Dennis Williams
Overview
Dennis Williams is a corporate healthcare partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Dennis’ focus is on healthcare entities and related companies. He is regularly engaged in structural, transactional, regulatory and enforcement matters on behalf of private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies.
He advises clients on a broad range of healthcare-related issues including federal and multi-state regulatory matters, structuring, Stark, Anti-Kickback Statutes, False Claims Act, state anti-referral laws, fraud and related regulatory issues. Dennis is experienced in federal and state healthcare regulatory and licensure, enrollment and reimbursement matters.
Dennis is frequently called upon as special regulatory counsel in connection with major acquisitions and mergers of healthcare service platforms undertaken by private equity and strategic acquirers. He engages and provides legal counsel to private equity funds, venture capital, and public companies. He likewise consults for: hospitals, physician group practices, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care centers, pharmacies, home healthcare agencies, revenue cycle management companies, medical device companies, telemedicine, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospice care, payors, home health, ambulatory facilities, physicians, dentists, and other healthcare providers and entities. These engagements have included mergers and acquisitions of healthcare entities, structural, compliance, contractual, corporate, regulatory, employment-related, real estate and risk management legal issues in healthcare. He has developed and implemented HIPAA policies and compliance programs for various sized entities.
He began his professional career in health care as a registered critical care nurse at New York Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medical Center in the Burn Intensive Care Unit.
Additionally, Dennis actively participates in pro bono activities serving as legal counsel to multiple not-for-profit organizations.
Dennis was recognized in the 2020–2024 editions of Chambers USA for his transactional work in Healthcare, where clients commented, "A great lawyer, who always adds a dose of practicality to his advice. I would highly recommend him for any complex healthcare regulatory matters." "Knowledgeable in both the healthcare regulatory and M&A space and provides a balanced approach to business transactions." "He has a very detailed command of the subject matter and is extremely pragmatic as relates to healthcare regulatory risk."
Experience
Representative Matters
Below is sample of the transactions in which Dennis has been involved since joining Kirkland:
- Owens & Minor in its pending $1.4 billion acquisition of Rotech Healthcare Holdings
- TA Associates in its significant growth investment in Alpha II
- Owens & Minor, Inc. in its $1.6 billion acquisition of Apria, Inc.
- Bristol Myers Squibb in its $13.1 billion acquisition of MyoKardia
- The Carlyle Group in its sale of Newport Academy
- KKR in its $1.2 billion acquisition of Therapy Brands
- Nordic Capital in its $1.2 billion acquisition of United Veterinary Care
- Nordic Capital-led consortium in its $7.3 billion acquisition of Inovalon
- Oaktree Acquisition Corp. in its $1.6 billion combination with Hims, Inc.
- Pamplona Capital Management in its $8.5 billion sale of portfolio company, Parexel, to EQT Partners and Goldman Sachs
- Thomas H. Lee in its acquisition of Care Hospice, Inc.
- Trilantic North America, along with Cornell Capital, in the acquisition and combination of Trustaff Management and Stella.ai to create a healthcare staffing platform
- Vestar Capital in its investment in Friday Health Plans
- BC Partner in its $900 million investment in Women’s Care Enterprises
- Francisco Partners-backed Capsule Technologies in its sale to Royal Philips
- Francisco Partners and its portfolio company RedSail Technologies, LLC in its acquisition of PioneerRx, LLC
- MultiPlan, Inc., a portfolio company of Hellman & Friedman, in its $11 billion combination with Churchill Capital Corp III
- TA Associates and Francisco Partners in their significant growth investment in Edifecs, Inc.
- Peak Rock Capital and Paragon Healthcare, Inc. in Peak Rock’s acquisition of Paragon
- Francisco Partners and its portfolio company eSolutions in its sale of eSolutions to Waystar
- One Equity Partners in its acquisition of American Medical Technologies
- Radiology Partners in its $885 million acquisition of MEDNAX Radiology Solutions
- Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC in its acquisition of Benefytt Technologies, Inc.
- Oaktree Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by an affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management, in its $1.6 billion business combination with Hims, Inc.
- Gryphon Investors in its acquisition of Heartland Veterinary Partners
- L1 Health in its acquisition of Destination Pet Holdings
- BioClinica in its sale of its clinical research site business to Accelerated Enrollment Solutions, a division of Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC
- FastMed Holdings I, LLC and certain of its affiliates (“FastMed”) in their deleveraging transaction. FastMed is a privately owned operator of over 100 urgent care clinics in Arizona, North Carolina, and Texas. The transaction resulted in the consensual equitization of approximately $80 million in funded debt and the paydown of approximately $148 million in secured debt
- Starr Investment Holdings, LLC in its $700 million investment in Radiology Partners
- AbbVie in its $63 billion acquisition of Allergan
- eSolutions, Inc., a portfolio company of Francisco Partners, in its acquisition of Practice Insight, LLC
- An EQT-led consortium on the CHF 10.2 billion exclusive negotiations to acquire Nestlé Skin Health
- Vista Equity Partners in its acquisition of PlanSource
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Civitas Solutions in its sale to Centerbridge Partners
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Nordic Capital in its acquisition of Orchid Orthopedic Solutions
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Danaher in its acquisition of GE Life Sciences
- Abry Partners in its acquisition of Anju Software
- GlaxoSmithKline in its joint venture with Pfizer to combine their consumer health businesses
- Gryphon Investors in its acquisition of LEARN Behavioral from LLR Partners
- Waud Capital Partners in its acquisition of Apotheco Pharmacy
- Clayton Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of Sirius Computer Solutions
- Francisco Partners in its acquisition of Qualcomm Life
- TA Associates in its investment in Behavioral Health Works
- TA Associates in its investment, alongside GI Partners, in Netsmart Technologies, Inc.
- Specialty Retail Shops Holding Corp. and its subsidiaries (“Shopko”) in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nebraska
- RiverGlade Capital in its partnership with Kids Care Dental & Orthodontics
- Waud Capital in its acquisition of Texas Digestive Disease Consultants
- Vista Equity Partners in its acquisition of Alegeus from Lightyear Capital
- HealthChannels in its acquisition of PhysAssist Medical Scribes from TeamHealth
- Lithium Technologies in its merger with Spredfast to create the industry's most comprehensive customer engagement platform
- RevSpring, a portfolio company of GTCR, in its acquisition of Apex Revenue Technologies from WestView Capital Partners
- Kinderhook Industries-backed GlobalHealth in their partnership with Evolent Health to form True Health
- RLDatix, backed by TA Associates and Five Arrows Principal Investments / Five Arrows Capital Partners, in its acquisition of iContracts
- THL Partners in its acquisition of Nextech
Prior Experience
Before joining Kirkland, Dennis was a partner at DLA Piper.
More
Thought Leadership
Publications
“Regulatory scrutiny over US healthcare ramps up,” Private Equity International, July 1, 2024
“Health IT Transaction Trends and Considerations,” American Health Law Association, April 15, 2021
“Changes Proposed for Medicare, Medicaid Anti-Kickback, and Self-Referral Rules,” Managed Healthcare Executive, December 13, 2019
“Sweeping Changes Proposed for Medicare and Medicaid Anti-Kickback Statute and Self-Referral Rules,” Kirkland Alert, October 14, 2019
“HIPAA: Big Data, Big Issues,” KirklandPEN, May 21, 2019
“Streamlined Regulation of Healthcare Software Platforms,” KirklandPEN, May 21, 2019
“21st Century Cures Act offers array of holiday gifts to healthcare providers,” December 20, 2016
“Legal and Operational Guide for Free Medical Clinics,” American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) and the American Medical Association Foundation (AMAF), September 2015
“Joint Ventures: Non-Profit Meets For Profit,” Ambulatory Advisor, August 2015
“Raise Your Hand…It's Easy to get involved in American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA),” AHLA Connections Magazine, December 2013
Co-Author, “The Duty to Warn: Dangerous Patients,” Professional Liability Underwriting Society Journal, July 2010
Co-Author, “Recordkeeping and the Legal Defense of Mental Health Care Professionals: ‘The Ugly, The Bad and the Good,’” Professional Liability Underwriting Society Journal, October 2009
Seminars
Panelist, “Current Healthcare Landscape & Outlook,” Avalere Webinar, October 21, 2021
Speaker, "The Pulse on Healthcare," webinar hosted by AllianceBernstein, April 20, 2021
Speaker, "Emergent Issues in Healthcare," Kirkland Seminar, January 21, 2021
Speaker, "Return to the Workplace," webinar hosted by NYPEN, August 17, 2020
Speaker, “Uncharted Waters: Navigating Advisory Office Re-Entry,” Investment Adviser Association, July 9, 2020
Speaker, “Keys to Private Equity Transactions in Health Care,” webinar hosted by AHLA, December 2019
Speaker, “Hot Topics In Health Law - What are Urgent Care Centers?” Nassau County Bar Association, June 2014
Speaker, “What is the Affordable Care Act?” public presentation on all aspects of the Affordable Care Act at OPL Oceanside, New York, November 2013
Speaker, “What You Need to Know Right Now About the Affordable Care Act,” public presentation on Affordable Care Act including employer requirements, quality improvement initiatives, patent centered medical homes and ACOs, Nassau County Bar Association, September 2013
Speaker, “Risk Management Issues for Nurses,” New York Methodist Hospital, May 2013
Speaker, “Implementation of the Affordable Care Act: Implications for 2014,” Discussion of Patent Centered Medical Homes and ACOs, New York City Bar Association, March 2013
Recognition
Healthcare - New York, Chambers USA, 2020–2024
Law360 MVP (Healthcare), 2022
Selected to the 2017–2018 New York Metro Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers magazine
Recognized in The Legal 500 U.S. for 2017
Registered Nurse
Memberships & Affiliations
American Health Lawyers Association
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Young Professionals Council, Member, 2013–2016
New York State Bar Association, Health Law Section
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Co-Chair Young Attorneys Group, 2014
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- New York
- New Jersey
Education
- Seton Hall University School of LawJ.D., Healthcare Law
- Georgetown UniversityB.S.N.