Crowell & Moring Adds Seven-Lawyer Health Care Litigation Team on West Coast

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Crowell & Moring LLP has bolstered its San Francisco and Los Angeles offices and its national health care practice with the addition of a seven-lawyer health care litigation team from Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. The new additions to Crowell & Moring's Health Care Group include partners William A. Helvestine, Damian D. Capozzola, and Andrew J. Hefty, who are joined by one counsel and three associates.

The seasoned litigation team has represented many of the managed care organizations operating throughout California on matters ranging from regulatory investigations and compliance to complex commercial litigation. Representative clients include leading health plans that are also long-standing Crowell & Moring clients, such as Health Net, Kaiser Permanente, Aetna, and Blue Shield of California. The team has also represented associations including America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the California Association of Health Plans (CAHP).

"Bill Helvestine and his colleagues are a tremendous resource for our health care clients, especially in the health insurance and managed care field. Their move strengthens our health care litigation and regulatory practice, already one of the leading groups in the country, in addition to marking the continued growth of our California litigation bench," said Crowell & Moring chairman Kent A. Gardiner.

On class actions and other civil litigation, government investigations, and enforcement matters, the team will also work closely with the firm's highly regarded Litigation and White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement groups, which expanded earlier in the month with the addition of partner Christopher K. Lui in Los Angeles. Lui is the former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California (USAO), Criminal Division, and a former Coordinator of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in the Major Frauds Section.

"Our move to Crowell comes at an important time for our managed care clients, who are navigating widespread changes at the federal and state levels resulting from national health reform and new initiatives in California," said Helvestine. "We'll be able to tap into Crowell's deep resources in complex litigation, government investigations, and federal regulatory matters as we help our clients adjust to these changes and manage their risks."

The attorneys will practice in Crowell & Moring's San Francisco office with the exception of Capozzola, who is based in the Los Angeles office.In addition to the three partners, the team also includes counsel David Didier Johnson, associates Joanna L. Allen, Lisa Caccavo, and Carri Becker Maas, and paralegal Virginia Li. Since opening in 2009, Crowell & Moring's San Francisco office has grown to include 25 lawyers. It currently has 22 in Los Angeles.

Crowell & Moring LLP's Health Care Group provides a comprehensive range of litigation, transactional and counseling services to health care clients nationwide. Clients include hospitals and hospital systems, payors, managed care companies, pharmaceutical companies, academic medical centers, government contractors, and established and start-up medical device and biotech companies. The group is co-chaired by Washington, D.C.-based partners John T. Brennan Jr. and Arthur N. Lerner.

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with nearly 500 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity. The firm has offices in Washington, DC, New York, <span class="xn-location">Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, Anchorage, London, and Brussels. Visit Crowell & Moring online at http://www.crowell.com.

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Partner Profiles

San Francisco Partner William A. Helvestine concentrates his practice on health care law, regulatory matters, and litigation. He primarily represents health plans, insurance carriers, hospital systems, and IPAs. His experience spans all areas of managed care law, including regulatory, transactional, litigation, antitrust, and class action matters. He is experienced in all phases of litigation, including class actions and appeals, and has represented managed care industry participants in a variety of precedent setting cases. After graduation from law school, Helvestine served as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas Flannery for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and then to the Honorable George MacKinnon for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He also served as a member of the California Commissioner of Corporations' Task Force on Medical Group Solvency, which led to the adoption of financial regulations for risk bearing health care organizations. He obtained his law degree from Georgetown University where he was on the Georgetown Law Review. Helvestine is the former managing shareholder of Epstein Becker's San Francisco office.

Los Angeles Partner Damian D. Capozzola has handled significant commercial litigation matters across a broad spectrum of industries and has represented some of the world's largest health plans, defense contractors, food manufacturers and wholesalers, and telecommunications companies. He has successfully first-chaired nine jury trials, three bench trials, and one arbitration, and has contributed to successful trial results and settlements in a number of other matters. Capozzola also has experience counseling clients with respect to a wide range of litigation issues including health care, labor, intellectual property, environmental, and mass tort. He is a member of the California Law Revision Commission, the co-author of a Thomson-West treatise on expert witnesses, and he lectures regularly on the effective use of technology in depositions and at trial. He obtained his law degree from the University of Virginia.

San Francisco Partner Andrew J. Hefty focuses his practice on health care litigation and regulatory matters. He primarily represents health plans and insurance carriers, and he has handled significant litigation and arbitration matters for numerous Fortune 500 companies, including global insurers, reinsurers and financial institutions. Hefty is experienced in all phases of litigation, from pre-trial motion practice and trials to injunction proceedings and appeals. He litigates issues affecting the managed care industry before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. He obtained his law degree from Washington and Lee UniversitySchool of Law, cum laude.

Contact:   Jessica O'Neil
(202) 508-8750
joneil@crowell.com

SOURCE Crowell & Moring LLP