Medical Law and Health Care

We have acted in the field of health care since our firm was established. We use our expertise gained over the course of many years and our network to provide services locally, regionally and internationally to doctors, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, pharmaceutical companies and medical product manufacturers, wholesalers, healthcare service providers, pharmacists, management companies as well as health insurance organizations in all matters related to the healthcare industry.

Our experts provide advice, support and, when needed, representation in litigation in

• structuring practice groups and other types of cooperation such as joint practices, joint users of equipment or practice networks,
• establishing and reorganizing healthcare centers,
• transferring or closing out practices,
• proceedings on licensing and authorization,
• restructurings, cooperation, mergers and takeovers of hospitals as well as all matters related to hospital planning,
• legal issues when determining price and distribution structures for pharmaceuticals and medical products, including distribution compliance,
• structuring and implementing alternative or new forms of care such as integrated care, care from specialist doctors or individual health insurance benefits,
• examinations of plausibility / economic viability and recourse / retaxation,
• medical malpractice proceedings,
• issues of liability concerning pharmaceuticals and medical products, including questions involving monitoring the market and recalls,
• criminal investigations,
• fee disputes with doctors' associations and
• matters related to hospital compensation, budget negotiations and audits by the Medical Service for Health Insurance Organizations (Medizinischer Dienst der Krankenkassen, "MDK").

To the extent other areas of the law are involved in the course of providing our services, our attorneys in the field of medical law work together with colleagues from other areas in an interdisciplinary manner. This involves especially

• preparing employment agreements for doctors' practices, issues involved in terminating employment, including representation in any proceedings involving protection against unjustified termination, providing advice when structuring service contracts with head doctors, individual employment law and collective bargaining law with regard to work by doctors and other hospital staff,
• providing advice on corporate law and the law on transformation of corporate form when engaging in large transactions or structural measures,
• preparing contracts for renting practice offices and structures for medical centers,
• advice and representation in public contracting (e.g. when tendering selective contracts), and
• matters related to data protection or intellectual property.

Our competence is also reflected in publications and teaching. We are often asked to give presentations at our clients and at events such as specialist and expert conventions. We are recommended for this area by the legal industry publication JUVE; SOH is regularly mentioned in the FOCUS list of attorneys as one of the leading commercial law firms for healthcare and pharmaceuticals.