Health Law

Corrs has strong experience in delivering expert legal and strategic advice in the health and aged care sector on a national basis. Corrs is one of the few health and aged care legal practices that operates on a national basis and balances a strong commercial practice with medico-legal advice. Corrs has been involved in some of the largest industry consolidation transactions in the last decade. Members of our team have a broad range of backgrounds in industry and private legal practice.

We advise clients in the health and aged care sectors who are ASX listed companies, not for profit entities, private companies, medical practitioners and government departments. Accordingly, we can see issues from a variety of perspectives and can also anticipate likely issues before they arise.

Our health practice covers four main areas:

• Corporate and commercial advice
• Medico legal / health law
• Intellectual Property / Pharma law
• Employment law / Workplace Relations

We are well positioned to provide our clients with support, advice and expertise in these key areas most relevant to the health and aged care sector. We also bring a significant depth of understanding of the many challenges – legal, ethical, commercial, and risk related – confronting the health and aged care sectors.

Corporate and commercial advice

Corrs has advised on a large range of acquisitions and disposals in this sector including private hospitals, co-located hospitals, aged care and retirement villages, medical practices, radiology, pathology and physiotherapy practices, dental practices, nursing agencies and pharmacies. In addition, we have advised on numerous capital raisings and debt funding arrangements for clients in the sector.

We have also advised health departments, public and private hospitals and other healthcare providers around Australia in respect of outsourcing and contracting for the provision of health services (including outsourcing of pathology, radiology, intensive care, emergency departments, pharmacy services and health management services).

Our lawyers have been involved in several large scale public- to-private projects in the health care sector and have also advised on a diverse array of matters such as hospital by-laws, clinical trial agreements, health fund arrangements, procurement and tendering arrangements, joint ventures and health regulatory and governance advice.

Corrs also has specialists with health and aged care industry expertise in property and construction, finance, litigation, workplace relations, tax and competition law.

Relevant examples of our M&A experience in the health and aged care sector include:

• Advising in relation to the purchase by Healthe Care Australia of 5 private hospitals from Ramsay Health Care Limited
• Advising in relation to the sale of Benchmark Healthcare’s portfolio of 9 private hospitals to Ramsay Health Care Limited
• Advising Hall & Prior and Fresh Fields Aged Care on the acquisition and disposal of numerous aged care facilities
• Advising in relation to the sale and purchase of several pharmacies, medical centres and private hospitals including Mitcham Private Hospital and South Eastern Private Hospital (for Benchmark Healthcare), Brighton Private Hospital and Hopetoun Rehabilitation Hospital (for Cabrini Health) and Mt Alvernia Bendigo Private Hospital (for Mercy Health & Aged Care)
• Advising in relation to the purchase of Patricia Gladwell Aged Care Facility and the co-located Vaucluse Private Hospital in Brunswick, Victoria
• Advising Healthe Care Australia on the acquisition of Maitland and Toronto Private Hospitals in New South Wales
• Advising Symbion Health Limited in relation to the acquisition of medical centres and pathology practices
• Advising a participant in a consortium bid for the Australian hospital portfolio of Mayne Group Limited (this involved complex negotiations between the joint venture parties for the split of land and businesses of more than 50 private hospitals throughout Australia)

Medico legal / health law

Members of Corrs’ team have extensive experience in medico-legal and health law, and in the corporate and commercial aspects of delivering health services and the operation of health facilities.

Corrs regularly provides advice to hospitals and health sector staff on consent issues in health care, child protection issues for clinicians, substituted decision making, Parens Patriae and related matters, and issues concerning confidentiality and access to health care records.

Our medico-legal health law team conducts the defence of medical malpractice litigation on behalf of health care providers, and medical product claims against manufacturers. Our team represents hospitals and their staff at Coronial Inquests into patient deaths, as well as providing legal advice and support where staff are required to appear at court hearings, or respond to police enquiries and subpoenae which may traverse patient confidentiality issues. We act on behalf of health practitioners required to appear before professional registration boards in relation to clinical competence and professional conduct issues.

We undertake clinical governance investigations and provide clinical governance advice. We investigate and defend claims relating to alleged discrimination in the provision of health services, and represent health sector clients at conciliations and in investigations carried out by regulatory bodies.

Intellectual property / pharma law

Our IP team work regularly with private and public companies, universities and research institutes to realise the commercial potential of their intellectual property.

Corrs has provided extensive advice to research institutes such as the Bernard O’Brien Institute, the Baker IDI Institute and a number of universities including ANU, University of Melbourne, Deakin University and QUT, on the ownership, management and licensing of technologies developed by the Institutes as well as matters relating to intellectual property and R&D. Our lawyers have advised on numerous research projects and associated contracts, including IP licences, materials transfer agreements and collaborative research agreements, with third parties including hospitals, research institutes and “big pharma”.

Recently the Corrs team have acted for Sigma Pharmaceuticals in its defence of a $10m damages claim brought by Vifor International, a subsidiary of the Swiss Galenica Pharmaceutical Group. The team also acted for H. Lundbeck A/S, a European pharmaceutical manufacturer, in defending a patent opposition action (relating to a patent for a method of purification of a pharmaceutical, Lexapro (an antidepressant pharmaceutical) against an opposition by Alphapharm and Arrow.

Employment law / Workplace relations

Our Workplace Relations team have advised the Victorian Hospitals’ Industrial Association (VHIA), (the representative of public sector health sector employers (Health Services)), and the Victorian Government, (which funds Health Services), in respect of negotiations with a number of unions for new workplace agreements for public sector health workers. These included negotiations with the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) for a new workplace agreement for public sector nurses and negotiations with the Health Services Union (HSU) for a new workplace agreement for public sector allied health professionals.

Corrs was engaged by the VHIA and the Victorian Government to institute proceedings in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). Corrs made applications to the AIRC on behalf of the health sector employers to obtain orders to stop the industrial action being taken by the HSU No.3 Branch and its members (public sector health professionals). Corrs later instituted urgent proceedings in the Federal Court to enforce those orders and successfully defended a stay application following an appeal of these orders by the HSU.