Among the top 31 experts in specific legal practice areas identified by Expert Guides to the Leading US Lawyers - Best of the Best USA 2007, as chosen by in-house counsel and peers, Ober|Kaler dominates the health care category with six lawyers listed—more than any other U.S. firm. The guide names Tom Coons, Len Homer, Craig Holden, Jeff Miles, and Tom Hyatt, and announces that Sandy Teplitzky received more nominations than any other health care expert in the country.
For the fourth year in a row, Ober|Kaler’s Health Law Practice Group, an “excellent and exceptional healthcare team,” is tied for first place in peer-based state rankings of health law practices according to a survey released in Chambers USA, America’s Leading Business Lawyers, a compilation of the country’s most widely recommended lawyers and law firms that is generally considered the gold standard for legal excellence. The publication separately acknowledges several of the firm’s health law attorneys as leaders in their field, including Sandy Teplitzky, who was given top-tier ranking; Howard Sollins; and Jeff Miles.
Ober|Kaler was listed among the firms identified in the February 2007 Modern Healthcare as the top twenty firms, as represented by the number of attorneys at the firm who were members of the American Health Lawyers Association as of January 2007. The ranking secured Ober|Kaler’s place on the AHLA’s Honor Roll in the June 2007 Health Lawyers News based on the same criteria.
Nightingale’s Healthcare News named Larry Russell among ten “Outstanding Physician Practice Lawyers 2007,” a list culled from a national pool of applications submitted by colleagues and peers.
Patrick K. O’Hare was recognized among twelve attorneys named by Nightingale’s Healthcare News as the nation’s “Outstanding Healthcare Transaction Lawyers 2006,” a distinction Patrick has earned for the second year in a row.
Nightingale’s Healthcare News named Jeff Miles among twelve “Outstanding Healthcare Antitrust Lawyers 2006.”
Twenty-two Ober|Kaler attorneys appear in the Maryland Super Lawyers 2007 issue, which was published and distributed with January’s Baltimore Magazine. Ober|Kaler dominated the Health Care category with six slots, including Tom Coons, Craig Holden, Len Homer, Carol McCarthy, Howard Sollins, and Sandy Teplitzky.
Tom Hyatt, Patrick O’Hare, and Marty Rogers are named in the DC Super Lawyers 2007 issue, which was published and distributed through the New York Times. Super Lawyers bases its selections on nominations from other attorneys.
Jeff Miles recently added a fifth volume to his treatise entitled Health Care & Antitrust Law (West Group). Originally published in three volumes in 1992, the treatise has been acclaimed by Chambers USA, America’s Leading Business Lawyers, as “the leading treatise on health care antitrust law.”
Steve Smith’s article, “Hospitals Need More Government Funding to Aid Disaster Planning,” discussing the importance of proper planning and funding of hospitals’ preparedness for responding to a significant influx of patients in the event of an incident involving mass injuries and casualties, appeared in the June 4, 2007, Baltimore Business Journal.
Sandy Teplitzky was among the faculty featured by The University of Maryland School of Law’s Law & Health Care Newsletter in the fall 2006 article, “University of Maryland Faculty Speak at Health Law Teachers Conference,” a review of, among others, Sandy’s presentation of an “Update on Federal and State Fraud and Abuse Investigations.”
Donna Senft’s article, “Risk Management – Strategies to Defend Against Quality of Care Allegations,” appeared in the March 21, 2007, issue of the Virginia Health Care Association’s Legal Quarterly.
BNA’s Health Law Reporter quoted Tom Hyatt in “Review of Community Benefit Standard Exposes Concerns About Other Approaches,” a September 28, 2006, article discussing the ongoing scrutiny of the community benefit standard for nonprofit hospitals and the best means by which to apply and monitor compliance with a charity care requirement.
Sandy Teplitzky was quoted by Medical Economics in “What Legal Threats Await?” an October 6, 2006, article discussing the potential legal risks created by the entrepreneurial strategies that physicians undertake in an effort to overcome the pressure of rising costs and declining reimbursements.
The Fall 2006 issue of The University of Maryland School of Law’s Law & Health Care Newsletter announced the Leonard C. Homer/Ober|Kaler Law and Health Care Fund created by Ober|Kaler in honor of Len Homer’s contributions to the field of health law to support University of Maryland’s Law & Health Care Program.
Carel Hedlund’s article, “FY 2007 Wage Index and the Occupational Mix Adjustment,” appeared in the December 2006 issue of Dennis Barry’s Reimbursement Advisor.
Medicare Compliance Alert quoted Sandy Teplitzky in “Top Fraud and Abuse Enforcement Predictions for 2007,” a January 8, 2007, article citing health law attorneys’ predictions for fraud and abuse enforcement efforts in 2007.
Donna Senft’s article, “Keeping an Active Medicare Billing Number,” appeared in the June 27, 2007, Virginia Health Care Association’s Legal Quarterly.
Rob Mazer was quoted by Washington G-2 Reports National Intelligence Report in “Focus On: Discriminatory Billing Ban,” a June 25, 2007, article in which Rob discusses the impact of the OIG’s withdrawal of its proposed rule defining substantially in excess as any charge that is more than 120 percent of the usual charge for an item or service and specifying how the usual charge would be determined.
BNA’s Health Law Reporter quoted Sandy Teplitzky in “Fraud and Abuse Again Takes Top Spot Among Health Law Issues for Coming Year,” a January 4, 2007, article discussing the most likely focus areas of fraud and abuse enforcement, which continues to rank first among the key issues for health care providers.
Jack Eller and Donna Senft’s article, “Implications of the New Medicare Enrollment Regulations,” appeared in the September 2006 issue of Health Care Compliance Association’s Compliance Today.
Laboratory Compliance Insider quoted Rob Mazer in the December 2006 article, “OIG Work Plan Repeats Many Lab Issues,” in which he comments on possible OIG scrutiny of arrangements that may be considered unlawful contractual joint ventures.

and elsewhere…
Paul Kim was elected a Fellow of both the American Bar Foundation and the Maryland Bar Foundation, a distinction limited to one-third of one percent of all lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction. According to the selection criteria for membership in The Fellows, Paul demonstrates “outstanding dedication to the welfare of the community and the tradition of the profession.”
Steve Smith was elected to the Board of Directors for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc., and was confirmed at the Association’s annual meeting in Dallas.
At the American Bar Association’s Eighth Annual Conference on Emerging Issues in Healthcare Law, Steve Smith was a member of the Planning Committee and moderator of “Reporting for Payments Based on Quality of Care, Outcomes, Pay for Performance,” a session copresented by Craig Holden. Ober|Kaler was a Silver Sponsor of the conference.
Paul Kim has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland.
At the American Bar Association’s Annual National Institute on Health Care Fraud (2007), Craig Holden was co-leader of the Health Care Fraud Workshop, “Establishing Fair Market Value Under the Anti-Kickback and Self-Referral Laws.”
At the AHLA’s Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues, Tom Coons copresented “Recent Developments in DGME and IME”; Carel Hedlund copresented “Wage Index and Urban Reclassification Update”; Craig Holden copresented “Advanced Stark”; and Paul Kim presented “Nonphysician Practitioner Issues.”
Paul Kim presented “How to Avoid a Privacy Lawsuit,” an audioconference sponsored by DecisionHealth.
Rob Mazer presented “Lab Compliance with OIG’s Safe Harbor Guidance Concerning Hardware & Software” at the 2007 Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management.
The National Conference of Gerontological Nurse Practitioners, at its annual meeting, recognized Howard Sollins as a Friend of the NCGNP for his work in governmental and health affairs and public policy issues, particularly those concerning Medicare reimbursement, on behalf of gerontological nurse practitioners.
Paul Kim will present “Whatever Happened to Incident One?” a session addressing issues concerning Medicare’s incident-to policy, at the Health Care Compliance Association’s Physician Practice Compliance Conference.
Craig Holden will copresent “Fraud and Abuse Issues in Joint Ventures” at the AHLA’s 2007 Fraud and Compliance Forum.
Marty Rogers copresented “False Claims Act Defense Strategies,” a teleconference sponsored by the AHLA’s Fraud and Abuse, Self-Referrals, and False Claims Practice Group.
Ray Shepard, Paul Kim, and Eric Radz are the recipients of Ober|Kaler’s first annual Pro Bono Distinguished Service Award, an honor presented annually to acknowledge outstanding pro bono legal service contributions as measured by the number of pro bono hours worked, the quality of the work, and the results obtained.