Health Care Client Alerts Prefigure Uptick in Law Firm Business

New York Law Journal

July 3, 2012

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold the 2010 heath care reform laws will increase the demand for health care-focused legal services. 

As an attorney who focuses on employee benefits and compensation planning, Keith McMurdy says the decision may boost the need for legal services to clients who have slowed down preparations to implement the act. He says there were some "who..were sitting on their hands waiting patiently, hoping the stuff I had given advice on would suddenly be rendered useless."

For those businesses that did wait, "I think they're going to be caught a little short," McMurdy said, "but we've got time to deal with it."

As a result, McMurdy expects to receive more client inquiries about deadlines for compliance, but not as much business as when the law was first enacted in March 2010.

"Clients have already spent a lot of money since it was enacted. They've already put the time and the effort into whatever it takes to get into compliance."

For those who did wait, the road may be clearer than those who acted when the law was first passed. "They will probably benefit from the fact that other people have gone through the process," McMurdy said. By now, he said, lawyers have a better idea of the main compliance steps for clients.