Lowell C. Brown

Practice Areas

Lowell Brown, a partner of Arent Fox, serves as chair of the health care practice group. He advises hospitals, health systems, long-term care facilities, medical groups and other health care provider organizations in business, regulatory and medico-legal matters, with an emphasis on laws relating to operational issues, including the design and implementation of compliance programs, practitioner credentialing, peer review, disciplinary hearings, Medicare certification, licensing and accreditation issues, and related policies and procedures. Lowell is also a nationally recognized and widely published expert on EMTALA - the federal law prohibiting improper emergency patient transfers by hospitals ("patient-dumping"). In addition, he has extensive experience defending clients against actions by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to terminate Medicare provider agreements. Lowell’s practice also encompasses operational issues such as bioethics, medical records, and consent and confidentiality. His experience in the foregoing areas includes litigation in California and federal courts.

Previous Work

Prior to joining Arent Fox, Lowell was a partner for 16 years at a large international law firm, where he served in a number of leadership positions within the health law department. Previously, he has served as legal counsel for the prevailing parties in the first California appellate court decision to construe California's peer review statute, Business and Professions Code Section 809; in a key California decision regarding Evidence Code privileges in medical staff peer review cases; and in a precedent-setting California decision on the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies in administrative hearings.

Professional Activities

Lowell has been an assistant adjunct professor at the University of Southern California. He is an active member of a number of health care organizations, including the California Association Medical Staff Services and the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Among other positions, Lowell has served as chair of the Accreditation, Licensure and Certification Interest Group of the American Bar Association's Health Law Section; as president of the California Society for Healthcare Attorneys; and in several capacities in the American Health Lawyers Association. He formerly served as chair of the executive committee of the Health Care Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, as well as on the Institutional Review Board and Bio-Medical Ethics Committee of a major Los Angeles County general acute care hospital. Lowell is a member of the board of directors of the Venice Family Clinic and of the executive board of the Western Los Angeles County Council, Boy Scouts of America.

Publications, Presentations and Recognitions

• California Association of Medical Staff Services 11th Annual Education Conference, Torrance, CA; October 16, 2009
• “A Rose by Any Other Name:  The Perils of the Precautionary Suspension – Don’t Be Fooled!” Health Lawyers Weekly, Dec. 12, 2008, Vol. VI Issue 47, co-author
• California Association of Medical Staff Services 10th Annual Education Conference, Torrance, CA; October 17, 2008
• “Kadlec: Federal Appeals Court Clarifies Hospital Duties in Disclosing Peer Review Information,” Arent Fox Client Alert; May 14, 2007, co-author
• “New California Statute AB 632 Could Weaken California’s Well Established Medical Staff Peer Review Process,” Arent Fox Client Alert; Nov. 7, 2007, co-author
• “Joining Medical Staff Peer Review With Compliance: Coordination, Not Collision.” Health Care Compliance Association Quality of Care Compliance Conference, Philadelphia, PA; October 2, 2007 (with Shannon Dwyer, Esq.)
• “Call Panels and the EMTALA Final Rule: What's Next for Providers?” Journal of Health Care Compliance 6 ;2004 (pp.14-17)
• “The New EMTALA Regulations: Implications of a Different Era,” The Health Lawyer, American Bar Association Health Law Section, 15.04; July 2003 (with Julie Mathis Nelson)
• Lowell C. Brown, Shirley J. Paine, & Robyn A. Meinhardt, The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act: Practical Tips and Legal Issues (BNA's Health L. & Bus. Series No. 2900)
• “Peer Review Confidentiality: It's Not Just Important — It's Critical.” CAHHS Insight; March/April 1993

Lowell’s representative published cases include the following amicus letters and briefs:

• Smith v. Selma Community Hospital (2008) 162 Cal.App.4th 1478.  Filed on behalf of St. Joseph Health System in support of Selma Community Hospital requesting the court grant the case on review
• Mileikowsky v. West Hills Hospital Medical Center (2007) 154 Cal.App.4th 752. Filed in California Supreme Court on behalf of the California Hospital Association in support of petitioner, West Hills Hospital Medical Center
• Mileikowsky v. West Hills Hospital Medical Center, etc., et al. Supreme Court Case No. S156986.  Filed in California Supreme Court  on behalf of Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, The Permanente Medical Group and the Southern Permanente Medical Group in support of West Hills Hospital Medical Center
• Kibler v. Northern Inyo County Local Hospital District (2006) 39 Cal.4th 192. Filed in California Supreme Court on behalf of the California Hospital Association in support of Northern Inyo County Local Hospital District requesting the court grant the case on review.
• Potvin v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. (2000) 22 Cal.4th 1060. Filed in Court of Appeal on behalf of  the California Association of Health Plans and the Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies in support of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
• Mir v. Charter Suburban Hospital (1994) 27 Cal.App.4th 1471. Counsel for Charter Suburban Hospital
• Scripps Memorial Hospital v. Superior Court (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 1720. Counsel for Scripps Memorial Hospital
• Bollengier v. Doctors Medical Center (1990) 222 Cal.App.3d 1115. Counsel for Doctors Medical Center

Lowell was selected for inclusion in the 2007 edition of The Best Lawyers in America^®. He was also rated as one of the top health care attorneys in the state of California in 2007, 2008 and 2009 by Chambers USA.

Bar and Court Admissions

California Bar
US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
US District Court, Central District of California

Education

University of Utah, School of Law, JD, 1982
     - Topics editor, Utah Law Review

University of Utah, BA (magna cum laude), 1979
     - Student body president

Life Beyond the Law

Lowell spends as much of his time as possible with his wife, Sonja, and his three children. He loves intercollegiate sports and closely follows the fortunes of his beloved University of Utah Utes. He’s always happy when reading one of the works of Charles Dickens or watching the Boston Red Sox play.