CHICAGO (November 28, 2011) — Ulmer & Berne LLP is pleased to announce the expansion of its Chicago office with the additions of
Joan M. Lebow,
Suzanne E. Ritzler and
Kelly L. Gawne as Counsel in its Health Care Group. All three attorneys join Ulmer & Berne from Chicago law firm, Lebow, Malecki & Tasch LLC. These additions are the latest to a rapidly expanding Chicago office that has grown from three attorneys in 2009 to the current 18 through a focused strategic lateral recruiting initiative.
Ms. Lebow, 58, brings extensive experience in managing a wide array of commercial transactions and corporate and regulatory affairs. She has particular expertise in health care regulation, data security, software licensing and insurance. As corporate counsel, she served on the legal staffs of two prominent Chicago hospitals – General Counsel of Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where she established the legal department and as Assistant General Counsel of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She was also General Counsel of ibex Healthdata Systems, Inc. of Chicago. This experience in-house at both large and small companies, including health care institutions, has prepared her to serve as both a legal and business counselor to clients.
Her broad health care and corporate practice includes the development and protection of intellectual property assets, corporate transactions, regulatory compliance with emphasis in public and private reimbursement, information technology and clinical operations, and insurance regulation, including ERISA and managed care, and insurance acquisition, including general liability, malpractice liability and self-insurance program management. Her clients have ranged from international software vendors, institutional health care providers and physician practices, to global consulting companies. She cofounded, and for the past 10 years managed, the women-owned law firm, Lebow, Malecki & Tasch LLC of Chicago, a nationally recognized women-owned law firm. She earned her B.A. from Pitzer College in Claremont, California, and her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology, where she currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Health Law. She frequently presents and publishes on health care legal issues.
Ms. Ritzler, 46, has more than 20 years of experience advising companies and individuals with respect to mergers and acquisitions, financial transactions, contractual drafting and negotiating, and general corporate matters, with an emphasis on outsourcing, technology consulting and health care matters. She previously served as the first-ever general counsel to a large, privately held European manufacturing company, Carmeuse North America Group, where she managed all aspects of the legal function for the company’s U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries. She was also an attorney with Lebow, Malecki & Tasch LLC, Seyfarth Shaw, and Kirkland & Ellis. An experienced business counselor, she has extensive experience in negotiated and documented stock and asset acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, commercial loans, venture capital and other commercial transactions. She earned her B.S. with High Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. In addition to being a licensed attorney, she is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Ms. Gawne, 35, concentrates her practice in the field of health care law. She counsels physicians, hospitals, and health care organizations on a variety of legal matters, including regulatory compliance, fraud and abuse issues, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, medical staff matters, and other transactions. She is experienced in advising a variety of companies and individuals with respect to contractual drafting and negotiating, general corporate and governance matters, and employment relations. She was formerly an associate with Lebow, Malecki & Tasch, LLC, and an associate with Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, both of Chicago. A regular presenter and writer about health care law issues, Ms. Gawne earned her B.A. from Loyola University Chicago and her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology.
In the last two years, Ulmer & Berne has substantially expanded its presence in Chicago, adding a number of experienced attorneys from well-known Chicago and national firms. It also rolled out new service offerings and practice areas, including Health Care, Hedge Funds, Investment Management, Regulatory Counseling and Compliance, Risk Management, and Intellectual Property, with the goal of adding additional practice groups in Chicago through strategic lateral recruiting. Ulmer & Berne also moved into larger, state-of-the-art office space in Chicago, occupying more than 18,000 square feet on the 36th floor of the Citigroup Center at 500 West Madison St., to better accommodate its expansion.
About Ulmer & Berne LLP
Ulmer & Berne, established in 1908, is a full-service law firm with more than 180 attorneys practicing in its Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus offices. Its lawyers represent publicly traded and privately held companies, financial institutions, hedge funds, private equity funds, pharmaceutical companies, family offices, international joint ventures and affiliations, investor groups, start-ups and emerging businesses, public bodies and nonprofit organizations. The firm has been ranked by general counsel among the top firms for delivering superior client service in The BTI Client Service A-Team 2011: The Survey of Law Firm Client Service Performance. For more information, visit www.ulmer.com.