Service Areas
- Business
- Corporate, Securities + Commercial Transactions
- Venture Capital + Private Equity
- Health Law
- Governments + Nonprofits
- Health Law
- Individuals + Families
- Health Law
Education
- DePaul University College of Law, J.D.
- Kalamazoo College, B.A.
- Universidad de Extremadura, Caceres, Spain
Bar Admissions
- Illinois
- Michigan
Physicians, hospital administrators and other health-care providers face a bewildering maze of regulatory issues. In this highly regulated environment, all transactions must be carefully structured and monitored to achieve compliance. Billee Lightvoet Ward helps her health-care clients understand and apply this myriad of laws and regulations to their day-to-day business operations, enabling them to focus on their core mission. Billee assists health-care providers in the drafting and implementation of policies and procedures, medical staff and corporate bylaws, and other documents necessary for the operation of their business. She drafts and negotiates contracts of all types, provides counsel on regulatory matters relating to EMTALA, fraud and abuse, HIPAA and state confidentiality laws, corporate practice of medicine, and behavioral health. She has specialized knowledge in the area of clinical research, having served on Institutional Review Boards, and has extensive experience drafting and negotiating clinical trial agreements and advising clients in FDA and other regulatory issues relating to human subjects research.
In her corporate practice, Billee advises new and established businesses, with a particular emphasis on health-care providers, biotechnology companies, medical device companies and other healthcare-related entities, in all aspects of corporate and business matters including entity formation, corporate financing, venture capital financing, shareholder relations, mergers and acquisitions, creation and management of corporate records, and other business matters.
Experience
Billee enjoys the full-service nature of her practice when it comes to healthcare providers and other health-care related entities. She respects the entrepreneurial spirit of her clients and finds it particularly rewarding to assist in the formation and financing of such businesses and to then have the opportunity to assist with their day-to-day operations by providing counsel in relation to regulatory compliance, contractual relationships, shareholder relations and other matters.
Professional Activities
- American Bar Association
- State Bar of Michigan, Healthcare Law Section; Healthcare Law Section Publications Committee; Business Law Section
- Kalamazoo County Bar Association
- Grand Rapids Bar Association, Business/Tax Section
- American Health Lawyers Association
- Health Care Compliance Association
- InForum
Honors + Awards
- Kalamazoo College, Dean's List, 1991-1994; National Dean's List, 1993-1994
- Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Honor Roll of Athletes, 1992-1994
- National Collegiate Athletic Association Divison III All-American, 1994
- Michigan Super Lawyers, Heath Care, Rising Star 2011
Civic, Cultural + Social Activities
- Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Board of Directors 2010-present; Corporate Committee 2007-present; Development Committee 2010-present; Exhibitions Committee 2010-present
- USTA Boys 18s and 16s National Championships, Co-Chair, Player Services 2008-present
- Douglass Community Association, Board of Directors 2007-2009; Executive Committee 2007-2009
- Greater Kalamazoo Girls on the Run, Development Committee Chair 2009-2010; Development Committee Member 2008-2010
- Borgess Institutional Review Board, Former Board Member
- Community Research Institutional Review Board, Former Board Member
Religious Activities
- Calvary Bible Church
- FamilyLife, Legacy Partner
Publications
"Health Reform Amendment Raises Ambiguities for Stark Law Compliance," (Co-author Thomas H. Van Dis), MD News West Michigan, May/June 2010
"FTC Red Flags Rule: Are You in Compliance?," MD News West Michigan, May/June 2009
"Institutional Review Boards: Bureaucratic Roadblock or Knowledgeable Resource," MD News West Michigan, January/February 2009
Speeches
"Is Your Data Safe?," (Panelist), Data Privacy and Security Briefing, Applied Security US Incorporated, Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 25, 2009
Seminars + Events
Articles
- Red Flags Rule: The Deadline is Looming... Again
- FTC Red Flags Rule: Are You in Compliance?
- Institutional Review Boards: Bureaucratic Roadblock or Knowledgeable Resource
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