Cozen O’Connor added John D. Shire in a strategic move bolstering the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, Health Law Practice and Health Care & Life Sciences Industry Group. Shire, who brings a deep understanding of federal and state health care regulations and has been instrumental in several of the most well-known transactions in the health care space, will co-chair the practice alongside R. Christopher Raphaely.
Shire’s core focus includes clinical health care, life sciences, specialty pharmacy, and digital medicine. In addition to advising key operators in these sectors, Shire advises private funds, private equity, and institutional investors in acquisitions and private placements in the space. Leading clients include the likes of USRetina, a national group purchasing organization (GPO), and other national GPOs. In the public company space, Shire also represents acquisition companies such as Verus International and mPhase Technologies.
“Given the national attention on the health care sector and life sciences, and the potential for significant regulatory change, we are excited to have a partner who brings such a wealth of knowledge and connections,” said Raphaely. “We believe this is a very exciting and compelling time to be in this space and welcome his experience.”
Prior to joining Cozen O’Connor, Shire served as a partner at Seyfarth representing public and private companies in buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, commercial contracts, private capital transactions, and impact investments. He has served as a trusted adviser for health care companies and private equity firms regarding transactional, regulatory, and compliance matters. Shire’s experience has been concentrated in advising health care systems, hospitals, specialty-care providers, GPOs, and specialty-pharma suppliers in transactions and compliance with Medicare, Medicaid, and U.S. Department of Justice initiatives, such as CID responses.
“John has been at the center of a substantial number of very high-profile transactions in the health care arena, and his extensive experience in the industry will further bolster our Health Law Practice,” said Michael J. Heller, Cozen O’Connor’s Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “His ability to negotiate and form key alliances in this space, especially given what we believe will be a very pivotal period of change and growth in the industry as a whole, is very beneficial for our firm.”
“It has been our goal for some time in the Washington, D.C., office to bring someone on board with deep transactional and regulatory knowledge in the health care space and John is a perfect fit,” said Jonathan M. Grossman, office managing partner. “His practice will be a great complement to a number of the existing practices in our office including White Collar, State Attorneys General, Antitrust, and Public Strategies.”
On the forefront of innovation in the health care and life sciences industries, Shire also serves as outside general counsel to a variety of entities contributing innovation to the space. He brings unique experience representing private investors in early stage therapeutics development, biopharmaceutical technology transactions, as well as later stage drug acquisition and licensing transactions.
“Cozen O’Connor is the perfect home because it allows my clients to gain access to a wealth of resources in clinical health care and life sciences, as well as a deep bench in substantive specialties beyond my core focus,” said Shire. “In addition to the superb platform, I chose Cozen O’Connor because of the people. The exponential growth and energy of this law firm is unparalleled in the D.C. market.”
Shire is the third new member to join the firm’s Washington, D.C., office in the past two weeks. In late October, Cozen O'Connor welcomed Jeffrey Gendzwill and Keith Fredlake to the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice. The firm has been focused on expanding its Washington, D.C., office in recent years, growing from 12 attorneys in 2010 to more than 75 attorneys and government relations professionals today.
Shire earned his J.D. at Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson School of Law where he was associate editor of the Dickinson Law Review and his B.A. from Bucknell University where he graduated cum laude.