Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville P.C.

Bios

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  Julie Allen

  Principal, Non-Attorney

  Julie Scott Allen is a Principal, Non-Attorney in the Powers legislative practice. Julie has worked to advance legislative, regulatory and business agendas for non profit and for profit clients and national organizations in Washington, DC for over two decades. Julie’s strong policy know-how and political instincts along with her experience navigating Congress and the Executive Branch, make her an essential partner for business leaders, association executives, and advocacy organizations. Julie has represented and worked with companies, associations, foundations, and others on a range of health care and broader policy matters, including private equity leaders, health and hospital systems, health care practitioners, specialty pharmacies, life sciences companies, medical device manufacturers and suppliers, clinical laboratories and diagnostics companies, and disease/patient advocacy organizations. Julie previously served as Senior Vice President at a national law firm, helping to lead federal lobbying and regulatory advocacy efforts for the firm’s government relations practice. She was Managing Director at a federal marketing and lobbying firm she helped launch in 2007, working to support clients in growing their federal market business and addressing federal policy issues in such areas as health care, homeland security, and document/identity security. Earlier in her career, Julie served as a senior lobbyist and regulatory affairs manager for national professional associations, including the American Dental Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

  Education:

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  Link: Julie Allen

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  Leela K. Baggett

  Associate

  Leela K. Baggett is an associate in the Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville Healthcare practice group. She counsels healthcare providers and practitioners on a wide variety of regulatory, litigation, and legislative matters. Her range of legal and legislative advocacy experience includes the following: Advising on compliance with Medicare coverage, reimbursement, and enrollment requirements. Assisting innovators with coding matters, including navigating the coding verification process administered by the Pricing, Data Analysis and Coding (PDAC) contractor. Representing hospitals in Medicare fee-for-service claim and cost report appeals. Advocating for legislative and regulatory policy impacting rehabilitation services and orthotic and prosthetic care. Providing advice regarding state licensure and Medicaid requirements. Leela also counsels Native American tribes and tribal enterprises on transactional and gaming matters. She received her Juris Doctor, with honors, from The George Washington University Law School in 2015. While in law school, Leela served as an intern at the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and as a health policy intern at the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. She also served as a Notes and Projects Editor of The George Washington Law Review, President of the Student Health Law Association, Treasurer of the Political Law Society, and a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Board.

  Education:

  Services:

  Link: Leela K. Baggett

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  Sean T. Beller

  Principal

  Sean Beller is a principal in the firm’s education practice. He has focused exclusively on counseling universities, colleges, and other postsecondary schools, service providers, investors and lenders since 2009. He couples a litigation background with expertise in education regulatory issues to provide clients with a unique viewpoint on a broad range of education-related compliance, litigation and transactional matters. Sean counsels clients on regulatory and transactional issues arising from mergers, acquisitions and investments in postsecondary educational institutions. He develops and negotiates agreements, advises on regulatory risks and transaction structuring, supervises and conducts due diligence reviews, and secures regulatory approvals of transactions. For-profit schools and education loan lenders rely upon Sean’s expertise to help them with litigation issues ranging from False Claims Act investigations and litigations to student complaint arbitrations. He also assists schools in responding to civil subpoenas and U.S. Department of Education compliance actions, as well as internal investigations.

  Education:

  Services:

  Link: Sean T. Beller

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  Sean T. Beller

  Principal

  Sean Beller is a principal in the firm’s education practice. He has focused exclusively on counseling universities, colleges, and other postsecondary schools, service providers, investors and lenders since 2009. He couples a litigation background with expertise in education regulatory issues to provide clients with a unique viewpoint on a broad range of education-related compliance, litigation and transactional matters. Sean counsels clients on regulatory and transactional issues arising from mergers, acquisitions and investments in postsecondary educational institutions. He develops and negotiates agreements, advises on regulatory risks and transaction structuring, supervises and conducts due diligence reviews, and secures regulatory approvals of transactions. For-profit schools and education loan lenders rely upon Sean’s expertise to help them with litigation issues ranging from False Claims Act investigations and litigations to student complaint arbitrations. He also assists schools in responding to civil subpoenas and U.S. Department of Education compliance actions, as well as internal investigations.

  Education:

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  Link: Sean T. Beller

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  Sharon H. Bob

  Specialist

  Dr. Sharon H. Bob is a higher education specialist at Powers. She understands and knows how to navigate the complex and vastly regulated field of higher education and federal financial assistance. Public and private colleges and universities rely upon Sharon’s expertise to help them prepare for Department of Education program reviews or accreditation visits, respond to program reviews and audits, conduct training on the administration of the federal financial aid programs, implement policies and procedures that are compliant with applicable statutes and regulations, provide legislative and regulatory updates, and find ways to limit liabilities following a program review or audit. But Sharon’s value to clients lies not just in her ability to expedite an institution’s application using her know-how of the Department of Education and many state bureaucracies. Equally appreciated is her ability to understand a client’s problem, concern, or confusion and provide straightforward solutions. Sharon’s early career served as the basis for her development into an authority on higher education policy and regulation. While in graduate school, Sharon worked for the Montgomery College Office of Financial Aid. Her next position with the College as Director of Financial Aid led her to conduct training for the Department of Education (then the U.S. Office of Education under the Department of Health, Education & Welfare), the College Board, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, and other regional and state organizations. She then ran the Scholarship Programs for the Commonwealth of Virginia, which led to a fellowship with the U.S. Office of Education, where she was engaged in congressional relations and involved in the Office’s transition to the U.S. Department of Education. Sharon then went to work for a four-year university, where she was charged with various responsibilities from running a campus to the development of its self-study program that met the requirements of both a national and a regional accrediting agency, as well as conducting numerous accrediting visits throughout both the United States and Europe. Sharon then determined she could best be of service by teaming up with a complementary legal practice and contributing the knowledge and experience gained from these earlier positions in a consulting capacity. Sharon has authored numerous articles on federal financial aid issues for Career Education Review, where she writes a monthly column, NASFAA's Journal of Student Financial Aid, NASFAA's Student Aid Transcript, the Career College Link, and other higher education publications. With her outstanding knowledge of the education industry, she is frequently invited to speak at meetings of college officials, student aid administrators, and state regulators to provide legislative and regulatory updates.

  Education:

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  Link: Sharon H. Bob

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  Michaela Boudreaux

  Legislative Analyst

  Michaela Boudreaux is a Legislative Analyst at Powers, where she focuses on health and disability policy and advocacy. Michaela supports the Powers Legislative practice through advocacy and policy efforts in a variety of areas including Medicare, Medicaid, public health, and health care reform. She has extensive knowledge of the legislative process and is skilled at leveraging her strategic communications skills to advance legislative agendas. Prior to joining Powers, Michaela was a Policy Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, where she led the Compensation and Benefits Team and wrote program policy for the Special Compensation for Assistance with Activities of Daily Living (SCAADL) Program. She also served as a Legislative Analyst for Williams & Jensen, PLLC, where she monitored and analyzed legislation and regulation and supported client advocacy events such as Hill days and briefings. She has also held internships with Senator Bill Cassidy and Representative Mike Turner. Michaela earned her B.A. in Politics from Lake Forest College in 2016 and is currently working towards her master’s in public health from George Washington University.

  Education:

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  Link: Michaela Boudreaux

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  Daniel M. Brozovic

  Principal

  Daniel Brozovic is a Principal in the Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville Education group representing institutions of higher education, investors, and education loan lenders. Dan’s experience in the higher education sector enables him to provide practical, real-world advice that clients can understand and implement with confidence. Dan focuses on advising clients in transactions regulated by the U.S. Department of Education and in regulatory matters and administrative litigation before the Department of Education. In addition, he counsels educational institutions regarding compliance with federal, state, accrediting agency, and grant funding agency standards. Dan also has significant experience assisting in civil litigation and arbitration matters, with a particular emphasis on electronic discovery issues and the enforceability of arbitration provisions and the arbitrability of disputes. As a Principal in the Education Group at Powers, Dan plays an important role in advising institutions of higher education. Among other efforts, Dan has: - Advised numerous postsecondary institutions and investors in mergers and acquisitions of institutions, including advice on regulatory aspects of transactions and due diligence into target institutions. - Represented postsecondary institutions and investors in a wide variety of regulatory matters and compliance reviews, with a particular emphasis on issues relating to institutional participation in the Title IV, HEA student financial assistance programs. - Provided substantial assistance in representing institutions in civil litigation and arbitration, and obtaining multiple favorable outcomes in proceedings related to the enforceability of arbitration agreements with students and the arbitrability of disputes. - Advised institutions with respect to their sponsored programs and federal grant funding, including questions of allowable costs and compliance with audit and reporting requirements. Prior to joining the firm, Dan was a paralegal specialist in the Office of the General Counsel at the University of the District of Columbia. Working closely with the university’s chief legal counsel and Board of Trustees, Dan gained significant insight into the practical legal needs and compliance challenges faced by institutions of higher education. In addition, Dan teaches courses in the law and politics of higher education to graduate and doctoral students.

  Education:

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  Link: Daniel M. Brozovic

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  Rebecca L. Burke

  Counsel

  Rebecca Burke takes a big-picture approach to helping her clients accomplish their business objectives. From her representation of organizations and coalitions, and a long-time role as outside general counsel to a physician specialty organization, Rebecca has developed not only a specialization in the federal laws and regulations governing healthcare, but also an understanding of general association law matters and related issues including HIPAA, antitrust, tax-exemption organizations, and the private insurance marketplace. Rebecca’s practice encompasses a broad range of regulatory, fraud and abuse, and reimbursement issues that affect physicians, hospitals, transplant centers, diagnostic testing facilities, and providers of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring. She advises hospitals and providers on issues related to participation in the 340B discount drug program, and regularly represents clients before the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other federal agencies on such matters as Medicare and Medicaid payment, coverage and coding. With her extensive experience and insight, Rebecca is a frequent contributor to publications in the healthcare area, writing columns and newsletters primarily for physician-focused publications, but also for the general trade press.

  Education:

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  Link: Rebecca L. Burke

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  Ronald S. Connelly

  Principal

  Ron Connelly represents acute care hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, academic medical centers, physicians, and other providers on a variety of healthcare matters, with a particular focus on litigation related to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. From his early career as a financial analyst for academic medical centers, Ron developed an appreciation for the critical services that hospitals provide, and a unique understanding of the complexity of reimbursement-related issues. Ron has extensive experience litigating large dollar specialty payments, such as Medicare graduate medical education, and is a leader of the firm’s practice representing providers in audits and appeals of Medicare coverage determinations, including denials resulting from audits by Recovery Audit Contractors, Zone Program Integrity Contractors, and Medicare Administrative Contractors. He has also challenged disproportionate share hospital payments and the Medicare wage index. Ron has represented clients in district courts and courts of appeal, before the Provider Reimbursement Review Board with respect to hospital cost report appeals, and before administrative law judges on matters related to individual claim appeals. Ron is an annual presenter at the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association, and he has spoken on topics including Medicare audits and Provider Reimbursement Review Board procedures before the American Health Lawyers Association, He also has appeared before the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and has been published by HFM Magazine, the publication of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

  Education:

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  Link: Ronald S. Connelly

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  Taryn Couture

  Director of Government Relations

  Taryn Couture is a Director of Government Relations at Powers Law Firm focusing on healthcare. Taryn is skilled at advancing legislative agendas through lobbying, grassroots advocacy, coalition building, and policy analysis. Taryn has extensive experience working with state Medicaid programs on coverage and reimbursement. She is adept at developing and supporting advocacy events including congressional briefings, Hill days, and congressional caucus events. Taryn was previously the Associate Director of Policy and Government Relations for the National Coalition of STD Directors, leading the organization’s government relations work. Earlier in her career, she worked with PAI and the Palladium Group to support the development of international reproductive healthcare policies. She also worked for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT).

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  Link: Taryn Couture

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  Katherine A. Demedis

  Counsel

  Katherine Demedis has a unique viewpoint on the practice of education law, having spent three years teaching in New York City as a Teach for America corps member prior to law school. Katie’s “insider’s view” informs how she works with and for clients, knowing as she does that understanding the relevant laws and regulations isn’t enough – it is also critical to grasp the practical application of both and the nuances involved in finding workable solutions to problems. In addition, her firsthand experience working in an educationally underserved area makes her well aware of the unique challenges that face schools serving these student populations. Katie advises educational institutions regarding compliance with state and federal standards and accrediting agency standards. She actively monitors legislative, regulatory, interpretive guidance, and other developments on a variety of federal education matters allowing her to provide exceptional support and insight to her clients.

  Education:

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  Link: Katherine A. Demedis

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  Natalie Dobek

  Associate

  Natalie Dobek is an Associate in the Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville Healthcare practice group. Natalie received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019. While attending law school, she interned for the DC Department of Health, Office of the General Counsel and served as a student attorney in the Georgetown Health Justice Alliance Law Clinic. She also worked as a research assistant for the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law. Additionally, Natalie served as Symposium Editor for the Georgetown Food and Drug Law Journal, as well as Vice President of the Georgetown Health Law Society. Natalie graduated from the Florida State University Honors Program, with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Marketing in 2016. While attending Florida State University she interned for Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and served as a legislative intern for the March of Dimes, Office of Governmental Affairs in Washington, DC. She also worked as a medical assistant for an allergy and asthma clinic throughout her undergraduate career. Natalie joined Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville in September 2019, after working as a summer associate for the firm.

  Education:

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  Link: Natalie Dobek

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  Taylor Dowd

  Associate

  Taylor Dowd is an Associate in the Education practice group at Powers. Taylor received her J.D., with honors, from The George Washington University Law School in 2020. During law school, Taylor interned with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Hearings and Appeals, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Office of the General Counsel. She volunteered with Street Law, and served as the program coordinator for its middle school outreach program. She was also the senior online editor for the George Washington Law Review. Prior to law school, Taylor worked as a college adviser with the Virginia College Advising Corps, an AmeriCorps program that increases opportunities for low-income, first-generation, and under-represented high school students. She also participated in a text-message-based campaign to assist soldiers with postsecondary education planning as they returned to civilian life. Taylor graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts, double majoring in anthropology and history, in 2015. Taylor joined Powers in October 2020 after working as a summer associate for the firm.

  Education:

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  Link: Taylor Dowd

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  Mark R. Fitzgerald

  Principal

  Mark is a principal at Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville with 30 years of healthcare law experience. Mark represents integrated healthcare systems, particularly systems that include academic medical centers, on a broad array of healthcare regulatory and compliance matters, including compliance with the Stark and anti-kickback laws, Medicare billing and reimbursement, and self-disclosure matters. He also has extensive experience structuring healthcare transactions to minimize compliance risk and avoid reimbursement pitfalls. Mark has been recognized for his healthcare law expertise in The Best Lawyers in America; “Band One” of Chambers and Partners Healthcare Lawyers for the District of Columbia; and Washingtonian Magazine top lawyers.

  Education:

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  Link: Mark R. Fitzgerald

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  Bruce M. Gans, MD

  Senior Health Policy Advisor

  Dr. Bruce Gans, MD is a Senior Health Policy Advisor in the firm’s legislative and healthcare practices. With extensive experience in both the medical and policy sides of health care and rehabilitation, Dr. Gans offers clients a clinical perspective on complex healthcare, rehabilitation and disability policy issues. Dr. Gans is board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) and Electrodiagnostic Medicine and has devoted his career to advancing patient care and treatment, both as a clinician and as anadvocate. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and as the National Medical Director for Rehabilitation for Kessler’s parent company, Select Medical. He is currently a Professor of PM&R at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and serves as the Chief Policy Officer for the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA), a Powers client. Dr. Gans has served in leadership positions at a number of leading institutions throughout his career, including Tufts University School of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Detroit Medical Center, Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the North Shore - Long Island Jewish Health System. At Powers, Dr. Gans brings his breadth of experience as a physician, thought leader, advocate, educator, and researcher to his client work. He provides clients with insight on the practical implications of policy on health care operations and consults on issues such as rehabilitation, post-acute care, disability policy, and emerging technologies to assist people with illnesses, injuries, and disabilities. Dr. Gans has conducted research and published extensively on the topic of rehabilitation medicine, focusing primarily on pediatric trauma rehabilitation, quantitative assessment of motor performance, rehabilitation engineering, rehabilitation health services delivery, and primary care for individuals with disabilities. Dr. Gans received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia and an MS in Biomedical Electronic Engineering from the Moore School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds an MS degree from the University of Washington. He served his medical internship at the Philadelphia General Hospital and residency in PM&R at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Gans received his BS degree in electrical engineering from Union College, Schenectady, New York.

  Education:

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  Link: Bruce M. Gans, MD

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  Larry S. Gondelman

  Senior Counsel

  Larry Gondelman’s litigation experience becomes particularly relevant to clients when regulatory matters enter the rough and tumble world of litigation. If the firm’s education and healthcare companies receive subpoenas from the Office of Inspector General, face False Claims Act charges, are asked to testify before a grand jury, or become embroiled in civil or criminal litigation, Larry is the first person they contact. His background as a litigation and trial attorney, coupled with considerable knowledge of the healthcare and education arenas, uniquely position Larry to resolve clients’ issues in the most efficient and effective possible way. Since joining Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville to marry his expertise in regulatory enforcement with the firm’s unmatched reputation counseling healthcare and education companies and organizations, Larry has represented numerous clients in investigations by various Offices of Inspector General, Assistant United States Attorneys, and several divisions of the Department of Justice. He has tried a wide variety of criminal cases involving public officials, government contractors and executives of corporations, and has also conducted many internal investigations on behalf of companies in connection with alleged misconduct by employees. Larry is skilled in positioning his clients’ cases for favorable disposition at very early stages – often, prior to government intervention. And in matters that do progress, Larry’s considerable record of advantageous and successful outcomes provides clients with an unmatched level of confidence and reassurance.

  Education:

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  Link: Larry S. Gondelman

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  Sherry Gray

  Principal

  Sherry Gray is uniquely skilled at guiding clients through the highly regulated and intensely scrutinized higher education field to accomplish their goals. She brings a practical, compliance-oriented approach to interpreting, implementing and influencing the laws and regulations that govern colleges, universities, postsecondary education companies, lenders, and others in the higher education space. As a regulatory specialist with nearly three decades of experience in higher education, Sherry advises colleges, universities, and other postsecondary institutions on all aspects of state and federal laws and accreditation standards applicable to institutions and their partners, helps defend clients against adverse actions initiated by government and accrediting agencies, and counsels clients on mergers and acquisitions. She also teams with lobbyists, litigators, investigators and auditors as appropriate to provide the highest level of service to her clients. Prior to joining private practice, Sherry served as a law clerk in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia and interned at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

  Education:

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  Link: Sherry Gray

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  Cynthia Grunden

  Specialist - Financial Aid and Higher Education Specialist

  Dr. Cynthia Grunden is a Financial Aid and Higher Education Specialist at Powers. With more than 20 years of experience as a financial aid administrator, she assists public and private colleges and universities with successfully navigating the highly regulated field of higher education and federal financial assistance. Cynthia’s specialty is helping institutions interpret and operationalize complex regulations. She understands the difficulty of balancing compliance, enrollment management, and customer service, and supports clients by listening to their needs, advising them on regulatory matters, and helping them find solutions that will work for their unique operations and institutional cultures. Cynthia started her career in financial aid at Indiana University Bloomington while earning her M.S. in Higher Education at the institution. After completing her master’s degree, she served in a leadership capacity at several institutions which deepened her understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities for different sectors of higher education. She worked at the University of Chicago, San Diego Mesa College, and National-Louis University. Cynthia’s first Director of Financial Aid role was at Harry S Truman College, and within four years she was promoted to serve as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Financial Services for the City Colleges of Chicago. In this role, she provided support and oversight for the financial aid offices of a large and complex system of community colleges. Cynthia’s most recent role in higher education was serving as Assistant Vice President of Student Financial Services at Columbia College Chicago. In this role, she provided leadership to the financial aid team, bursar team, veteran certifying team, and one-stop customer service center. Cynthia was also responsible for developing and monitoring the college’s tuition discounting strategy and served on several institutional committees that developed strategies for pricing, recruitment, retention, customer service, and the college’s reopening plan related to the COVID-19 pandemic. While pursuing her career in higher education, Cynthia earned her Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership and Organizational Change from Roosevelt University. Her dissertation was a qualitative study of the gendered experiences of women veterans who were deployed to post 9/11 missions and subsequently enrolled in higher education. Cynthia’s interest in this topic was sparked when she served as a veteran certifying official and learned of the unique challenges faced by women veterans in higher education. Cynthia is deeply involved in the higher education and financial aid community. She is a NASFAA Certified Financial Aid Administrator® and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Student Financial Aid. Cynthia serves as an Independent Consultant for Blue Icon Advisors, where she has provided leadership coaching to new Directors of Financial Aid, assisted institutions in preparing for and responding to federal program reviews, reviewed student records for compliance issues, and assisted with the development of comprehensive policies and procedures. Cynthia serves as a Peer Reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission, which involves visiting institutions as a member of a review team, determining if they meet the standards of continued accreditation, and preparing a formal report of the team's assessment. She has also served on many committees to advance the goal of college affordability, including serving as a committee member of the Chicago Public Schools College Compact, a member of a state task force to make recommendations for improving the State of Illinois’s primary college grant program, and as a Strategic Advisory Board Member for Othot, a higher education data analytics company focused on strategic enrollment management. Cynthia recently authored a chapter on strategic planning for the financial aid office in the third edition of NASFAA’s anthology “You’re the Director: A Guide to Leadership in Student Financial Aid.” Additionally, she has recently completed the Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement Program through AACRAO.

  Education:

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  Link: Cynthia Grunden

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  Brian Gunn

  Principal

  Brian Gunn is a principal in the Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville Indian Tribal Governments group. A member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Brian works on a wide variety of issues for tribal clients in the U.S. Congress and federal agencies. Brian specializes in matters related to the federal budget and appropriations, natural resources, federal lands and federal land transfers, taxation, energy development, and Indian health. Brian was the lead lobbyist for the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act (Pub. L. 114-178), which President Barack Obama signed into law on June 22, 2016. In addition to his government relations capabilities, he has served as lead counsel in several tribal trust mismanagement lawsuits in the federal courts, including Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation v. Salazar (D.D.C. 2005), which resulted in a $193 million settlement in the Tribe's favor. Brian was named to the National Law Journal’s "Minority 40 Under 40" in 2011 and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development's "Native American 40 Under 40" in 2012. He is also recognized in Chambers USA for Native American Law-Nationwide. Brian was formerly a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP. He received his law degree from the University of Washington and a BA from Washington State University.

  Education:

  Services:

  Link: Brian Gunn

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  Kathleen Hatfield

  Counsel

  Kathleen Hatfield provides policy guidance, legislative and legal advice for corporations and non-profit organizations, including primarily health facilities and cultural entities. She focuses on the acquisition of federal, state and private funding for hospitals, federally-qualified health centers (FQHCs), museums, and others, so they can obtain the resources they need to rebuild infrastructure; fund hazard mitigation and security upgrades; and train healthcare providers. She represents diverse entities that partner with local municipalities, educational institutions, Native American communities, and affiliated networks. She spent nearly a decade on Capitol Hill, five years in federal agencies, and gained extensive legal experience in private law firms in Washington, D.C. She advises on matters that include: - Modification and amendment of existing HHS rules and regulations; - Legislative changes to existing healthcare law and policy; - Proposals to increase public lands and provide greater resources for indigenous peoples; - Preparation of client presentations and testimony before congressional committees, federal agency officials and state regulators; - The acquisition of federal funding through the annual appropriations process, as well as discretionary, competitive and formula grants; and - The administration and draw down of funds awarded by federal and state agencies, including compliance with applicable laws, regulations and reporting requirements. Previously, Ms. Hatfield worked as Legislative Counsel to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert C. Byrd for nearly seven years. She then entered the private sector in 2008, where she focused on the acquisition of federal funds for a range of non-profits. She had come to Washington, D.C. to work for Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson in 1982. When he died in office, Ms. Hatfield was hired by Senator Edward M. Kennedy and worked for him for several years. Upon earning her law degree, she entered private practice as an international trade and customs attorney. During law school, she had worked full-time as the Associate Director of International Trade for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). She later transitioned from private practice to work in the Office of Policy in Import Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She was then invited to join the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. International Trade Commission, where she worked as a trade attorney for several years. During her career, she has advised on healthcare law and policy, administrative law, appropriations law, international trade and customs law, and congressional intent and procedure.

  Education:

  Services:

  Link: Kathleen Hatfield

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  Christina A. Hughes

  Counsel

  Christina Hughes focuses her practice on healthcare compliance, particularly as related to fraud and abuse matters and Medicare coverage requirements. Christina understands the complex business and regulatory environment in which her clients operate, and prides herself on working with each client to identify their particular needs, determine the best approach to solving a problem, and implement solutions and processes to streamline activities and avoid issues in the future. Christina’s early career experience provided unique insight and knowledge that has been of significant benefit in her current practice. During law school, Christina was employed by the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services. In this capacity, she gained first-hand knowledge of OIG self-disclosure protocols and the advisory opinion process, and also developed an understanding of the government’s view of certain anti-kickback and False Claims Act issues. Christina also served as a legal intern with the Civil Fraud section of the U.S. Department of Justice, furthering the experiences she had at HHS, and in addition, learning about investigative techniques used by DOJ when dealing with healthcare fraud. Finally, Christina was a Health Policy Fellow with the National Academy for State Health Policy, which provided her with a special understanding of the Medicaid program and Medicaid reform, and also offered an insight into the policy needs and concerns of healthcare providers and their patient populations.

  Education:

  Services:

  Link: Christina A. Hughes