Patricia Nolan was introduced to healthcare law in the 1990s when a group of exceptional transactional healthcare lawyers joined my firm. Working with these lawyers to provide litigation support for their clients – hospitals, practice groups and their acquirors, and individual physicians – gave her a broad overview of the industry and its issues.
She joined the healthcare panel once she left Big Law and started sitting on payor-provider cases and physician employment disputes. She's been appointed to more than 70 AAA healthcare cases, with as much as billions in dispute. She is regularly appointed to complex commercial cases as well.
We asked her how her expertise informs her approach on the American Arbitration Association® Healthcare Panel.
Q. What types of healthcare disputes do you typically handle as an arbitrator or mediator?
The majority of my healthcare cases involve payors-provider disputes. I’ve served on larger cases – $350 million to $3.5 billion – that arise from complex groups of contracts that create the relationships between hospitals and their vendors or fraud claims that arise from questionable claims. I’ve also handled a number of cases involving physicians who have left practice groups.
Q. What drew you to ADR work in the healthcare space? What do you value most about serving as a neutral on the AAA’s Healthcare Panel?
Healthcare cases are a focus for me because the cases generally involve such high dollars that both sides are represented by excellent counsel with tremendous expertise in the area. It’s a bit daunting to disagree with such experienced counsel on the merits (both sides can’t be right) but a treat to see their fierce advocacy on behalf of their clients.
Q. What advice do you have for parties preparing for arbitration or mediation in complex healthcare disputes?
Counsel should confer prior to the scheduling conference and send a proposed schedule early enough for the arbitrator to digest it before the call. Speak freely with the arbitrator about how the process can be more efficient and effective by asking for guidance on what would be the most useful in pre- and post-hearing briefing and in evidence presentation. Review the arbitrator’s resume before the hearing so you can better tailor your presentation to that person’s expertise.