Doug Brown is a seasoned executive with over thirty-five years of senior leadership experience in law, medicine and government
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a multidisciplinary, integrated professional services firm, today announced the arrival of Partner Douglas Brown to its Health Care industry group in Boston. Most recently serving as President of Community Hospitals and Chief Administrative and Legal Officer for one of Massachusetts’ largest integrated health care systems, Brown brings notable experience from the executive and legislative branches of state government. At Manatt, he will provide legal counsel and strategic consulting to a range of health care organizations throughout New England and nationally across transactions, litigation, governance, health policy and regulatory matters.
“With a unique background at the intersection of law, business and policy, Doug is a natural fit to our team, aligning with Manatt’s integrated platform and adding depth to our health care strengths in the corporate, policy and academic health system arenas,” said Manatt CEO and Managing Partner Donna L. Wilson. “He is also a tremendous addition to our growing footprint in Massachusetts, with our Boston office—led by Partner Eric Gold—just this year welcoming artificial intelligence technologist Tim Andrews, corporate partner Jerry Tichner and leading life sciences partner Pat Cerundolo.”
Brown works with clients on the full spectrum of health care issues—including policy, regulation and community care—with a focus on crisis management, governance, litigation, health care M&A, investigations and reviews, Medicaid issues and government advocacy. For the past two decades, he has navigated these issues while serving as a senior legal and business executive at a multi-billion-dollar nonprofit health care system in Massachusetts. Brown brings significant experience working closely with executive leadership to provide operational oversight or guidance to the organization’s academic medical center, community hospitals and behavioral health providers, as well as leading their legal affairs, government relations, compliance, government reimbursement and public programs, and corporate relations. He also worked at the Massachusetts’ Medicaid agency, where he was responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of its policy and program initiatives.
“Doug’s many years of public and private sector leadership will be invaluable to our clients around the country, especially with his experience cutting across many of our core areas ranging from corporate to litigation and governance issues to business strategy and operations,” said Manatt Health Leader Bill Bernstein. “Joining our health care transactions practice, which is led by Partner Paul Carr-Rollitt, he will further enhance our ongoing work with academic medical centers, safety-net hospitals, community organizations and population health providers as we further deepen our commitment to addressing the social drivers of health and ensure positive outcomes for patients in Massachusetts and throughout the country.”
Earlier in his career, Brown worked as General Counsel on the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, where he served as chief policy and legal adviser and handled major legislation, including managed health care reform, minimum wage, numerous tax-related bills, and establishing and structuring the tobacco settlement trust. Prior to that, as a Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General, he litigated significant cases before state trial and appellate courts in areas of health care, tax, human services, employment, insurance, civil rights, contract, technology procurement, tort, eminent domain and environmental enforcement. Brown is also a thought leader in health care at the state and national level and recently completed service on the board of trustees of the American Hospital Association, where he helped advocate for our nation’s hospitals and worked to promote a just society of healthy communities.
“Having spent a majority of my career closely advising some of the nation’s top health care leaders, CEOs, board chairs, trustees and state officials, my experience has given me a unique vantage point into their challenges and how best to solve them,” said Brown. “I have long admired Manatt’s unique approach to client service focusing on the convergence of the legal, business and policy landscapes, and I look forward to leveraging my corresponding background to collaborate with the Firm’s incredible roster of legal and consulting professionals and improve our health care system.”
Brown joins the Firm’s roster of legal and consulting professionals who have also joined over the past year across core industry sectors, including Corporate and Finance (Bill Broome); Digital and Technology (Tim Andrews and Lisa Rosaya); Entertainment (Binta Niambi Brown); Financial Services (Warren Biro, Mike Katz and Jessica Sklute); Government and Regulatory (Richard Leib); Health Care (Haider Andazola, Heide Bajnrauh, Tom Cassels, Pat Cerundolo, Richard Cho, Christina (Chrissy) Farr, Dr. Shamiram (Shami) Feinglass, Erin Estey Hertzog, Kendall Hussey, Dr. Tracy Johnson, Jason Klimek, Anna Lansky, Ross Margulies, John O’Brien, Tina Papagiannopoulos, Lisa Sbrana, Melindah Sharma, Jerome (Jerry) Tichner, Mark Wietecha and Shaina Zurlin); and cross-industry Litigation (Schuyler Carroll).
Brown earned his J.D. from Boston University School of Law and his B.A. from Boston University.