We are proud to announce that Michael A. Burian recently joined our firm and will focus his practice on general health care law issues. Mike obtained his law degree from the University of Maine School of Law, and his degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Maine at Farmington. We are very excited about working with Mike and introducing him to all our clients. Please visit our Attorneys page to read Mike’s complete biography.

Ben joins Joe Kozak, who has been continuously listed in that category since 1991.  Ben maintains a general health care law practice with an emphasis on advising hospitals and their affiliates with regard to strategic and transactional planning, regulatory compliance, and clinical practice issues.  He also advises physicians and other health care professionals with regard to staff privileges, professional licensure, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and other issues.

This widely-regarded designation shows Ben’s commitment to providing our clients with the excellence and experience that they deserve.  Ben has practiced health care law for more than 16 years and his office is located in Augusta, Maine.

This admission will allow us to increase our legal services to our New Hampshire health care clients, and to others doing business in New Hampshire.  We now have attorneys admitted to practice in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, Illinois, and the District of Columbia.

Mr. Townsend maintains a general health care law practice with an emphasis on advising hospitals and their affiliates with regard to strategic and transactional planning, regulatory compliance, and clinical practice issues.

We are pleased to announce that Ben Townsend has been appointed the new Chair of the Grievance Commission of the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, which is the body responsible for professional discipline of Maine attorneys.  Prior to this appointment, Ben has served on the Grievance Commission for four years, and has been the Chair of Panel D for the past two years.

Kozak & Gayer’s Julius Ciembroniewicz recently represented Youth & Family Services, a nonprofit provider of social services, in it’s appeal of the Department’s $600,000 Family Reunification Grant Award for Kennebec and Somerset Counties.  Kozak & Gayer successfully overturned the erroneous scoring of the proposals after a hearing before a three-person panel appointed by the Maine Division of Purchases.  The Appeals Panel concluded in a January 23, 2008 decision that Youth & Family Services had demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that the Department’s award of the contract to another bidder was erroneous.  The Department will now issue a new RFP.

We are proud to announce that Allana L. Barrington recently joined our firm and will focus her practice on reimbursement issues, including provider appeals.  Allana obtained her law degree from the University of Maine School of Law, and her degree in Business Administration from the University of Maine.  We are very excited about working with her and introducing her to all our clients.  Please visit our Attorneys page to read Allana’s complete biography, or click on her link above.

Maine’s highest court has just issued an important workers’ compensation decision that is very favorable to Maine’s hospitals.  In a consolidated appeal, Fernald v. Shaw’s Supermarkets and Babine v. Bath Iron Works, 2008 ME 81, decided on May 8, the Court established an important precedent regarding hospitals’ entitlement to their usual and customary charges for providing care to patients with injuries covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act.  Kozak & Gayer, P.A. represented Maine Hospital Association (“MHA”), an amicus curiae party in the case, before the Workers’ Compensation Board, and then as a party-in-interest before the Law Court.  Attorney Steve Johnson briefed the appeal and presented oral argument before the Law Court on behalf of MHA and Maine hospitals.  The Law Court held that healthcare facilities’ published charges are conclusive proof of their “usual and customary” charges, and a healthcare facility is therefore entitled to be paid its published rates rather than discounted amounts negotiated with other thirty-party payors.  The Court’s decision bars employers’ and insurers’ attempts to introduce evidence of what third party payors, through negotiated discounts, pay hospitals for the same services provided to workers’ compensation payors.

Julius joins fellow Kozak & Gayer attorneys Joe Kozak, Ben Townsend and Mike Seitzinger, who are also listed in The Best Lawyers in America. Julius maintains a general health care law practice with emphasis on health care financial matters, including tax-exempt bond financing, Certificate of Need, strategic planning and development, managed care contracting, physician recruitment, and reimbursement.

This selection is a great honor and a tribute to Julius’s fine work and dedicated service to our hospital and other health care clients. Julius has practiced law for more than 10 years and his office is located in Augusta, Maine.

We are pleased to announce that Steve Johnson is now a shareholder of the firm.  Steve’s health law practice consists of a broad range of areas, including regulatory compliance, consent and confidentiality, contracts and transactions, and health care employment law.  Steve speaks frequently at seminars and conferences on health law and bioethics and at hospital in-service training programs on a variety of topics.  Steve is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and the Health Law Sections of the American Bar Association and the Maine Bar Association.  Steve can be reached at (207) 621-4390, extension 123, or via email at sjohnson@kozakgayer.com.

This admission will allow us to increase our legal services to our Vermont health care clients, and to others doing business in Vermont.  We now have attorneys admitted to practice in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

Mr. Townsend maintains a general health care law practice with an emphasis on advising hospitals and their affiliates with regard to strategic and transactional planning, regulatory compliance, and clinical practice issues.