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Healthcare Industry Trailblazer
Law Firm Leader • Entrepreneur
Health System Trustee • Law School Lecturer
Winery Owner and Co-Chair

Bio Snapshot

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  • CEO, Bryn Mawr Vineyards
  • Latham & Watkins LLP, Partner 30+ years
  • Global Co-Chair, Healthcare & Life Sciences
  • Corporate Boardroom and C-Suite Advisor
  • Notable Representations: HCA, Sutter Health, Tenet Healthcare
  • Scripps Health, Board of Trustees; Audit Committee Chair
  • Chambers USA, Band 1, Healthcare-California
  • Willamette University College of Law, Lecturer
  • University of Michigan, JD

Kathy's Multifaceted Leadership

Legal Matters

Kathy developed key client relationship roles as a business and regulatory advisor to companies such as HCA (Fortune 100), Tenet Healthcare (Fortune 200), and Sutter Health. She interacted with their directors and C-suite executives on structuring significant transactions and strategic initiatives.  She also represented these and other clients in enterprise-threatening civil and criminal fraud investigations. Kathy negotiated some of the healthcare industry’s largest settlements and most complex compliance agreements, as well as key terms in major acquisitions. 

Business

Kathy and her husband Jon own and operate Bryn Mawr Vineyards, a boutique winery in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Over the past 15 years, they have grown Bryn Mawr from a 400 case basement winery to a 40 acre estate producing 10,000 cases annually, distributed in 20+ states, with a thriving tasting room and hospitality business. Kathy had joined Jon as Co-chair and focuses on strategic planning, sustainability and expanding the business' food program. See https://brynmawrvineyards.com

Academic Pursuits

While practicing law, Kathy was a prolific writer of academic thought pieces for national journals and conferences.  She is also a sought-after speaker on topics of interest to her clients and has served for many years on the planning committee of major national healthcare fraud conferences.  She was tapped by the US Department of Justice to teach its lawyers how to successfully handle healthcare cases and has guest lectured at Cornell Law School.  She recently joined the Health Law Certificate Program at Willamette University Law School as a guest lecturer.  

Not for Profit

 

Kathy served for more than a dozen years on the Board of Trustees for Scripps Health, a $4.3B, four hospital not-for-profit healthcare system in San Diego with 3,000+ affiliated physicians.  Scripps Health is widely recognized as one of the top medium-sized integrated healthcare systems in the nation.  Kathy chaired the Audit and Compliance Committee (2016-2022); the Strategic Planning Committee (2014-2015) and the Investment Committee (2014-2015), and served on the HR and Compensation Committee, the Quality and Credentialing Committee and the Foundation Committee.  

 

Testimonials

"Kathy handles matters with the utmost strategic vision and excellence. She has outstanding executive presence and judgment.  Of equal importance, she understands the big picture and how to assess risks going forward."

Audrey Andrews

Former General Counsel, Tenet Healthcare

"Kathy has a direct approach and an exemplary demeanor, staying calm in the most chaotic of situations. She’s wired very much like a business person.  She approaches problems the same way we do.  She is great at communicating and balancing risks."

Tom Arnst

Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel, Tenet Healthcare

"She is smart, elegant, sincere, warm, and engaging.  Kathy is very open to learning.  She does her homework.  She’s a life-long learner."

Carlene Callis

Former Corporate VP for HCA, (Founding partner of Next Gen Strategy)

"Kathy is down to the earth, gets to the point, and explains legal issues that lay people can readily understand. Kathy can drive consensus, while holding her ground as necessary, in a very professional way.  She is an engaged participant and advances well-reasoned opinions."

Florence DiBenedetto

Former SVP and GC of Sutter

"Kathy has seen it from all sides.  Audit.  Board.  Gov’t affairs.  Legal.  Public relations.  She regularly has to marshal various constituencies to evaluate business, reputational, and legal risk. Over the course of her career, Kathy, regularly, has been at the table on difficult business issues where compromise and consensus building are key.  Kathy is very much a team player."

Alice Fisher

General Counsel, Latham & Watkins

"She has a unique ability to address the various legal, reputational, and business dimensions of any issue.  Her appreciation of all three variables gives her legal opinions even more credibility.  Kathy is always a leading opinion maker who facilitates a process and drives consensus. People often defer to her because of her experience and ever present calmness in tough situations."

Sam Hazen

CEO, HCA Healthcare

"She is very intelligent.  She has great memory and recall.  She has great judgment. She is a problem solver who gets to issues quickly. She is a trusted advisor on significant and weighty matters."

Scott Noonan

VP of Legal Operations, HCA

"Kathy is one of our strongest board members ever. She is an excellent communicator. Kathy’s understanding of governance and audit were exceptional. She is very likable.  She got along well with everyone."

Chris Van Gorder

CEO, Scripps Health

"Kathy was always a calming voice who could determine quickly the difference between a small issue and a big deal and act accordingly. Kathy is consistently able to sort through thousands of detailed facts, hone in on the right ones, apply that to a complex series of laws and regulations, she couples her sound judgment with outstanding relationship skills. Kathy listens, makes effective compromises, and knows when it’s important to be firm in her advice."

Bob Waterman

Former General Counsel, HCA Healthcare