Laurice Rutledge Lambert
Founding Partner
Laurice is a creative and mission-driven healthcare business attorney who thinks like an executive. After over a decade in large law firms, she had the opportunity to serve as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer to a technology-enabled healthcare services company. Laurice guided that company through a successful acquisition resulting in 20x+ investor return.
She has a firsthand understanding of what it’s like to lead, manage, and navigate the internal legal and compliance aspects of a rapidly growing healthcare company.
Laurice’s clients include hospitals and health systems, integrated payor-provider systems, specialty pharmacy providers, digital health companies, health technology companies, physicians, and other ancillary services providers. She routinely advises investor-backed healthcare companies, serving as outside general counsel and a strategic thought partner.
Laurice helps clients evaluate new growth and service line opportunities and structure complex transactions involving mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, as well as other strategic partnerships, affiliations, and alignments. Laurice also advises clients on healthcare regulatory and compliance matters, including federal and state fraud and abuse issues (such as the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law), Medicare, Medicaid and third-party billing and compliance requirements, corporate practice of medicine considerations, state licensure and accreditation matters, data privacy and security, and structuring arrangements with third parties.
Additionally, for her digitial health and healthcare technology clients, Laurice helps navigate the legal, business, and practical issues that arise in the course of the development and deployment of technology.
Laurice strives to inspire, be inspired, and develop creative strategies and solutions to assist clients in navigating complex statutory and regulatory requirements while effectively and efficiently meeting business objectives.
SERVICES
Digital Health
Mergers, Acquisitions + Alliances
Hospitals + Health Systems
Health Regulatory + Compliance
Labs, Pharmacy + Specialty
Outside General Counsel
PRIOR EXPERIENCE & REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
As General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, led all legal aspects of technology-enabled services company including: HR, employment/labor, data privacy and security, healthcare regulatory and compliance, litigation, M&A, and corporate governance; and spearheaded the company sale process, including: legal diligence with bidders and lenders, transaction and HSR/antitrust review strategy, and coordination of outside corporate and management team counsel.
Represented early-stage health technology company is the development of its SaaS contracting template and related agreements.
Represented large nonprofit health system in structuring strategic and competitive affiliations with physician groups.
Represented a large nonprofit health system in all aspects of its merger with another hospital system. Representation included management of the diligence process, and structuring and preparing the system for post-closing operations of a six-inpatient facility system.
Assisted a large health system in a $90 million acquisition of 20 diagnostic imaging centers, including running due diligence, drafting and managing a legal and operational closing checklist, and working to ensure post-closing regulatory compliance.
Assisted a large integrated health system in all aspects of a novel transaction involving the transfer and lease of the assets of three state-run hospitals and advised the system on operational matters related to its subsequent management of the hospitals.
Represented a multi-campus hospital system in its acquisitions of ancillary facilities, including imaging centers, ambulatory surgery centers, laboratories, urgent care centers, and radiation therapy facilities.
Advised large integrated health system in structuring a regulatory-compliant alternative joint-venture arrangement with a national dialysis provider, and separately advised a private-equity-backed dialysis provider in structuring joint-venture arrangements with physician investors.
Assisted an integrated payor/provider system in navigating Medicare Advantage first-tier, downstream, and related-entity contractor issues with a large national dialysis provider in connection with an acute dialysis services contract negotiation.
Performed complex regulatory analyses in connection with structuring and subsequently drafting a California Managed Medicaid Provider Agreement.
Assisted national for-profit hospital system in managing, addressing, and clearing its internal compliance log.
Assisted hospital system in its disclosures of violations of the Federal Stark Law to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Advised an integrated nonprofit health system with a regulatory fraud and abuse analysis in connection with an ambulance services purchase/sale/lease arrangement.
Advised a large hospice provider under criminal investigation on issues related to hospice billing and hospice arrangements with physicians, as well as a fraud and abuse analysis of its physician referral arrangements.
RECOGNITIONS
The Best Lawyers in America© (2021), “Ones to Watch” Georgia: Health Care Law
The Legal 500 – GC Powerlist Atlanta 2023
CREDENTIALS
Education
Georgia State University, College of Law. Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, 2010.
The College of William & Mary, Bachelor of Arts, cum laude 2004.
Professional Associations
State Bar of Georgia
American Health Law Association
Admissions
Georgia
Prior Positions
Trellis Rx, LLC, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer
Baker & Hostetler LLP, Equity Partner
McKenna, Long & Aldridge, LLP n/k/a Dentons US, LLP, Associate
Navigant Consulting, n/k/a Guidehouse, Senior Consultant, Healthcare
COMMUNITY
Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Board of Directors, 2015-Present; Past-President of Board of Directors
Health Law Partnership, Advisory Board, 2013 – 2021.
ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS
Co-author, Closing Checklist Toolkit, American Health Law Association, April 2020.
Co-author, PE Investment in Physician Practice Management – What’s to Come in 2019?, Health Law Update, Baker & Hostetler, February 2019.
