As Health Reform Moves Forward, Pillsbury Adds Gerry Hinkley and Allen Briskin to Strengthen Its Health Care Practice

“Health care is one of this nation’s largest industries, not to mention the highest domestic policy priority of the current Administration,” said Pillsbury Chair Jim Rishwain. “Health care is one of our fastest growing practices and as part of our focus on this industry, we have been actively exploring methods to best serve our growing client demand in California and the west coast. Gerry and Allen are among the elite practitioners in the health care area, and we are delighted to have them join Pillsbury. Their deep knowledge and experience advising on regulatory and governance issues, Medicare fraud and abuse, electronic medical records and medical technology nicely complements Pillsbury’s strong health and life sciences capabilities.”

Hinkley counsels hospitals regarding corporate governance, regulatory compliance, reimbursement, capital finance, joint ventures and clinic development and advises health information exchanges regarding governance, privacy, tax-exemption, data sharing agreements, consent and risk management. Recognized nationally as a leader in the health information technology field, Hinkley offers clients extensive experience in information technology procurement.

Top-ranked in California in Chambers USA, and as a Leading Healthcare Lawyer in Best Lawyers in America, Hinkley is active in numerous organizations, including the American Health Lawyers Association, the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the eHealth Initiative, Markle Connecting for Health and others. A Davis Wright partner for 14 years, Hinkley served as co-chair of its Health Information Technology & HIPAA practice. Hinkley is also the founder of the Bay Area Healthcare Breakfast Club, now in its 20th year, which Pillsbury is pleased to sponsor going forward.

“There has never been a more exciting time to be a health care lawyer,” said Hinkley. “The convergence of health reform, technology, industry consolidation and the healthcare needs of an aging population make it a perfect time for me to move to a leadership role at a dynamic AmLaw 100 firm like Pillsbury, which has very strong public policy capabilities in Washington, DC, as well as broad multidisciplinary legal talent to support our California clients.”

Briskin has more than 20 years of experience representing for-profit, nonprofit and government health care clients in organizational, corporate and business matters, with an emphasis in managed health care and other health-plan and health-insurance issues. He represents providers, payors and others in licensing, regulatory compliance and contracting matters. Briskin also focuses on health information technology, helping clients in a range of issues, including developing and promoting community health information exchange networks. Briskin is a principal author, along with Hinkley, of the Markle Connecting for Health Common Framework: Model Contract for Health Information Exchange and a member of the initial steering committee for the California e-Health Collaborative.

In addition to Hinkley and Briskin, as part of its ongoing expansion of the firm’s health care team, Pillsbury recently brought on DC-area associate Douglas Grimm, who holds an LLM in Health Law from George Washington University and a MHA from the Medical College of Virginia. A Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, Grimm represents academic medical centers, hospitals, physician practices, healthcare e-Commerce companies, managed care organizations, provider networks and other health care providers in structuring, negotiating and implementing a broad range of clinical and administrative transactions, with a particular focus on fraud and abuse and HIPAA issues. He represents clients before the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the United States Department of Justice, and various state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.

Pillsbury’s Health Care and Life Sciences teams work together collaboratively to serve health care providers, physician groups, insurers, medical device manufacturers, group purchasing organizations and pharmaceutical companies. Regulatory counseling includes state and federal certification and licensure, Medicare and Medicaid rules and regulations, patient privacy laws, reimbursement rules and other aspects of the regulatory structure. The Health Care practice also handles health-related disputes and transactional work, including M&A, capital financing and contracts, often working collaboratively with corporate and securities, tax, intellectual property, litigation and employment attorneys. It also advises on public policy issues, assisting clients in monitoring, analyzing and influencing the development of state and federal health-related rules, including the current health care reform legislation.

About Pillsbury
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is a full-service law firm with market-leading strengths serving the energy, financial services, real estate and technology sectors, and increasingly healthcare and education. Based in the world's major financial and technology centers, Pillsbury counsels clients on global corporate, regulatory and litigation matters. We work in multidisciplinary teams that allow us to anticipate trends and bring a 360-degree perspective to complex business and legal issues—helping clients to take greater advantage of new opportunities and better mitigate risk. This collaborative work style helps produce the results our clients seek.