Justin P. Aiello
Practice Focus Area: Healthcare M&A
Office: Miami
Years at Firm: 7
What is your favorite part about practicing healthcare law at McDermott?
The wealth of knowledge maintained by our more than 120 attorneys who are dedicated to practicing healthcare law. Healthcare law comprises dozens of subspecialties and most of our client matters require a broad understanding of multiple subspecialties to provide exceptional advice. No single person can be knowledgeable in every subspecialty. It is our group’s collective practice, in nearly every healthcare subspecialty, that enables our attorneys to provide comprehensive, seamless advice regarding our clients’ healthcare investments.
What is the biggest opportunity and greatest challenge facing clients in your area of focus today?
The biggest opportunity still seems to be consolidation—perhaps the simplest and most reliable investment thesis. Despite all of the consolidation in the healthcare industry over the last couple of decades, the physician practice space remains highly fragmented with ample opportunity for gaining competitive advantages and cost savings through scale while still delivering excellent patient care. The biggest challenge (and perhaps also an opportunity) may come with the shift from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement and its potential impact on the financial modeling on which many investment decisions have been based.
What kind of client work gets you most excited when it comes across your desk?
I enjoy representing our private equity clients in their initial platform investments in physician practice management (PPM) businesses. PPM transactions raise complicated structuring considerations: we must find ways to meet our clients’ investment objectives while also complying with myriad healthcare laws, including corporate practice of medicine (or similar), fraud and abuse (Stark and AKS), fee-splitting, HIPAA and others. Finding a compliant structure to achieve these objectives requires a team of attorneys who have both legal and business expertise.
What is the proudest moment of your career to date?
Making partner at the best healthcare law firm in the country, especially given that I started here as a summer associate. Not many attorneys remain with the law firm at which they begin their careers. The fact that so many do here is a testament to McDermott’s positive and supportive environment.
If you were not a lawyer, what career would you pursue?
Definitely a starting center for the Miami Heat.
