Healthcare and Life Sciences

Our Clients
Health Law
Regulatory Compliance
Corporate Law
Tax Law
Dispute Resolution/Litigation
Employee Benefits
Commercial Real Estate Law
Estate & Succession Planning
Our Team
Electronic Alerts
Health Law Articles

Today's scientists and physicians are able to perform life-saving research and medical procedures that were barely conceived just a short time ago. While the fast-paced and ever-changing nature of the Healthcare and Life Sciences industry means incredible improvements in quality of life and longevity, laws and regulations struggle to keep up.

Service providers who cater to the industry must be in tune with these rapid advances in order to deliver timely and effective service to clients. Dean Mead understands that fact.

Our Healthcare and Life Sciences Team has an in-depth understanding of the complex issues that are unique to the industry.

The mission of our Healthcare and Life Sciences Team is to provide superior legal service to our clients so they can focus on their core business rather than cumbersome legal issues.

Because our Team includes attorneys from every department within the firm, we are able to provide balanced, practical solutions that address all the issues impacting our clients' operations. There is no learning curve when we take on a new matter because we have a working knowledge of the industry and are ready and able to hit the ground running.

Our Clients

Our Healthcare and Life Sciences Team has extensive experience representing healthcare providers, biotechnical companies and research and educational institutions. This experience includes servicing nearly every aspect of our clients' legal needs, from traditional services such as corporate, tax, real estate and dispute resolution to cutting edge issues such as health law, intellectual property and ethics.
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Health Law

The practice of medicine is becoming increasingly difficult as insurance companies and governmental agencies place growing demands on physicians and other healthcare providers. Many of our clients are frustrated to find their practices becoming less about the practice of medicine and more about the operation of a business. We understand that fact and our Team regularly assists clients in addressing health law issues such as billing, insurance, licensing, certification, Medicare/Medicaid and myriad other concerns so our clients can shift their focus back to the practice of medicine.
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Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory matters are often complex and frequently subject to change. It can be difficult for healthcare providers to stay abreast of changes and make the necessary adjustments to maintain compliance. Our Team works closely with clients to keep them informed and in compliance with a whole host of regulatory requirements, including FDA regulation and compliance, HIPAA, State (Florida Patient Self Referral Act) and Federal (Stark and Federal Anti-Kickback), self referral issues, and more.
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Corporate Law

Although our clients would rather focus their efforts on research and the practice of medicine, certain operational issues cannot be avoided. Our Healthcare and Life Sciences Team has extensive experience handling traditional corporate matters for clients.

We regularly assist our healthcare and life sciences clients with business planning and structuring, formation of business entities, contracts and agreements, mergers and acquisitions and many other operational issues.
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Tax Law

Although, as the old saying goes, you cannot avoid taxes, it is possible to minimize the impact of taxes through careful planning. Our Team includes nationally recognized tax experts who regularly assist Healthcare and Life Sciences clients with comprehensive tax planning to achieve their business objectives. Our Team also represents tax-exempt organizations and clients involved in tax controversies with the Internal Revenue Service.
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Dispute Resolution/Litigation

In today's world, it is not uncommon for disputes to arise in the course of normal business operations. These disputes can create a substantial financial burden for a practice or institution. Our Team assists clients in promptly addressing legal disputes prior to or at an early stage of litigation in an attempt to reduce risk, minimize costs and resolve the situation quickly.

Because litigation can be costly and time consuming, we seek practical solutions to avoid litigation whenever possible and our Team is experienced in alternative dispute resolution. However, if litigation cannot be avoided, our Team has substantial trial experience and we are ready and able to represent our clients in court. We have extensive experience in a wide range of disputes that are relevant to the healthcare and life sciences industry and have handled a wide variety of trial and appellate matters in both state and federal courts and before arbitration and administrative tribunals.
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Employee Benefits

Human capital is often the most valuable asset in the Healthcare and Life Sciences industry and it is therefore vital for healthcare providers, biotech companies and research and educational institutions to attract and protect that asset as best they can.

From issues that are key to recruiting and retention efforts (like compensation, bonus, profit sharing and stock option plans) to issues that protect a company's interests (like confidentiality and non-competition agreements), our Team has extensive experience with employment issues that are pertinent to our Healthcare and Life Sciences clients.
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Commercial Real Estate Law

Before the first patient can be seen or the first research can be conducted, our clients need physical space in which to work. Our Healthcare and Life Sciences Team includes attorneys who specialize in real estate law and can assist clients with every aspect of their real estate needs, from acquisition to zoning and everything in between.
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Estate and Succession Planning

As most of our Healthcare and Life Science clients know, professional success is very often accompanied by financial success. Our clients work very hard to achieve both measures of accomplishment and our Team is prepared to assist clients in preserving the wealth they have accumulated. Members of our Team specialize in the development of estate plans that help clients achieve maximum tax savings while protecting their assets. Our Team also assists client with business succession planning.
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Our Team

Tracy J. Mabry is chair of Dean Mead's Healthcare and Life Sciences Industry Team. He represents providers, suppliers and professionals in the healthcare industry on a wide variety of matters, including state and federal regulatory issues, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement audits and appeals, licensing and disciplinary enforcement actions and provider contracting matters.

David J. Akins provides representation in the area of personal wealth planning, with an emphasis on gift planning, charitable planning, estate planning, probate and the administration of estates and trusts. His practice includes personal wealth planning for physicians and other professionals in the healthcare industry. Mr. Akins represents taxpayers in gift, estate and GST tax controversies with the IRS. He also represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries in disputes involving estates and trusts.

R. Mason Blake represents healthcare clients in a variety of complex real estate and business matters. He has more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, business, environmental and land use law and he has assisted clients in the development of healthcare institutions in planned communities. In addition, he serves as general counsel to the Florida Institute of Technology, a private university providing students educational and research opportunities in the life sciences field.

Jane Dunlap Callahan represents tax-exempt organizations in a wide variety of corporate and tax matters. She was legal counsel in the formation of the Gainesville chapter of BioFlorida. In addition, Ms. Callahan represented the University of Florida Research Foundation (UFRF) as special tax counsel in numerous matters, including: forming and analyzing issues pertaining to subsidiaries of 501(c)(3) organizations; representing UFRF during its spin-off of Regeneration Technologies, Inc., including providing tax advice regarding the transaction, the required venture capital and various follow-up issues; decertifying a direct support organization; counseling on tax issues regarding unrelated trade or business and providing tax advice regarding activities of UFRF to ensure that the organization remained in compliance with all requirements of a Section 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.

Elias N. Chotas assists healthcare clients with complex environmental, land use and real estate related matters. He is board certification as an expert in Real Estate law by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization. In addition, he has earned the highest possible Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating, an AV rating. Mr. Chotas holds a Masters in Biochemistry.

W. Lee Dobbins works in the firm's Fort Pierce office, assisting physicians and other healthcare clients with real estate and land use related matters. He has extensive experience in drafting and negotiating real estate contracts and leases, due diligence, financing, closings and obtaining zoning, land use and site plan approvals from local municipalities. Mr. Dobbins recently represented the developer of a bio-tech research park in annexing into the City of Port St. Lucie, and represented a local substance-abuse treatment facility in obtaining local governmental approvals for an expansion.

Bradley R. Gould represents healthcare clients in a variety of business and tax matters including entity formation (S and C corporations, partnerships, and LLCs), acquisitions, dispositions, redemptions, liquidations, reorganizations, tax-free exchanges of real estate and tax controversies. He also designs wealth preservation structures for medical professionals and their families to protect assets and family wealth. In addition, Mr. Gould routinely assists clients in the efficient transfer of family and personal wealth to existing and future generations.

David A. Gunter has significant experience representing healthcare professionals and providers in litigation and state and federal administrative proceedings. He has been actively involved in litigation concerning the enforcement of non-competes, shareholder and partnership disputes and claims for tortious interference and defamation involving former employees. Mr. Gunter also recently represented a national healthcare association in litigation surrounding claims that autism was being caused by vaccines and dental amalgams.

Claudia F. Haines is a corporate and business lawyer representing companies, business executives, boards of directors and investors. She advises on the formation of business entities, acquisitions and dispositions, corporate governance, capital structures and management of legal risk. As general counsel of a technology incubator and later as general counsel of a public company, Ms. Haines gained extensive experience working directly with operational and management executives, devising legal solutions that compliment and advance business strategies and goals. Her practice has spanned a broad range of business events and financial conditions in a variety of industries and in favorable and unfavorable economic environments. Ms. Haines has accumulated more than 25 years of hands-on experience advising corporate clients, first on Wall Street in the international capital markets and later as a corporate lawyer.

David P. Hathaway represents healthcare and life sciences clients in litigation and intellectual property matters. He obtained a settlement worth more than $4.3 million for a biomedical company in a contract dispute with a large non-profit blood center. Mr. Hathaway has repeatedly defended a publicly-traded medical device manufacturer from invasive discovery tactics employed by parties to multiple lawsuits. He also won a case for a local physician against a multi-billion dollar clinical laboratory. Mr. Hathaway has litigated cases for physician groups enforcing non-compete agreements, as well as on behalf of healthcare professionals challenging a covenant not to compete. Additionally, many of his healthcare clients have successfully enforced their trademarks and service marks against competitors who were using confusingly similar marks in the same geographic territory without consent.

Stephen R. Looney represents physicians and physician groups in a variety of business and tax matters, including entity formation (S and C corporations, partnerships, and LLCs), acquisitions, dispositions, redemptions, liquidations, reorganizations, tax-free exchanges of real estate and tax controversies.

Robert W. Mead, Jr. represents physicians and medical entities with business matters, including employment agreements, buy-sell agreements, negotiation of hospital contacts and related agreements involving physicians and healthcare relationships. In addition, he assists clients with employee benefits matters, including retirement plans. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Florida Heart Institute, an affiliate of Florida Hospital.

Michael D. Minton provides comprehensive tax counsel to clients in the healthcare and life sciences field. He was instrumental in the formation of the Treasure Coast Agriculture Research Foundation, Inc., and served as the Foundation's general counsel during its dealings with the University of Florida and the Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (IFAS). In addition, Mr. Minton chaired the USDA Task Force and led that organization's efforts related to site selection and securing funds for the relocation of the USDA-ARS Lab from Orlando to Fort Pierce. He also represented Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI) in its acquisition of a water testing lab, represented businesses in research and development contracts with HBOI and currently serves on the Foundation Board for HBOI. Mr. Minton is a former vice chairman of the Governing Board for the South Florida Water Management District.

Nichole M. Mooney represents physicians and physician groups with employment law issues and related disputes. She regularly counsels clients with respect to wage and hour issues, internal protections to enforce trade secrets and confidentiality and non-compete agreements. She also represents clients involved in shareholder disputes. While Ms. Mooney works with clients to avoid litigation, if a dispute cannot be resolved, she has extensive trial experience.

Joseph "Jay" Van Heyde II - Mr. Van Heyde represents physician groups in a wide variety of employee benefit matters, including the design and operation of tax qualified retirement plans (such as 401(k), profit sharing, defined benefit pension and employee stock ownership plans), non-qualified plans of deferred compensation, stock option and other equity based compensation plans and other employee welfare benefit plans. He also consults clients with respect to COBRA healthcare continuation coverage, high deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts.

Christine L. Weingart practices in the areas of corporate and tax law. She provides counsel to professionals in the healthcare and life sciences industry in a variety of business matters, including formation, termination and reorganizations of businesses.

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Electronic Alerts

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Health Law Articles

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