Life Sciences

We assist life science companies in implementing comprehensive and effective compliance programs to guide companies and employees in conducting business ethically and in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and industry standards. We regularly review, develop and implement programs that prevent and detect noncompliance. We are well versed in laws and regulations relating to fraud and abuse, antikickback, self-referral, false claims, civil monetary penalties, payments to physicians, conflicts of interest and HIPAA and industry standards such as PhRMA and AdvaMed. We often respond to issues of noncompliance by conducting internal investigations and working with regulators.

Our M&A lawyers assist life science clients with a wide range of strategic alliances, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.  Our clients pursue these transactions to consolidate industries, combine the strength of two companies, divest non-core businesses, achieve liquidity and transition ownership.

We assist clients with international, federal, state and local business tax and tax exemption matters. We also provide tax planning for structuring venture capital transactions (representing either the venture capital fund or the emerging growth company) and equity compensation.

Our lawyers design and implement strategies to maximize, retain and safeguard the value of the goodwill and innovation, trade secrets and proprietary information represented in our life science clients’ intellectual property portfolios. We work with clients to establish protocols for the protection of these valuable assets and when the need arises, we are zealous advocates in the courtroom. We employ a proactive, efficient and cost-effective strategy for the resolution of these disputes.

We routinely prosecute restrictive covenant and misappropriation of trade secret matters, including injunction hearings with expedited discovery, and seizure of goods cases in federal and state courts throughout the country.  We counsel clients throughout the intellectual property and technology life cycle. We register, maintain and protect our clients’ trademarks, copyrights, domain names and trade secrets. We also advise clients with regard to:

• outsourcing
• non-disclosure agreements
• non-competition agreements
• consulting agreements
• proprietary rights and invention
• assignment agreements
• systems integration
• website development and hosting
• distance learning
• technology development
• research and development agreements
• technology transfer and licensing
• enforcement of intellectual property rights

Our life science clients are always working to develop, protect, market and commercialize products and services. Our assistance to clients in these areas varies based on industry, but often includes:

• collaboration, research and development agreements, including with universities
• distributor, sales representative, reseller and channel partner agreements
• outsourcing and management agreements
• product purchase and sale agreements
• OEM, private label, supply and other customer agreements
• supply chain management
• export controls and licensing matters
• contract disputes
• product warranty, recall and product liability claims
• class action and multi-district litigation
• antitrust, price fixing and trade regulation.

We help clients navigate U.S. export controls and economic sanctions by advising on export licensing issues, including the classification of products and technologies and the determination of licensing requirements for specific transactions.  

We work with clients in developing, implementing and auditing export and import compliance programs and taking corrective actions, including the submission of voluntary self-disclosures to U.S. government agencies, when necessary.  In the event of a criminal investigation, we vigorously represent clients and ensure that their interests are effectively protected.  We also conduct internal investigations into import, export, sanctions matters.

Our goal is to help clients manage the legal risks associated with hiring, supervising and terminating employees, while following best management practices and complying with governmental requirements applicable to all aspects of the employment relationship. We emphasize preventive counseling, and offer training on subjects ranging from sexual harassment prevention to union activity. Our employment lawyers have broad and deep experience in:

• employment discrimination
• wrongful discharge
• wage and hour matters
• workers’ compensation
• unemployment compensation
• OSHA
• Family Medical Leave Act

Our full-service immigration practice works seamlessly with clients in the life science industry to obtain timely U.S. work authorization for foreign workers who are critical to the implementation of business plans and business realization goals.   We assist clients with the following immigration services:

• preparing and filing nonimmigrant visa petitions (such as H-1B, O-1, L-1A, L-1B and J-1 visas) to permit foreign workers to work temporarily in the U.S.
• obtaining employment-based immigrant visas and national interest waivers (such as EB-1 visa preferences for multinational managers or executives, outstanding professors or researchers, and foreign nationals who have extraordinary ability and EB-2 visa preferences for members of a profession holding an advanced degree and foreign nationals who have exceptional ability) to enable foreign workers to work in the U.S. indefinitely, commonly known as a “green card”
• obtaining nonimmigrant visas and green cards for investors in U.S. companies
• obtaining U.S. citizenship for U.S. permanent residents and their families;
• advice on “best practices” to complete I-9 Employment Verification forms and to respond to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) audit of such forms