Representative Experience
Mr. Girard has more than 30 years of experience representing a wide range of institutional and professional providers including health systems, medical care foundations, faculty practice plans and groups, IPAs, and physician hospital organizations as well as insurance carriers, HMOs, PPOs, and other third-party payment organizations, medical review organizations, nonprofit associations and academic institutions.

Mr. Girard has provided a broad range of legal services including representation and counseling in medico-legal and bioethics matters, service contracts, reimbursement, corporate organizational, medical staff, and general transactional matters, including the handling of mergers and acquisitions and counseling regarding related antitrust, tax and corporate securities issues.

The major components of his practice include the following areas of concentration:

• Health Care Delivery Systems: Assists hospitals, physician groups, and multi-hospital organizations in the development of physician hospital organizations, IPAs and other delivery system components, and in a variety of joint ventures. Also aids in the development of Medical Care Foundation organizations and service agreements and arrangements. Served as counsel in connection with the organization, licensure, contracting, expansion, operation, and with respect to corporate governance and regulatory issues concerning federally qualified HMOs and other MCOs. Represents hospitals, medical schools, physicians, IPAs and other physician organizations in the negotiation of professional service contracts, recruitment agreements, contracts relating to physician teaching services, and regulatory and compliance issues arising in the context of such negotiations.

• Hospital and Health Institutions Corporate Organization and Governance: Served as legal counsel to hospital and hospital systems regarding restructuring and re-restructuring of hospital corporate organizations; including formation and tax-qualification of parent holding companies, fund-raising foundations, and proprietary and non-profit corporations. Has advised hospital systems and governing boards on corporate governance issues raised by changes in federal and state law and accounting standards and on related issues raised by Medicare/Medi-Cal and other federal compliance requirements.

• Mergers/Acquisitions and Other Transactional: Served as lead counsel to both acquiring and selling organizations in the purchase of hospitals and other health care institutional organizations. Participated in teams working on hospital affiliations and mergers from both the acquirer’s and seller’s perspectives with particular focus on the licensure and related regulatory and other compliance issues that arise in hospital affiliation and sale transactions.

• Bankruptcy and Reorganization: Has assisted hospitals and health systems in work-outs, bankruptcy related transactions, spin-offs and other reorganizations involving the sale of facilities and assets. Represented clients in connection with several of the major health care industry bankruptcies in California, including appointment as Special Counsel for Health Care Matters to the Maxicare Creditors Committee.

• Medico-Legal: Serves as counsel to hospitals and medical staff organizations on bioethics, medical staff and general operational issues of a medico-legal nature, including counsel of patient consent, death and dying, and related professional and peer review considerations, including reporting and disclosure issues and liability considerations.

• Legislative and Regulatory: Has drafted and provided advice to hospitals, healthcare industry and hospital associations, and other interested clients with regard to major regulatory legislation. Has prepared and/or presented testimony to the California Legislature and to the U.S. Congress on several regulatory initiatives on matters such as HMO licensing requirements, pharmacy regulations, and self-insurance arrangements utilized by health care providers to provide workers compensation coverage.

Prior Experience
Partner, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, Los Angeles, CA

Partner, Musick, Peeler & Garrett, Los Angeles, CA

Partner, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Los Angeles, CA

Founding Partner, Girard, Ellingsen, Christensen & West, Los Angeles, CA

Education
LLB, Yale Law School

B.A., UCLA

• Magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa