Professional Experience

Mr. Appel’s experience gained as a practicing attorney and partner in major law firms is vast. His background in litigation has led him to become knowledgeable in a wide variety of substantive areas of law. He also has extensive experience as a health law attorney and is fully familiar with the health care industry.

Litigation

Mr. Appel has consulted and litigated in courts and arbitrations throughout the country in a wide variety of matters, including breach of contracts; fraud and misrepresentation; interference with contractual and business relations, and other business torts; general business and commercial disputes; fiduciary obligations; government investigations; director and officer liability; employment disputes and discrimination law; wage and hour investigation; products liability; environmental law; partnership and shareholder disputes; corporate governance; health care, such as payer-provider relationships, including contracting, liability, denial of claims, adequacy of reimbursement payments, and termination of network providers; hospitality law; antitrust, including damages and injunctive actions regarding price-fixing and monopolization; securities law; accountant’s liability; bankruptcy and workout negotiations; insurance coverage; mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, including fraud, representations and warranties, and purchase price adjustments; indemnification; personnel/management issues; trademark and trade dress; unfair competition; misappropriation of trade secrets; and non-compete litigation.

Health Law

As a health law specialist for more than 20 years, Mr. Appel has represented a prominent New York City academic medical center as outside general counsel, a large health insurer and HMO, and numerous other healthcare providers, managed care organizations, insurers and provider networks.  The substantive areas of his representation include compliance with health care laws and regulations; fraud and abuse and self-referral issues; government agency investigations regarding billing, performance of fiduciary obligations, patient care issues and other matters; physician and management employment agreements and related employment matters, including issues relating to restrictive covenants and restraint of competition, exclusive service agreements, compensation and expense reimbursement, termination provisions, and department chair and chief employment agreements; managed care and other contractual arrangements, including development of provider delivery system and management services organizations; investigations of hospital incidents and other risk management issues; confidentiality of protected health information; corporate and commercial matters, including contracts, financings, business arrangements among insurers, other third-party payers and providers, antitrust, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, wind-down and dissolution of entities, and creditor, insolvency and Chapter 11 issues; institutional affiliation agreements; physician and medical staff credentialing (granting and denying of privileges, including economic credentialing issues), and disciplinary proceedings (corrective action, suspension, curtailment and revocation/termination of privileges);  institutional accreditation issues; corporate and medical staff governance, including shareholder agreements and organizational bylaws; patient care advice and litigation, including informed consent, refusal or withdrawal of treatment, and related medical-legal issues; and general litigation and dispute resolution.