Experience

Prior to joining Kozak & Gayer, P.A. Charlie was a partner at Preti Flaherty, where he practiced in the areas of Administrative Law & Government Procurement, Health Law, Education Law and Legislation.  He began his legal career as an attorney for the Maine Public Utilities Commission and then served as the first General Counsel for the Maine Health Care Finance Commission.  There, he was responsible for the Commission’s rulemaking and adjudicatory hearing process, and represented the agency in state and federal courts and before the Legislature, from 1984 to 1992.

 

The focus of Charlie’s practice is on advocacy and creative problem solving for clients with regulatory, reimbursement, or contractual relationships with governmental bodies.  While most of his work pertains to state government health care agencies, Charlie is equally interested and conversant with administrative law issues outside of the health care field and with federal health care issues.  Drawing on his past service as counsel to two government agencies, he has served a wide variety of nonprofit and for-profit clients with diverse and complex regulatory, reimbursement, licensing, and government contracting issues.

 

Charlie regularly handles hearings and negotiations before a variety of administrative bodies, including the Office of MaineCare services, Program Integrity Unit; Maine licensing boards; and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Division of Purchases.  Charlie has extensive experience in state bid preparation and litigation and is regarded as one of the most effective contract appeals attorneys in Maine.

 

In health law, Charlie has advised and advocated on behalf of hospitals, community health centers, community mental health and social service providers, residential care and rehabilitation facilities, substance abuse treatment providers, providers of services to persons with intellectual disabilities and autism, managed care organizations, health plans, reference laboratories, and others on a wide range of economic, policy, and corporate issues.

​

Practice Specialties

• Reimbursement Audits, Reviews, and Appeals

• Legislative Advocacy

• Certificate of Need

• Tax Exempt Organization – I.R.C. § 501(c)(3), (c)(4), (h) issues

• Government Contracting Issues including Vendor Contracts and Grant Agreements, R.F.P. issues, and Appeals of Contract Awards

• Licensing and Certification Issues

• Administrative Law including agency hearings and negotiations

• Judicial Review of Agency Action or Failure to Act

• Interrelated Health Care and Education Regulatory Issues.

 

Honors & Distinctions

Charlie is listed in Woodward/White’s The Best Lawyers in America for both Administrative Law and Health Law since 2007.  Charlie also was recognized as the "Lawyer of the Year" for Administrative/Regulatory Law for 2021, Augusta-ME and "Lawyer of the Year" for Health Care Law, Augusta-ME for 2022. Charlie was the recipient of the MSBA’s 2022 John W. Ballou Award. In 2021, Charlie was honored with the Howard H. Dana, Jr. Award from the Maine Justice Foundation. Charlie also received the 2016 Equal Justice Hero Award from Maine Equal Justice Partners. 

 

Community Service

Charlie currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Maine Equal Justice Partners and also volunteers as a cooperating attorney for that organization.  He chairs the Finance Committee of the Maine Democratic Party.  He also chairs the Legislative Committee of the Justice Action Group, a judge-led collaboration seeking to advance access to justice by supporting the work of Maine’s civil legal service providers. He serves on the Governance Committee of the Campaign for Justice, an annual fundraising drive for civil legal aid in Maine.  He regularly moderates town meetings in Leeds and school district budget meetings, and is available to moderate similar assemblies elsewhere on request.

 

Personal Interests

Charlie resides in Leeds, Maine and loves to hike the mountains of Maine and New Hampshire year-round, having summited all 67 “4000-footer” peaks in New England and all forty-eight White Mountain 4000-footers in winter.  He is an avid photographer and is active in local and state politics.  He enjoys spending time with his 4 children and 5 grandchildren.  He follows with interest the continuing development of a nanobrewery -- Bear Bones Beer in Lewiston, Maine -- which was co-founded by his late son Eben.

​

Education

Charlie holds an A.B. from Bowdoin College (1975) and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law (1978).

 

Bar Admissions

Charlie is admitted to practice in Maine state courts; the U.S. District Court, District of Maine; the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit; and the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Memberships

Charlie is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, and is also a member of the Maine State Bar Association, chairs its Administrative Law section, and participates in its Health Law section.

​

​

​