Akerman Expands Healthcare Practice in Atlanta with Ricky Benjamin
Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced the expansion of the Healthcare Practice Group with Ricky Benjamin. He joins Akerman in Atlanta as a partner, bringing experience in an array of healthcare regulatory, transactional and risk management issues, including leading internal investigations stemming from government inquiries.
Benjamin has three decades of healthcare experience in healthcare regulatory, transactional and risk management issues, serving as trusted counsel to long term care facilities, health systems, hospitals, academic medical centers (specifically on the complexities of the competing laws within the academic environment of Title IX, FERPA, HIPAA and Title VII), physician practice groups, laboratories, ambulatory surgical centers, nurses, medical device manufacturers, and compounding pharmacies. As a former in-house general counsel and compliance officer, Benjamin serves as trusted counsel to his clients. He provides a combination of knowledge of the healthcare industry and its complex web of federal and state laws, including the federal Antikickback Statute, Physician Self-Referral Laws (Stark), Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), Data Privacy & Cybersecurity, including responding to investigations by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) amid allegations against his clients of Unfair Trade Practices.
Benjamin defends Fraud lawsuits and counsels on a wide variety of healthcare issues. He represents clients by responding to Civil Investigative Demands, (CIDs), and leading internal investigations under the FCA, and by the FTC, FDA, CMS, OIG and DOJ, as well as internal audits to prevent, detect, and mitigate enterprise and regulatory risks. He has experience in medical malpractice defense (national opioid litigation supervisory team leader) and qui tam litigation, government investigations (leading Health System through drug diversion investigations by the OIG), and regulatory compliance counseling, including drafting Compliance Plans and implementing Compliance Programs.
