With the implementation of the recent health care reform legislation and a lack of meaningful tort reform, the next decade will be extremely challenging for the medical practitioner and the medical practice organization. There appears to be no end in sight to constant malpractice lawsuits: doctors are particularly good targets for the legions of sympathetic plaintiffs and their contingency fee plaintiff lawyers. The detailed required medical record keeping, so necessary to receive insurance or governmental reimbursement, makes for an ideal paper trail for the creative trial lawyer.
As if a medical practitioner's exposure to malpractice lawsuits is not enough, there are increasing incidents of employees pursuing practices and physician managers for harassment and other causes of action, medical practitioners being pursued for practice and business related personal guarantees, and medical practice insolvencies caused at least in part by the constant reductions of reimbursement, catastrophic practice management company deals, repayment of monies received due to improper billing, and unwise investments that befall medical practitioners on a regular basis. It comes as no surprise that medical practitioners apparently constitute the largest category of professionals who seek bankruptcy protection in many states.
We understand the special needs of our medical practitioners for asset protection planning. After analyzing your current personal and business structures, our teams will outline a plan to maximize the protection of your personal wealth. Our assessment will address the structure of your business entity, applicable insurance policies, and the best strategies to protect your personal wealth. Our goal is to implement asset protection tools to place your personal assets beyond the reach of creditors, discourage lawsuits by lowering your personal financial profile, and, if a lawsuit is filed, enhance your leverage in negotiating a settlement.