Insights & News

Patrick M. Ryan and Benjamin K. Riley Named “Top 100 Lawyer” in California

San Francisco, CA – Patrick M. Ryan—head of Bartko law firm’s Litigation practice and Chair of its Antitrust and IP and Brand Protection groups, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee—and Benjamin K. Riley—a principal in Bartko’s Litigation practice and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee—were both selected by the California Daily Journal as two of the “Top 100 Lawyers in California” for 2023.

Patrick M. Ryan Named Top 100 Lawyer

San Francisco, CA – Patrick M. Ryan—Bartko’s Co-Managing Partner, head of litigation, and Chair of its Antitrust and IP and Brand Protection groups, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee—was selected by the California Daily Journal as one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in California” for 2023.

Firm Data Breach Practice in the News

December 14, 2013- Legal newspaper The Daily Journal ran an article describing our role for health care providers in obtaining writ relief in defense of pending class actions with multi-million dollar exposure following lost or stolen patient medical data. View pdf copy of article. The team of Rob Bunzel, Michael Abraham, Simon Goodfellow and Zaneta Butscher have contributed in multiple cases to the firm’s success in this highly topical field.

Bartko Pavia appeared in the first hearing related to 11 coordinated class actions

BartkoZankel appeared in the first hearing related to 11 coordinated class actions brought against the firm’s health care provider client for alleged penalties following the theft of a password protected computer in October 2011. The cases raise novel issues regarding what is a release under the Confidentiality of Medical Records Act (CMIA) and the propriety of class treatment for CMIA claims. Robert Bunzel, Michael Abraham and Simon Goodfellow lead the BartkoZankel team. In re Sutter Medical Information Cases, Judicial Council Coordination No. 4698, Sacramento Superior Court.

Hospitals Score Another Massive Victory Against the Blues as Court Rejects Insurance Companies’ Second Attempt to Dismiss Healthcare Providers’ Antitrust Claims

San Francisco, CA – In a June 5, 2023 Order, only made available on the public docket late June 6, 2023, the Honorable Evelio Grillo of the Alameda Superior Court, in VHS Liquidating Trust, et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, et al., Case Number RG21106600, issued a comprehensive Order resoundingly rejecting the Defendant Blues’ second attempt to dismiss the Plaintiffs’ claims.

Bartko Pavia Secures Major Victory In Kalamas v. John Muir Health

Luzann Fernandez, Patrick Ryan, Chad DeVeaux, Kerry Duffy, and Lisa Ferguson secured a major victory in Kalamas v. John Muir Health. The Bartko Pavia team filed an anti-SLAPP motion seeking to strike substantial portions of the plaintiff-doctor’s 800-plus-page Complaint against our clients John Muir Health and Calvin Knight, and two other defendants.  The Complaint seeks significant damages for employment retaliation, infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract.  In support of these claims, the Complaint targeted statements made during medical peer-review proceedings and academic critiques of medical protocols and scientific theories proposed by the plaintiff.  Finding that these allegations targeted core speech and petition activities protected by the First Amendment, the California Constitution, and Civil Code § 47(b)’s litigation privilege, the Court granted Bartko’s motion, striking the plaintiff’s emotional distress and contract claims in their entirety, dramatically limiting the scope of her retaliation claims, and dismissing all the claims against the three remaining defendants.  Please see the attached November 9, 2022 Order here. This sets up a motion for attorneys’ fees against a wealthy individual. This victory comes on the heals of a win in the Peterson v. Sutter Med. Found., No. 3:21-cv-04908-WHO, 2022 WL 2869531 (N.D. Cal. July 20, 2022)—an important anti-SLAPP decision decided last July in a case handled by Michael Abraham, Steve Steinberg, and Chad DeVeaux, leveraging Chad’s and Patrick’s prior anti-SLAPP work in numerous other cases.  Patrick and Chad are leading practitioners in anti-SLAPP jurisprudence, having collectively prevailed in over 25 such motions across their career and working on some of the most important cases, including at the California Supreme Court level.  In fact, this recent victory marked a “hat trick” for Bartko, as this was the third anti-SLAPP victory of the year.

Meredith Vanderbilt Publishes Article in AHLA Health Law Weekly on FDA Drug Shortage Tracking

Restoring CMIA’s Intended Balance

California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), Civil Code section 56 et seq., carefully balances obligations to handle and dispose of medical information in a manner preserving confidentiality with patients’ CMIA rights of action for nominal or actual damages. Disruption of this balance has recently been threatened by multiple class action lawsuits seeking to dictate privacy procedures and recover millions or, in one case, billions, of dollars from health care providers in response to the theft or loss of electronic databases. View a PDF of the article.

Use of AI In Employment

If your Company uses any automated tools such as Upwork or TurboHire in its hiring process, youshould be aware that New York City has established new requirements governing such practices,which are set forth in the Automated Employment Decision Tool Law (AEDTL).

ABA Antitrust Plaintiffs’ Roundtable Will Feature Insights from Ian Papendick

Ian Papendick will be a featured speaker at the ABA Antitrust Plaintiffs’ Roundtable, held at The Jay, Autograph Collection Hotel in San Francisco. The program brings together leading antitrust practitioners and thought leaders to discuss key developments and strategies in plaintiffs’ antitrust litigation.