face. We are very pleased to join such a stellar group of professionals.”

“Bryan and I have developed a highly specialized practice that is capable of addressing practically every legal issue hospices face,” said Pekarske. “To grow the practice we need a platform capable of serving clients on a national basis and that can add value to clients. Husch Blackwell is a great fit for us due to the size and scope of the firm’s healthcare group. I look forward to building the practice and the firm’s presence in this area.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.