Stites & Harbison, PLLC

Antitrust.  Health care is an industry where antitrust continues to have significant influence. In the health care area, our lawyers have dealt with antitrust issues relating to exclusive contracts with physicians, professional associations and other providers; medical staff membership; volume purchase arrangements and Robinson-Patman Act analysis; certificate of need activities; joint ventures and other arrangements between hospitals and physicians; hospital mergers and affiliations, including Hart-Scott-Rodino analysis; physician mergers and affiliations; and managed care contracting arrangements.

E-Discovery.  Our E-Discovery and Discovery Management team works with the health care industry to develop sound document management policies before a claim has even arisen. We also deal with the discovery onslaught that follows the filing of the complaint.

Stites & Harbison has gained extensive experience over the past five years in developing a document assembly and discovery management system to handle our clients' litigation needs. Working as a team with our clients, we have developed systems to increase productivity in reviewing and preparing documents during litigation. Depending on the size of the case, we use off-the-shelf, vendor hosted and proprietary technology to manage voluminous amounts of paper and electronic data effectively.

Our firm also has several offsite document management centers designed to manage large volumes of paper and electronic documents in a cost-effective manner. Our clients' electronic information often requires us to work with outside vendors to process and prepare the information for review, and Stites & Harbison has relationships with the nation's largest electronic document vendors. Our team, however, also can use our in-house IT department to process and prepare electronic data—bypassing the cost of an outside vendor.

In addition, Stites & Harbison has access to a high-tech mock courtroom in the Jeffersonville, Indiana, office.  The 500-square-foot mock courtroom, professionally designed with the assistance of Actors Theatre of Louisville, is equipped with a high-resolution document camera and flat-panel display monitors.  The courtroom provides an ideal setting for younger associates and seasoned litigators to sharpen their skills and master the latest courtroom technology as they prepare for trial.

False Claims. Our attorneys are prepared to handle any issue regarding the False Claims Act or qui tam (whistleblower) litigation for health care clients. 

Insurance and Risk Management.  Stites & Harbison has provided advice in a variety of risk management matters including counseling and litigation related to hospital record-keeping (including appropriate maintenance and release of medical records); protection of hospital investigations and incident reports; and development of claims investigation procedures.

Medical Liability Defense.  Stites & Harbison has a long-standing relationship with a number of major medical malpractice insurance companies. The firm's attorneys try to verdict over a dozen major medical malpractice claims every year. Stites & Harbison also has close ties with individual physicians and organized medicine. The firm represents state and county medical organizations, major clinics and hospital staff groups. Our clients also include biotechnology and life sciences companies.

The firm's trial practice is not limited to Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana and Virginia. Stites & Harbison's lawyers have regional and national practices in serial litigation, both as principal trial counsel and as coordinating counsel charged with managing discovery, recruiting expert witnesses and supervising document production.

Shaded states indicate where Stites & Harbison has acted as lead trial counsel

Medicare/Medicaid and other Government Investigations. The provision of health care services is one of the most highly regulated industries in the country. Accordingly, individuals and entities involved in the delivery or payment of health care services or supplies are customarily subjected to audits and investigations conducted by various government agencies. Our attorneys have efficiently and effectively advised a variety of our clients as they respond to such fraud and abuse matters.

Product Liability Defense.  Stites & Harbison defends a broad cross-section of product manufacturers on a regional and national basis.

The firm represents pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers. A sampling of pharmaceutical litigation includes tetracycline, oral polio vaccines, anesthetics, DES and various contraceptives such as the Cu-7 and the Dalkon Shield. Representative medical devices defended by the firm include personal care products, surgical clips and instruments, intraocular lenses, prosthetic devices, cardiac defibrillators, ventilators, catheters and kidney lithotripters.

Stites & Harbison is also involved in preventive law activities aimed at reducing the incidence of product-related accidents, preventing litigation and minimizing product liability cases.

The firm's lawyers encourage product manufacturers to be actively involved in the determination of defense strategies. Stites & Harbison can prepare and follow sophisticated litigation budgets and can use task code billing.

The firm's defense role frequently involves coordinating product liability litigation on a regional or national basis, including selection of local counsel, familiarization of local counsel with defense theories and strategies, maintaining files of relevant and discoverable documents, identifying and protecting privileged documents, providing uniform discovery responses, preparing company employees for depositions, maintaining current databases and literature files relevant to the product and developing expert witness testimony.

Shaded states indicate where Stites & Harbison has acted as lead trial counsel.

RAC Audit Appeals.  Our health care and regulatory attorneys have the combined knowledge and experience to counsel Medicare providers and suppliers through each level of the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program.  From initial notification to Administrative Law Judge hearings to appeals, our attorneys stand ready to provide counsel and defend clients through this complex process.