Law360 selected Eric Newsom as a 2026 “Health Care MVP.” Newsom is one of five lawyers to earn the 2026 MVP designation in Health Care and is among only 170 lawyers recognized nationwide by Law360 across more than 35 practice areas. This year’s MVPs “stand out from their peers by notching significant achievements in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-setting transactions,” according to the publication.
Newsom serves as Transactions Lead for Sheppard’s 265+ lawyer Healthcare industry team, a five-time Law360 Healthcare Practice Group of the Year winner.
Over the past year, Newsom represented UC San Diego Health in a landmark affiliation with Palomar Health, California’s largest healthcare district hospital system. The transaction establishes a California Joint Powers Authority—a novel, public-public joint venture through which UC San Diego Health will help lead the management, operation and growth of Palomar’s two hospital campuses, while committing to invest several hundred million dollars over the next decade in facilities, infrastructure and clinical services.
Newsom also led the multifaceted, comprehensive restructuring of Blue Shield of California’s entire corporate organization. This year-long initiative involved the formation of a new non-profit parent company, Ascendiun, to oversee Blue Shield of California (BSC), along with its managed Medicaid subsidiary Promise Health and its 2,500-physician group Altais. The restructuring modernized BSC’s corporate structure, streamlined its payor, provider and strategic services business lines, and enabled operating advances to enhance the patient and provider experience for BSC’s members and physicians.
See the full list of Law360 MVPs here. (A subscription is required.)