King & Spalding Expands Healthcare Practice With Addition of Two Lawyers in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - May 14, 2012) - Donna K. Thiel, a healthcare lawyer with extensive experience in Medicare coverage, payment and compliance, and Theresa E. Weir, a lawyer specializing in healthcare regulatory matters, have joined King & Spalding's healthcare practice as a partner and counsel, respectively, the firm announced today. They joined King & Spalding's Washington, D.C., office from Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, where Thiel was a shareholder and co-chair of the drug, device and life sciences industry group, and Weir was a counsel.

"Donna and Tracy are highly regarded lawyers who bring additional strength to our healthcare capabilities in Washington," said Jon R. Harris, Jr., head of King & Spalding's healthcare practice group. "Donna and Tracy's extensive and comprehensive experience in regulatory areas will help us meet the ever-growing needs of our healthcare and life sciences clients throughout the United States. We welcome them to the firm."

Thiel represents a range of providers and practitioners that include hospitals, nursing homes, laboratories, rehabilitation providers, medical device manufacturers and suppliers, providers and physicians. She concentrates her practice on regulatory issues affecting healthcare providers and practitioners in their operations, transactions and compliance efforts, with particular focus on Medicare and Medicaid payment systems -- specifically, Medicare payment and coverage, Medicare audits and appeals, Medicare fraud and abuse, anti-kickback and Stark compliance, and litigation defense of civil fraud enforcement and civil monetary penalty actions.

Thiel also has comprehensive healthcare administrative litigation experience, including challenging claims denials and RAC and ZPIC audits and defense of civil fraud enforcement and monetary penalties actions. She represents clients before the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, administrative law judges and the Provider Reimbursement Review Board. Thiel has been recognized as an outstanding healthcare fraud and compliance lawyer by Nightingale's Healthcare News and has been listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business every year since 2009. She received a J.D. degree from Boston University School of Law and a B.A. degree, cum laude, from Drew University.

Weir represents clients on a wide array of matters, including health care regulatory counseling on Medicare reimbursement and compliance and administrative hearings before the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) and the Provider Reimbursement Review Board, and competition issues affecting health care clients. She also routinely counsels clients on data privacy and security matters that arise from federal and state laws, including HIPAA, HITECH, and state data breach laws and has substantial experience with HIPAA/HITECH compliance. Weir has been recognized as an outstanding healthcare antitrust lawyer by Nightingale's Healthcare News. She received a J.D. degree, cum laude, from Washington College of Law, American University, and a B.A. degree, with honors, from Purdue University.

"We are extremely enthusiastic about joining King & Spalding due to the breadth and sophistication of the firm's healthcare and FDA/life sciences practices, as well as its commitment to continue building them," said Thiel. "We look forward to expanding our practices from King & Spalding's national platform and contributing to the growth of the firm."

King & Spalding represents healthcare companies involved in the delivery of healthcare and payment for healthcare services across all facets of the legal issues they face. The firm also has one of the broadest and deepest benches of lawyers, scientists and consultants specializing in the representation of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology companies. As one of the largest healthcare practices in the United States, the firm has received national acclaim for excellence in transactional, litigation and regulatory representation of healthcare clients. Firm lawyers and consultants have decades of experience in understanding the intricacies of the healthcare industry and obtaining coverage, coding and appropriate reimbursement for provider and pharmaceutical/biotech and medical device manufacturer clients.

About King & Spalding
Celebrating more than 125 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with 800 lawyers in 17 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm has handled matters in over 160 countries on six continents and is consistently recognized for the results it obtains, uncompromising commitment to quality and dedication to understanding the business and culture of its clients. More information is available at www.kslaw.com.