Greenberg Traurig, LLP

During and following a health emergency, individuals, business and property owners will confront a host of legal and non-legal issues, perhaps for the first time. They will be forced to make decisions on short notice and under difficult circumstances. Being prepared for those issues and their legal implications makes good business sense – and will make responding to a crisis more manageable, while limiting potential future liability.

Greenberg Traurig’s Health Emergency Preparedness Task Force is a multidisciplinary, collaborative team drawn from GT offices around the U.S. and abroad. We help clients proactively identify and prepare for the legal issues likely to arise in the event of a health emergency and assist in implementing planning measures in key operational areas to help preserve life, property and business interests, and to minimize exposure to future legal liability. In addition, we serve as a response team to assist clients in managing their legal issues in the aftermath of a health emergency, whether it is Ebola, SARS or another pandemic.

Our attorneys handle a wide-range of issues stemming from and related to health emergencies, including:

Governmental Affairs and Regulatory

• Perform pre-emergency industry-specific regulatory compliance review
• Advise on grant procurement for terrorism response and other targeted planning efforts
• Represent clients in local, state and federal lobbying and procurement for rebuilding efforts
• Liaise with the CDC and other state and federal health care organizations and assist with compliance with recommendations and requirements

Health & FDA

• Collaborate across practices to provide expertise on applicable regulations, ongoing updates to protocols, and assist with navigating multi-agency interactions
• Advise clients on managing pre-emergency workforce issues in compliance with HIPAA and other regulatory requirements
• Coordinate with Government Affairs and Regulatory to liaise with CDC and other state and federal health care organizations and assist with compliance with recommendations and requirements

Immigration

• Analyze immigration policies relating to health emergencies, natural disasters and associated events
• Provide guidance on emergency evacuation of personnel transfer from impacted regions, including liaising with senior government officials to secure emergency visas in a new country
• Provide guidance on expedited deployment of personnel to impacted regions
• Advise on international benefits transferability as a result of health emergencies

Employment

• Perform pre-emergency review of human resources policies; draft and help implement specific policies pertaining to disasters
• Advise on compensation and benefit issues while business is interrupted
• Provide guidance on termination/hiring issues, temporary labor issues and issues with providing temporary housing and other assistance to employees

Insurance

• Assist insurers in interacting with their regulators and other governmental entities regarding preparedness and issues that may arise.
• Assist policyholders by performing pre-emergency insurance policy review to structure insurance programs for adequate protection of property, liability and business interruption interests.

Litigation

• Represent clients in general litigation involving virtually all types of post-emergency issues
• Draw upon the expertise of a dedicated Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Health Care Litigation Practice to represent industry clients in litigation related to health emergencies

Environmental

• Perform pre-catastrophe review of hazardous material plans and policies for compliance with regulatory requirements
• Provide guidance on mold prevention planning
• Provide counsel on safe workplace, containment and toxic exposure issues post-event
• Help secure local, state and federal regulatory permits for rebuilding
• Respond to toxic and hazardous material releases and exposures

Business Continuity

• Advise on pre-emergency business continuity planning
• Address post-event business continuity issues

Construction, Hospitality and Real Estate Operations

• Advise on legal aspects of building and site security plans
• Address post-event tenant and employee access issues
• Negotiate, draft and interpret construction and architectural contracts
• Provide counsel on hazardous waste issues and securing of the workplace/building
• Defend against construction defects claims

Landlord/Tenant

• Perform pre-emergency review of leases for adequacy of provisions regarding such matters as rent abatement, relocation, termination and insurance responsibilities
• Advise on post-event lease termination and relocation issues for landlords and tenants
• Negotiate leases for temporary space and advise on landlord/tenant insurance issues