Key takeaways:
- A team of health care transactional and regulatory attorneys, Partner Jim Wiehl and Counsels Christopher Nathan Kanagawa and Phillip Rothermich, have joined BakerHostetler’s Business Practice Group. A group of additional associates and other team members is also expected to join Wiehl, Kanagawa and Rothermich over the coming months.
- Wiehl, who will join as a co-leader of the Healthcare industry team, is based in Dallas; Kanagawa and Rothermich are based in Chicago.
- The team comes from an AmLaw 50 firm and is a strategic expansion of BakerHostetler’s Business Practice Group, which most recently welcomed mergers and acquisitions attorney Cleve Glenn earlier this month. In 2023, the group has added nearly 40 attorneys, 15 of whom are partners.
Wiehl, Kanagawa and Rothermich are highly accomplished health care transactional and regulatory attorneys and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to BakerHostetler. Their transactional practice is an immediate asset to the firm and synergizes with the strength of a number of the firm’s widely recognized practices, including Data Privacy and Security, Healthcare Antitrust and Healthcare Regulatory.
Plus, with more than 10 decades of collective experience representing hospitals, health care systems and academic medical centers, the newly appointed team is poised to enhance the firm’s Healthcare industry team’s depth and capabilities. Their arrival further distinguishes BakerHostetler as a leading firm for complex health care matters.
Key quotes
“BakerHostetler is thrilled to welcome such a remarkable group of health care lawyers to our firm,” said John Allotta, chair of the firm’s Business Practice Group. “The team’s addition continues our strategic focus on growing both our national Healthcare industry team and our Dallas office.”
“Jim is a tremendous attorney and makes an excellent addition to our Dallas Business team,” said Shawn Cleveland, partner in charge of BakerHostetler’s Dallas office. “As clients continue to look for high-end transactional work, expanding our Business and Healthcare teams is one of our top priorities. Jim’s experience and commitment to client service make him an outstanding addition to BakerHostetler.”
About the team
Wiehl, Kanagawa and Rothermich all are well known for their prowess in representing hospitals, health care systems, academic medical centers and other health care providers in navigating the complex and ever-evolving landscape of health care law.
Wiehl, who becomes co-leader of BakerHostetler’s Healthcare industry team, is a seasoned transactional and regulatory health care attorney whose practice focuses on major transactions across the United States and globally. He represents a diverse group of health care clients, including health care systems, academic medical centers, hospitals, universities, large specialty physician groups and health insurance companies. In his practice, Wiehl handles all types of affiliations, mergers and acquisitions; private equity transactions; corporate structure and broad governance issues; development and implementation of accountable care organizations under the Affordable Care Act; complex outsourcing arrangements; managed care arrangements; antitrust consulting; Medicare and Medicaid regulatory consulting, investigations and corporate compliance; and other health care regulatory matters.
Wiehl earned his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
Kanagawa joins as Counsel, and his practice involves health care transactional, regulatory and compliance matters. Specific areas of focus include the development and operation of accountable care organizations and clinically integrated networks. He also advises health care providers on health care regulatory and compliance issues, including Stark voluntary self-disclosures. He frequently handles mergers and acquisitions of health care enterprises and the structuring of business transactions among health care providers to address the industry’s changing business and regulatory environments. He also handles operating issues affecting both for-profit and tax-exempt health care providers, including hospitals, physician groups and group purchasing organizations.
Kanagawa earned his J.D. from the University of Tulsa College of Law and his B.A. from the University of Tulsa.
Rothermich also joins as Counsel, and he concentrates his practice in health care transactional work, with a primary focus on joint ventures, practice acquisitions and affiliations. He represents hospitals, large physician groups and other health care entities in structuring, negotiating and implementing strategic relationships. Additionally, Rothermich has considerable experience in complex hospital affiliation and acquisition transactions, where he has counseled numerous clients on related health care regulatory matters such as Stark, anti-kickback and antitrust issues.
Rothermich earned his J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law and his B.S. from the University of Missouri.
Key quote
“BakerHostetler has a significant depth and breadth of health care transactional capabilities that will help us comprehensively meet the needs of our clients; we are extremely excited to join a firm with such a fantastic reputation for this type of work,” said Wiehl. “I look forward to working alongside an exceptional team and helping clients navigate their most complex and high-stakes transactions.”
BakerHostetler’s Business Practice Group handles thousands of corporate transactions each year. The full-service team, composed of more than 250 attorneys in offices across the United States, has extensive experience closing all varieties of transactions — including mergers and acquisitions and private equity; real estate; debt finance; capital markets and securities; health care and regulatory; restructuring and bankruptcy; emerging companies and venture capital; commercial transactions; and other matters central to a company’s success. A national group with a global reach, BakerHostetler’s Business Practice Group is consistently named a go-to firm by both Chambers USA and Legal 500. For more information, visit bakerlaw.com/services/business/. Connect with us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @BakerHostetler or on LinkedIn @BakerHostetler, @JohnAllotta, @ShawnCleveland, @JimWiehl, @ChristopherKanagawa and @PhillipRothermich.
Original source can be found here.