Drew Combs
Daily Journal Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES - The San Diego law firm Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch announced last week the creation of a health care practice group with nine attorneys from Foley & Lardner.

"We see health care as a particularly dynamic area in the upcoming years," said Thomas W. Tuner Jr., Procopio Cory's managing partner, "and this is one of the go-to groups in the region."

The group, led by partners George L. Root Jr. and Gregory V. Moser, represents hospitals, physician groups, HMOs and medical device companies in a variety of matters related to regulatory compliance, licensing and legislation.

Additionally, Root and Moser, who joined Procopio Cory last week, serve as general counsel to hospitals, physician groups and public self-insurance pools.

"We are excited to join Procopio and look forward to bringing our health care practice to the firm," Root said. Root and Moser both had stints as managing partner of Foley & Lardner's San Diego office.

Root also served as chair of Foley & Lardner's health law and regulated industries departments.

Seven attorneys who worked with the partners at Foley & Lardner join Procopio Cory today.

Former Foley & Lardner attorneys Diane M. Racicot, Celia A. Brewer, Wendy L. Tucker, and Mary K. Norvell join Procopio Cory as senior counsel, and Sahyeh S. Fattahi, John C. Lemmo and Alyssa A. Osugi come on board as associates.

Although Foley & Lardner has a "marvelous health care practice," according to Root, the group wanted to move its practice to a firm that could better accommodate flexible work schedules.

"There are some people in our group who have flex-time arrangements, and that is a very difficult thing in larger firms because of the overhead costs," Root said.

"It is a no-brainer for us to be as flexible as we can as long as it makes good business sense," Turner said.

Van A. Tengberg, managing partner for Foley & Lardner's San Diego office, declined to comment and referred questions about the departures to the firm's Chicago office.

A spokeswoman for the firm did not return calls seeking comment.

Foley & Lardner is a Milwaukee-founded firm with 900 attorneys practicing in 19 offices.

The firm has 50 attorneys working at two offices in San Diego.

Root said the move to Procopio Cory also allows the group to maintain a diverse health care practice, not focusing just on areas such as mergers and acquisitions and compliance, which support premium rates.

"We didn't want to limit our practice to certain areas," Root said.

Procopio Cory is a 100-attorney firm with offices in San Diego and Carlsbad.