Profile
Michael Morris concentrates his practice on representing and advising insurance and health care industry clients on business transactions and the handling of regulatory matters. Michael has deep experience advising on transactions subject to regulatory scrutiny for life/health insurers, property/casualty insurers, managed care organizations, third-party administrators, and insurance producers.
In the managed care arena, Michael is well experienced in the formation and licensing of insurers, HMOs and other state-regulated entities including organized delivery systems and independent practice associations, including the development of compliant business operations and provider contracting arrangements. Michael is regularly engaged by clients at the intersection of significant business relationships between major health care payers and health systems and has facilitated numerous joint venture and financial risk sharing arrangements in the healthcare industry.
Michael’s counsel is regularly sought by clients in the insurance distribution space, including general agencies and brokerages, seeking either to expand the scope of their business through acquisition or strategic alignment, or to exit a successful practice through a sale to a larger acquiring party. He also regularly counsels insurance distribution clients in sales practice compliance, especially in life/annuity and surplus/excess lines business, and has defended numerous regulatory examinations and enforcement actions.
In addition to his transactional regulatory practice, Michael regularly litigates disputes matters involving insurance regulatory issues before state and federal courts, as well as various administrative forums. This includes matters arising from the rehabilitation or liquidation of insurers, as well as contested, unsettled issues of insurance and health care law.
Michael’s practice extends to general corporate and commercial matters and the representation of middle-market businesses as outside general counsel. Michael counsels a broad array of clients in forming new businesses and negotiating and drafting contracts underlying significant business transactions such as asset acquisitions, stock purchases, and mergers.
The attorney is providing legal services through and affiliated with Greenberg Traurig, LLP, a New York Limited Liability Partnership. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Capabilities
Experience
- Served as national regulatory counsel and represented rapidly expanding managed health care plan sponsor in the formation and licensing of HMOs and stock health insurers across numerous state markets.°
- Regularly serves as insurance regulatory counsel to obtain necessary state regulatory approvals of acquisitions of controlling interests in insurers, health maintenance organizations, organized delivery systems and other insurance-regulated entities.°
- Counseled numerous licensed and certified New Jersey organized health care delivery systems in obtaining initial licensure or certification, modification and expansion of such licenses, and development of provider network contracting, utilization management, credentialing, appeals and quality improvement programs.°
- Lead counsel for national managed care plan sponsor in formation and licensing of a North Carolina HMO entering the individual qualified health plan market, with continuing engagement in health system contracting and development of state-specific policies and procedures.°
- Lead counsel to a joint venture between a New York-based commercial vehicle fleet operator and an experienced insurance industry management team in the acquisition of a New York stock property casualty insurer from the liquidator of an insolvent parent insurer.°
- Represented Georgia-based property-casualty insurer in the acquisition of a New Jersey domestic surety insurer and obtained required state regulatory approvals.°
- Represented a major Blue Cross Blue Shield organization in obtaining regulatory approvals for an innovative joint venture with a major integrated health system to operate a Medicare Advantage plan.°
- Regularly serve as counsel to independent insurance agencies and brokerages in implementing growth strategies through acquisitions, joint ventures and buy-sell agreements with add-on target companies.°
- Lead counsel to sellers of a New York-based multi-line employee benefits and insurance agency in sale to a national private equity backed buyer for $22 million in cash and rollover equity.°
- Lead counsel to sellers of a Florida-based specialty property-casualty insurance agency to a national private equity backed buyer for $28 million in cash and rollover equity.°
- Serve as lead regulatory counsel in New York and New Jersey to a national workers’ compensation and liability claims third-party administrator in obtaining and managing various managed care licenses and certifications, including New York certified workers’ compensation preferred provider organization status, formation of a diagnostic testing network, mandatory pharmacy program and New Jersey workers’ compensation managed care organization.°
- Facilitated a merger of multiple New York financial risk-bearing independent practice associations and NYSDOH approval of novation of risk-shifting contracts resulting from acquisition of a specialty healthcare benefits administrator by major national health insurer.°
- Represented national telehealth provider organization in development of business structure and practices to comply with corporate practice of medicine doctrine, DEA controlled substance prescription and dispensing regulations and state telemedicine licensing requirements.°
- Represented nephrology group in formation of joint venture and practice management arrangement with national dialysis services provider to operate a dialysis center.
°The above representations were handled by Mr. Morris prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
- Analyst, BlackRock, Financial Institutions Group, 2008-2009
- Intern, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Appellate Mediation Program, 2012
- Judicial Intern, Magistrate Judge David Strawbridge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2011
- Summer Honors Law Program, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, 2010
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Insurance Law, 2024
A description of the selection methodology for the above awards can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
- Member, New Jersey Bar Association
- Member, New York Bar Association
Credentials
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J.D., magna cum laude, Villanova University School of Law, 2012
- Order of the Coif
- Associate Editor, Villanova Environmental Law Journal
- A.B., cum laude, Georgetown University, 2008
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina