BALTIMORE, MD – March 16, 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network –
Three prominent Ober|Kaler Health Law principals have
been recognized for their professional contribution to the American Health Lawyers
Association. AHLA has invited Leonard C. Homer, Thomas K. Hyatt, and Sanford V.
Teplitzky to join its inaugural class of Health Law Fellows.
With 9,400 members, AHLA is the nation’s largest, nonpartisan, nonprofit educational
organization devoted to legal issues in the health care field. AHLA’s Health Law
Fellows program recognizes the substantial contributions of the organization’s
lifetime leaders. Nominated by AHLA’s Board of Directors, only candidates who are
regarded as one of the top health lawyers in his or her community and have actively
served the organization for at least fifteen years are considered. Only twenty
former AHLA presidents and past leaders were nominated in the program’s first class.
The field of qualifying individuals was vast. Richard Cowart, AHLA president, said,
“Choosing from among the life-long leaders was one of the most difficult things we
have done as an Association.”
Charter Fellow, as all first-class Fellows are designated, Leonard Homer joined AHLA
in 1976. In 1978, he co-founded and co-chaired the Institute
on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues – one of AHLA’s most successful and longest
running educational programs – celebrating its 26th year this September. He served
as president of AHLA’s predecessor, the National Health Lawyers Association, from
1985 to 1986. In 1991, Mr. Homer received the David J. Greenburg service award for
his “great loyalty…. and significant contributions” to AHLA. He was second only
after the award’s namesake to receive the honor.
“I am honored to be named an AHLA Fellow, particularly in this inaugural year of the
program. AHLA is an exceptional organization known for the quality of its
educational programs and its influential membership of the nation’s leading health
law attorneys. I am proud of my twenty-eight year association with AHLA and look
forward to many more years of service.”
A founding member and former chair of Ober|Kaler’s health law practice, Mr. Homer is
considered a pioneer in the field of health law.
With twenty-two years of service to AHLA, Charter Fellow Thomas Hyatt currently sits
as Chair Emeritus and faculty member of the Annual Tax Issues in Healthcare
Organizations seminar. Mr. Hyatt is also a recipient of the prestigious David J.
Greenburg Service Award.
“AHLA is an outstanding organization that has provided me the opportunity to work
with many talented people, from its expert membership to its energetic staff, for
which I am grateful. I am also grateful for the honor of being named an AHLA Health
Law Fellow,” said Mr. Hyatt.
Mr. Hyatt’s practice focuses on corporate and tax-exempt organization issues for
health care providers. He co-chairs Ober|Kaler’s Nonprofits Practice Group and is
editor of the recently released “The Nonprofit Legal Landscape,” a legal resource
for nonprofit organizations published by BoardSource. Mr. Hyatt sits on the Board of
Directors of the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service and on the Advisory Board of
The Exempt Organization Tax Review, and University of Pittsburgh School of Law,
Health Law Certificate Program.
An AHLA Founding Fellow, named in recognition of his service on the Health Law
Fellows Task Force which was responsible for developing the program, Sanford
Teplitzky joined AHLA in 1977. He served as president of AHLA’s predecessor, the
National Health Lawyers Association, from 1993 to 1994.
He chaired the organization’s Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Program from 1992 to 2000
and currently oversees AHLA Fellows’ public interest activities.
“It is a great honor to be named an AHLA Founding Fellow. AHLA provides the forum
for dialog and commentary on emerging health law issues at a national level,” said
Mr. Teplitzky. “I am honored to be recognized by an organization of AHLA’s stature.”
Mr. Teplitzky is chair of Ober|Kaler’s Health Law Department. He primarily
represents large health care companies and delivery networks with respect to
Medicare and Medicaid fraud investigations and related matters.
A member of the Baltimore County Board of Education from 1993 to 2003, Mr. Teplitzky
currently serves on the Regional Investment Committee of the ASSOCIATED: The Jewish
Community Federation of Baltimore. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the
Baltimore Jewish Council and The Chimes Foundation, and sits on the Advisory Boards
for Kids Helping Hopkins and the University of Maryland Center for Health Workforce
Development. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland School of Law.
