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Overview

With more than 25 years of experience in healthcare law, Nick is an invaluable resource for clients as he leads mergers and complex corporate transactions in the industry. He practices from Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The son of a physician who often received emergency calls at home, Nick grew up with an inside, up-close view of a healthcare provider’s world. However, it wasn’t until a comparative healthcare and politics course in college that he began to comprehend healthcare as a complex system with a variety of stakeholders and perspectives. Fascinated by the industry’s intricacy, he knew it would be the perfect fit for his legal practice.

Nick built his career in Wyoming and the Rocky Mountains region, often serving as sole outside counsel for hospital systems and their medical staffs, ambulatory surgery centers, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health centers (RHCs), physician groups, pharmacies, clinical labs, and medical device manufacturers. He regularly advised on the legal implications of general business issues, represented providers in reimbursement matters and administrative proceedings, provided counsel on compliance with state and federal healthcare laws and regulations, and assisted with compliance investigations. Nick has built a reputation for becoming an integral part of clients’ decision-making processes and serving as a full partner to their organizations.

Alongside his regulatory and general legal counsel work, Nick has extensive experience with mergers, acquisitions, securities placements, and other corporate transactions, primarily in the healthcare space. He has also represented organizations throughout the business formation process.

Nick is known as a creative thinker with a gift for unconventional solutions: his transactions are never off-the-shelf models and are structured with the unique needs of individual clients at the center. He’s equally focused on practicality, ensuring that clients have the resources to implement the details of a transaction.

Drawn by the strong reputation of the firm’s healthcare practice and attorneys, Nick joined Husch Blackwell in 2023 to lead and support major healthcare transactions.

Industry

Services

Education

  • J.D., University of Wyoming College of Law
  • M.B.A., University of Wyoming College of Business
  • B.A., Acadia University
    • with honors

Admissions

  • Wyoming
  • Colorado
  • Idaho

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • American Health Lawyers Association
  • American Bar Association, Health Law Section
  • Idaho State Bar, Health Law Section, Council Member

Languages

  • French, conversational


*Nick works remotely as part of our virtual office, The Link, and is licensed in Wyoming, practicing in Cheyenne. Contact Nick via email or phone for in-person/virtual meetings. Use Husch Blackwell's Denver office address for mail/deliveries.
Experience
  • Frequent outside counsel to numerous acute care and critical access hospitals on physician-hospital integration arrangements and compliance with Medicare fraud and abuse statutes and regulations.
  • Advised healthcare providers on compliance with Medicare beneficiary inducement and Anti-Kickback Statute in developing patient discount and cash pay programs.
  • Lead counsel defending FQHC for investigation and defense of multi-million dollar demand by DOJ, stemming from DEA violations by former physician; negotiated penalty to approximately $10,000.
  • Lead counsel representing physician-owned hospital in purchase by private equity firm, including complex debt restructuring and new financing arrangements.
  • Represented ambulatory surgery center owners in buyout of multiple classes of ownership by physicians, including structuring transaction to achieve favorable tax treatment for owners.
  • Advised air ambulance transport joint venture on development of management services agreement with host hospital.
Outside the Office

Nick thrives on the easy access to outdoor activities in his home state of Wyoming: in the summer, he’s often out mountain biking, and in the winter, you can usually find him on skis. Downhill skiing and racing have been passions since his childhood in Canada, and Nick has recently taken up backcountry skiing as well. He and his wife have a cabin near Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Nick also enjoys drumming, although he admits that he’s very mediocre despite his enthusiasm. He has played in a series of dive bar bands and currently plays with Doc Rock, a group started by retired physicians.