Client-Focused Solutions
King & Spalding's antitrust lawyers provide sophisticated, solution-oriented advice to healthcare companies on all aspects of antitrust law, from civil and criminal litigation and government investigations to antitrust counseling and government review of transactions. Recognized by Chambers USA as "a sharp, practical, business-oriented group" who provide "a great mix of theory and practicality," our lawyers have also have been singled out by The American Lawyer and The Best Lawyers in America, among others, as a result of the consistently comprehensive antitrust counsel. In addition, Nightingale Healthcare News identified our group as having one of the most outstanding healthcare antitrust lawyers in the United States.
Firsthand Agency Knowledge
Our antitrust lawyers include several who have served in significant positions within United States antitrust enforcement agencies, including the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement at the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ). In addition, we regularly appear before this and other key competition authorities, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state attorneys general and the European Commission.
This firsthand experience and understanding of how enforcement agencies work helps us keep clients abreast of the latest antitrust developments and also helps us obtain favorable results for our clients. For example, we recently helped a physician messenger model network close a price-fixing and "concerted refusal to deal" FTC investigation prompted by complaints by some of the major national payors. Similarly, we were recently successful in convincing the FTC to close a lengthy merger investigation of a hospital system client's acquisition of a competitor.
Comprehensive Healthcare Experience
Our expertise in the healthcare industry includes advising a broad range of clients, such as health systems, hospitals, hospital networks, physician practices, physician networks, physician hospital networks, TPAs, PBMs, medical software companies and payors. We frequently advise hospitals and physicians on a wide range of healthcare issues, including managed care contract negotiations and terminations; messenger model networks; financial and clinical integration of IPAs and PHOs; antitrust audits; and claims by competitors, payors or the government. In addition, we help our healthcare clients with antitrust clearances and approvals for mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. Clients also turn to us for counseling on a variety of antitrust issues, such as benchmarking, distribution, marketing, pricing and trade association participation.
Partnership Is Key
A hallmark of our antitrust healthcare service is our dedication to partnering on all levels, both within the firm and with in-house counsel. In addition to routinely providing in-house counsel with antitrust compliance and training programs, our antitrust lawyers also collaborate with our nationally recognized healthcare practice group on all healthcare matters, leveraging the group's comprehensive understanding of the products and markets involved.
The result is a deeper and more intuitive understanding of each client's business and legal needs and, ultimately, solutions that are cost-effective and efficient.
