Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is pleased to announce that four partners have joined the Healthcare industry team in New York. The group is composed of Lourdes M. Martinez and Gregory R. Smith (both joining from Garfunkel Wild), Carly Eisenberg Hoinacki (joining from Epstein Becker & Green), and Cyrus Abbassi (joining from Proskauer Rose). This is the second group to join the Healthcare team in the last month: on March 8, the firm welcomed a five-member healthcare real estate team, led by partner Timothy Reimers, in Los Angeles.
“This new group of partners is outstanding,” said Jon Newby, Sheppard Mullin’s vice chairman. “Our healthcare practice was incredibly busy last year and will be again this year. Lourdes, Greg, Carly and Cyrus are very welcome additions to our fast growing New York office.”
Eric Klein, Sheppard Mullin’s Healthcare Industry team leader, added, “Our new partners will help Sheppard Mullin launch healthcare initiatives in the nursing home/long-term care sector nationally (Lourdes Martinez, Greg Smith) and in animal health and veterinary medicine (Cyrus Abbassi) and will strengthen our healthcare transactional and regulatory practices, including with providers and private equity firms (Carly Hoinacki).”
Sheppard Mullin’s Healthcare industry team, which includes more than 230 attorneys, is frequently ranked as one of the leading healthcare practices in the U.S. and was most recently recognized (for the third time) as Health Care Practice Group of the Year by Law360. Last year, Modern Healthcare magazine ranked Sheppard Mullin the sixth largest healthcare law firm for the 10th consecutive year.
About the New Partners
Lourdes Martinez focuses her practice on defending clients in regulatory, civil and criminal government actions; assisting clients in implementing both fraud and abuse and HIPAA compliance programs; and advising clients on a wide array of compliance, regulatory and business matters. She has defended clients in federal and state False Claims Act cases, quality of care cases, licensing matters and federal, state and other third-party audits. Her clients include both for-profit and not-for-profit skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, physicians and agencies that focus on home health, behavioral health, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities. Prior to private practice, Martinez was an Assistant District Attorney in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted hundreds of felony cases from inception through trial and served as Special Counsel to the Crimes Against Children Bureau. In addition to her busy practice, she was a contributing author to the Legal Manual for New York Physicians, published by the New York State Bar Association in conjunction with the Medical Society of the State of New York. Martinez is also a member of the boards of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York; DeSales Media; Saint John’s Law Center for Law and Religion; and St. John's Law School Alumni Board. She received her B.S. from the University of Scranton and her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law.
Greg Smith assists healthcare providers with compliance and regulatory issues. He has extensive experience with federal and state anti-referral laws, including the federal Stark law and the Anti-Kickback Statute and Civil Monetary Penalties Law. He has helped numerous clients with voluntary self-disclosures to federal and state agencies. Smith routinely represents nursing homes contesting deficiencies alleged by CMS and state oversight agencies, including findings of Immediate Jeopardy, and has represented a wide variety of providers contesting Medicare, Medicaid and commercial payer audits. He regularly helps clients navigate a wide array of issues that raise compliance concerns, including documentation and coding practices, corporate practice of medicine and fee splitting prohibitions, and federal and state exclusion rules. Smith also works closely with in-house counsel and compliance officers to ensure that compliance issues are investigated and addressed appropriately. He received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, and his J.D., with distinction, from the Hofstra University School of Law.
Carly Eisenberg Hoinacki routinely advises healthcare clients in all aspects of the structuring, negotiation and execution of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other contractual arrangements. She also advises clients on corporate formation and governance matters, including entities with multi-state healthcare operations. In addition, she counsels clients on regulatory matters, including the corporate practice of medicine and fee-splitting prohibitions. Hoinacki represents a wide variety of clients, including private equity firms investing in the healthcare sector, hospitals, health systems, medical groups, radiation therapy centers, home care agencies, management services organizations, independent practice associations, ambulatory surgery centers, telehealth companies, and other organizations affiliated with the healthcare industry. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Binghamton University, State University of New York and her J.D. from Boston University School of Law with a Concentration in Health Law with honors, where she was Administrative Editor of the Journal of Science & Technology Law (JoSTL).
Cyrus Abbassi focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, financings and other corporate transactions with an emphasis on healthcare provider, veterinary, animal health and other regulated industry transactions. He regularly represents private equity funds, portfolio companies, financial sponsors, physician practices, veterinary platforms, health systems, managed care organizations, management services organizations, telemedicine platforms and digital health companies in connection with a wide range of transactional and regulatory matters. Abbassi has developed a particular expertise relating to animal health and veterinary practice management. Notably, in August 2021, his client Ethos Veterinary Health entered into a definitive merger agreement with National Veterinary Associates (NVA) in what was one of the most significant animal health transaction agreements of the year. Abbassi received his B.A. from Emory University and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
About Sheppard Mullin’s Healthcare Industry Team
Sheppard Mullin’s 200+ attorney, full service, diverse national healthcare industry team recently was named as 2021 Law360 Health Care Practice Group of the Year (for the third time in seven years). Working in all sectors of healthcare nationally with industry-leading and growing companies, disruptive start-up clients and healthcare-focused investors, Sheppard Mullin is known for innovative transactions and joint ventures, regulatory solutions, population health management, global risk and value-based contracting, technology transactions/privacy and a full-service specialist team offering expertise in cybersecurity, tax, non-profit, employment and labor, real estate, artificial intelligence, antitrust, litigation and finance.