McDermott Opens Nashville Office, Strengthens Health & Life Sciences Practice With Four New Partners

 , Feb. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- International law firm McDermott Will & Emery welcomes four new partners to its Health & Life Sciences Practice Group: Ken Marlow, Wells Beckett, Stephen Page, and Spencer Green. Joining from K&L Gates, this group will open McDermott's new office in Nashville, Tennessee, expanding into a critical market for the healthcare industry.

"This talented team of lawyers is a transformative addition for McDermott, allowing us to launch in Nashville with top talent and further bolster our market-leading hospitals and health systems and healthcare private equity teams in the epicenter of the health industry," said Kristian Werling, global head of McDermott's Health & Life Sciences Practice Group. "Nashville is home to more than 900 health companies and our new presence gives us a strong connection to the unique health and life sciences ecosystem that has formed there. Simply put, it's a place that McDermott – the United States' leading health law firm – should be."

Ken is a Tier-1 Chambers-ranked practitioner who brings extensive experience assisting health systems, other healthcare providers, and private equity funds with their mergers and acquisitions (M&A), investments, divestitures, and joint ventures. With a track record of more than 70 acute care hospital transactions across the country with an aggregated value in excess of $50 billion, Ken is a valued advisor in the health system sector. He works with all types of health systems, from independent community and government-owned health systems to the largest tax-exempt and investor-owned health systems, in a wide variety of transactional, governance, and healthcare compliance matters. He is also a go-to advisor for private equity funds and their portfolio companies, including one of the world's largest global alternative investment management firms, on a variety of corporate transactions in the healthcare space. He regularly advises some of the largest privately and publicly held healthcare and life sciences companies in the United States in strategic and innovative transactions.

"Being part of the McDermott network, with its breadth and depth of health and life sciences capabilities and commitment to the highest levels of service, provides our clients and our team with an incredible opportunity," Ken said. "We look forward to cementing McDermott's position in Nashville and enhancing the strong partnerships that we have with our clients today, while creating opportunities for new partnerships and adding to the strong culture of success at the Firm."

Wells represents healthcare organizations and investors in complex corporate and transactional matters. With his deep understanding of healthcare regulatory, compliance, and operational challenges, Wells is an asset to both new health industry entrants and traditional healthcare companies navigating the evolving and highly regulated industry. He has guided clients nationwide through some of the health industry's most significant and transformative transactions, including multistate mergers and acquisitions, national joint ventures, and strategic divestitures worth billions of dollars, collectively.

Stephen advises clients on strategic, operational, and regulatory matters, including fraud and abuse compliance, self-referral laws, licensure, corporate practice of medicine, and patient privacy. His clients include hospital systems, digital health companies, rehabilitation companies, physician and dental practice management companies, and healthcare investors. Stephen's in-house experience of over ten years with investor-owned healthcare companies adds a valuable perspective to his practice of providing practical solutions for clients.

Spencer focuses his practice on business and corporate matters, including M&A, corporate governance, private financing, and joint ventures. His experience spans various industries, with a particular focus on healthcare and digital health companies, and includes working with hospitals, health systems, venture capital funds, management services organizations, and healthcare technology companies.

The hospitals and health systems industry has long been a strength of McDermott's Health & Life Sciences Practice Group, as well as its largest sub-sector, having represented 80% of the largest systems in the United States. The Firm is committed to being at the forefront of the healthcare industry, as well as the firm of choice for the most sophisticated hospital transactions in the country.

The Firm is planting its flag in Music City ahead of its inaugural McDermott HealthEx event in May. This transformational conference experience will bring together healthcare and life sciences executives, investors, in-house counsel, and other industry leaders for three days of thought leadership, networking and dealmaking.

McDermott is the leading healthcare and life sciences law firm in the US, offering clients better guidance on complex healthcare challenges with unique cross-border capabilities and market-leading teams. The Firm hosts several events in the healthcare space, bringing together a dynamic ecosystem that fosters meaningful partnerships and acts as a catalyst for making an impact. Clients also benefit from our affiliation with healthcare policy and advocacy firm McDermott+, which helps them navigate legislative and regulatory obstacles to achieve business success. Chambers has ranked the practice as the only Band 1 team for 15 consecutive years, and McDermott has repeatedly held the top spot in PitchBook's League Tables as the most active firm representing healthcare private equity investors. The Firm's healthcare practice has also received top rankings from Best Law Firms, Legal 500, LMG Life Sciences, and Law360.

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McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers, and shape markets. Our team works seamlessly across practices and industries to deliver highly effective solutions that propel success. More than 1,400 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.

SOURCE McDermott Will & Emery LLP