Dallas Bar Association
Dallas County Pharmacy Association 
Practitioner Faculty, University of Texas College of Pharmacy
State Bar of California
State Bar of Texas
Texas Pharmacy Association

Select Published and Unpublished Opinions (Trial and Appellate Courts)

Ehlmann v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Texas, 20 F. Supp 2d 1008 (N.D. Tex. 1998) – Dismissed class action ERISA claims against a health plan for physician incentive compensation scheme claims.

Silva v. Kaiser Permanente, 59 F. Supp. 2d 597 (N.D. Tex 1999) – Applied federal preemption under ERISA of state law claims against a health plan.

Cristantielli v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, 113 F. Supp. 2d 1055 (N.D. Tex 2000) – Denied plaintiff’s motion to remand by applying federal question jurisdiction to state law claims under federal preemption theories.

Choice Health Care v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, 615 F. 3d 364 (5th Cir. 2010) – Upheld the trial court’s dismissal of claims for want of personal jurisdiction where a plaintiff health care provider pursued claims against a foreign health plan that had relatively few members residing in the forum state and did not otherwise conduct or direct business activity to the forum state.

Hightower v. Baylor Univ. Med. Ctr., 348 S.W. 3d 512 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2011, pet. denied) – Upheld the expert reports in a post-tort reform motion to dismiss wrongful death claims concerning a transplant patient who contracted rabies following a kidney transplant.

Borreani v. Kaiser Foundation Hosps., 875 F. Supp 2d (E.D. Cal. 2012) – The court found that complete federal preemption did not apply to the fraud and benefit related state law claims asserted in a wrongful death claim relating to the administration of a hospital and health plan formulary.

Granados v. Walmart Stores, Inc., No. 15-10837, ___ F. 3d ___ (5th Cir. 2016) – Upheld trial court’s dismissal of premises liability claims against a retail chain store for lack of evidence to create a fact issue on the time-notice rule that the premises owner had actual or constructive notice of an unreasonably dangerous condition.

Select Cases, Engagements and Matters Handled

Pharmacy National Coordinating Counsel – Represent the company nationally in significant potential exposure pharmacy claims to assure consistent and strategically sound defense and discovery positions and when necessary, represent the company directly in court.

National Managed Care Coordinating Counsel – Review all provider-related claims filed against the company outside California to identify potential managed care and systems-related claims, represent and defend the company as needed to assure consistent and strategically sound defense and discovery positions.

In Re: Kidney Transplant Litigation (Northern California) – Represented and defended one of the country’s largest kidney transplant centers in a class action claim and approximately 150 federal, state and arbitration matters involving alleged injuries caused by the operation and closing of the center.

In Re: ASD Cases (Southern California) – Represented and defended a large health plan against claimants in class action and individual matters.

Apple v. Samsung (Northern California) – Represented one of the original 12 inventors and patent holder of the iPhone in litigation between the two companies involving alleged patent infringement on the original design patent of the iPhone.

In Re: Pharmaceutical Litigation – Frequently represent health care providers involved as parties or witnesses in patient claims involving pharmaceutical companies and products. 

Adult Brain Injury Defense Verdict (Texas) – Successfully represented an academic medical center in a medical malpractice claim against an academic medical center for allegedly failing to properly treat pneumonia and prevent traumatic brain injury in an adult.

Defense Arbitration Award (Southern California) – Successfully represented a physician in a medical malpractice action alleging failure to detect vitamin deficiency and prevent traumatic brain injury in an adult.

Defense Verdict Alleged Drug Related Injury (Texas) – Successfully represented a physician and her practice in a medical malpractice action alleging failure to properly pharmaceutically treat varicose veins resulting in permanent impairment.

Defense Arbitration Award Pharmacy Negligence (Southern California) – Successfully represented a pharmacy in a negligence action for allegedly improperly filling a prescription for a narcotic medication resulting in permanent impairment.

Defense Arbitration Award in a Managed Care System Claim (Northern California) – Successfully represented a physician, hospital and pharmacy in a wrongful death and managed care liability case alleging improper diagnosis and treatment of asthma, and inappropriate prescription filling procedures and drug utilization review related to rescue inhalers.

Defense Arbitration Award Network Business Contract Dispute (Northern California) – Represented a large national health care network in a business contract dispute involving a $2.2 million damages claim.

Pretrial Dismissal of Network Credentialing Claims Upheld on Appeal (Texas) – Summary  Judgment in favor of the credentialing organization in a negligent de-credentialing, breach of contract and peer review action against a physician. 

Network Contracting – Developed Worker’s Compensation network contracts for a national network provider to address a need for additional low-cost outpatient surgical center options.