Anjana Patel, Gary Herschman and two dozen of their all-star colleagues have long established themselves as a top health care legal team in New Jersey with one of the top boutique firms in the state.
They knew they needed more.
Their clients were becoming more national in scope — and the team needed the type of infrastructure and resources that only a bigger firm could provide.
“We were tapping out, essentially,” Patel said. “It became very obvious to us, in the last year or so, that we have to do something. That’s when our core group started looking around.”
Patel, Herschman and fellow Epstein Becker colleagues Anthony Argiropoulos, Andrew Kaplan and Glenn Prives quickly found a fit with Baker Donelson.
The Memphis-based firm did not have a presence in the New Jersey (or New York) region, but it does have a name that’s known around the country for health care and a host of other specialties. And, with more than 700 attorneys, including more than 200 attorneys in health care alone, Baker Donelson has the size and strength that the group was looking for.
That’s why, in April, Baker Donelson announced it was opening offices in Iselin and Princeton with a team of 26 attorneys, including 17 shareholders, two of counsel and seven associates. Also joining are two paralegals and six support staff.
Patel, who will serve as office managing partner of both locations, feels it’s a perfect fit.
“Our practices were anchored in New Jersey,” she said. “Over the years, they started moving outward — into New York, the Northeast and then across the country.
“It got to a point where clients were asking for this type of expertise or that type of litigation, and we did not have the bandwidth, the resources or the infrastructure to provide it. When we started looking around, we had a checklist of ‘must haves,’ and Baker Donelson had all of them.”
The group wanted a firm that not only had a top-tier national health care practice, but one with great culture, Patel said.
“We wanted to make sure that we were going to a place where we like the people,” she said. “You want to practice law with people you like, so it had to be a certain culture.
“One of the really good things about Epstein Becker was the amazing people. We wanted something similar — collaboration, professionalism, collegiality, inclusiveness — Baker Donelson had that.”
Patel recently talked with BINJE about the transition to Baker Donelson and the plans moving forward. Here’s more of the conversation, slightly edited for space and clarity.
BINJE: You talked about the growing needs of your health care clients. Give us more depth on that — and how joining Baker Donelson will help you and the team meet those needs.
Anjana Patel: As a transactional attorney, I represent health care clients on the provider side — from health systems to surgery centers to ambulance companies to physicians. The whole spectrum. But I am beginning to represent a lot of businesses that are what I call ‘health care adjacent.’
So, they are not providers, but their clients are providers or peers: A health IT company that has some special software that they license to a pharmacy or someone, or a revenue cycle management company that is doing all the billing and collections for physicians or hospitals.
What they’re asking for is to go beyond health care, regulatory and transactional work. They’re asking for a little bit more complex tax advice. They’re having a tax dispute, so they’re asking for that expertise. They’re asking about securities law and bankruptcy. It was a bunch of different things that Epstein Becker didn’t have, or didn’t have a lot of. And, for the litigators, they needed to be able to litigate all across the U.S. and not have to worry about finding resources.
BINJE: We see how it works for your group; why does it work for Baker Donelson?
AP: Let’s start with this: One of the things that attracted us to this firm is that they have a very clear vision of what it is they do, who they want to be and where they’re going.
So, I think for Baker Donelson, this was not, ‘Oh, we want to be in New Jersey, so let’s go find Jersey people,’ I think this was more like: ‘Look at this group. Look what they’ve accomplished over the years — and they happen to be in New Jersey. So that’s even better for our footprint to grow geographically.’
It checked a bunch of different boxes for them, too.
BINJE: You came from Epstein Becker. Prior to that, much of the group was at Sills Cummis & Gross. Those are two well-known and highly regarded firms in New Jersey. As big as Baker Donelson is, was there any concern about being at a firm that did not have a presence in the state or region?
“We wanted to make sure that we were going to a place where we like the people. You want to practice law with people you like, so it had to be a certain culture.”
AP: Not at all. If you’re in health care, even if you’re in New Jersey or in Maine or Vermont, you know the name Baker Donelson; it’s a really well-known, well-respected firm. But, even if you’re not in health care, you’ve probably heard the name because it was founded by Howard Baker (a U.S. senator and chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan) and it has grown tremendously over the years.
I know the name is familiar, especially to our people and our clients. I just got an email from somebody at one of the New Jersey’s top health systems congratulating us on the move.
We are excited about the opportunity to make Baker Donelson even more well known, not only in Jersey, but in the Northeast. We feel confident we have that capability to do it, not only because of our roots here, but also because we have been growing and now have clients all over the country. It feels like we would be the perfect group to make Baker Donelson an even more well-known name in this geography.
BINJE: Let’s turn to you. Very few women — or people of color — currently serve as managing partners in law offices in New Jersey. Is that significant for you?
AP: I would say this is an exciting new chapter professionally, but also personally, having this opportunity to be the office managing shareholder. I feel like I’ve worked really hard, and this is one of the benefits of that labor — a reward.
I’ve never had a formal title in my prior firms, but I always informally have had a co-lead position. Leadership comes naturally to me. I’m a people person. I like to nurture. It’s just my style. Now, it is being formalized. And it’s a lot more people. So, it’s exciting.
BINJE: As is the move; it seems as if you feel it’s a win all around?
AP: Absolutely. This move is creating opportunities. We already have a strong foundation because we have good books of business and we’re bringing them over. But, we also have the ability to now essentially sell ourselves to other markets, where Baker Donelson is already established. So, it’s creating more opportunities for us.
And on the flip side, it’s creating opportunities for Baker Donelson lawyers, who can come into the Northeast now and pitch their expertise. I see it as a complete win-win for both sides.
For information about Baker Donelson, go to bakerdonelson.com.
