Our people

Steve is a litigator whose practice focuses on cutting edge, multi-million dollar disputes involving various scientific, technological, and public policy issues.  He has represented clients in various state and federal courts located in New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, and Washington D.C., as well as before various state and federal administrative tribunals.  In addition to working in his core practice area, and being a member of Reed Smith’s Life Sciences and Healthcare Industry Practice Group, Steve has represented a diverse array of clients including:  commercial insurance brokers, shippers, bond agents, corporate builders, insurers, insureds, a venture capital firm, and a court-appointed receiver for an employee benefit plan.  In August of 2008, Steve was recognized by the New Jersey Law Journal in its annual “Top 40 Under 40” list of attorneys practicing in New Jersey.  Just recently, Nightingale’s Healthcare News identified him as one of the “outstanding lawyers” of 2009.

Notable victories include:

• Recovering $150 million from the federal government on behalf of 140 hospitals in the “In Re Medicare” litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
• Obtaining summary judgment and dismissal, in multiple cases, of claims brought under the New Jersey Insurance Fraud Prevention Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
• Arguing and winning a motion in the New Jersey Supreme Court for dismissal of statutory civil penalty claims.
• Arguing and winning a case regarding whether a hospital met the quantitative experience threshold for operating a full-service, cardiac catheterization laboratory.
• Arguing and winning a $4 million dispute in New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, over a statutory subsidy in a case against Hackensack University Medical Center.
• Successfully representing a client before the New Jersey State Health Planning Board in the client’s effort to obtain a license to perform elective angioplasty under the “C-PORT E study.”

Steve is accustomed to coordinating the work of various expert witnesses, such as engineers, doctors, architects, accountants, statisticians, and insurance experts.  His cases have involved issues relating to breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, common law fraud, consumer fraud, civil RICO, negligence, defamation, antitrust, ERISA, and declaratory judgment claims to name a few.  He has also represented institutional clients against the state and federal government on various licensure, compliance, and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement issues. 

Steve’s spare time is spent brushing up on neuroscience, mathematics, computer architecture, and spending time camping and canoeing with his family.

Publications

• “The Next Generation of Artificial Intelligence In Light of In re Bilski” Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal, March 1, 2009,
• Vol. 21, no. 3
• “Can I Get Those Privileged Documents Back? E-Discovery Ruling in Victor Stanley Inc. v. Creative Pipe, Inc.” Reed Smith, Client Alerts, June 9, 2008
• “Whether Days of Medical Assistance Provided By a State Plan Approved Under Title XIX Should be Included Among Eligible Days in the Medicare DSH Computation: The Case of Adena Regional Medical Center, et al. v. Leavitt”
• The Rap Sheet, American Health Lawyers Association, November 2007
• “Participation in the Smallpox Vaccination Program Under the Homeland Security Act” Reed Smith, Client Alerts, February 7, 2003
• “Section 9-318 of the Uniform Commercial Code and Certain A Priori Notions” Rutgers University School of Law, Rutgers Law Journal, Autumn 1996
• “Rules of Engagement for Armed Standoffs and the Last Full Measure of Devotion: Should Sedition be a Factor In the Use of Deadly Force?” Rutgers University School of Law, Rutgers Law Journal, Autumn 1996