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About Us  /  Eric Chan

Eric Chan

Principal Partner

Email: eric@athenelaw.com

Tel: 310-913-4013

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Eric Chan is a technology enthusiast and trial lawyer who represents clients in complex litigation and arbitration on behalf of providers. He has deep experience in managed care disputes, having recovered tens of millions of dollars on behalf of providers.  He also defends providers in all kinds of business litigation, including with health information technology (HIT) vendors and other service providers.

 

Eric  is a nationally-recognized expert on the No Surprises Act and other aspects of federal and state managed care regulation.  He co-authored the chapter on the No Surprises Act in the forthcoming 2022 edition of the Thomson Reuters Health Law Handbook.  Eric also has a deep understanding of the intersection between the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and healthcare payment systems.

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Eric has first-chaired jury trials to verdict and has argued successfully before the California courts of appeal and the Ninth Circuit.  Eric’s practice also reflects a high degree of proficiency with technology. He has particular expertise in the areas of electronic health records (EHR) and large-scale electronic discovery.

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Prior to joining Athene Law, Eric was a partner in the litigation department of a national health care law firm, where he served as co-chair of the Recruiting Committee and co-chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee.  Eric also previously worked for four years at an AmLaw 100 firm, where his practice focused on patent litigation and class action defense.

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For each of the eight years from 2014 through 2021, Eric has been honored as an annual Super Lawyers® Southern California Rising Star. He was also recognized in 2019 as a Law360 Rising Star, an award that profiles the top legal talent under 40.

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Professional Affiliations

  • Co-Chair, Health Law Committee, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)

  • Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) Board of Trustees

  • Chair, LACBA Diversity in the Profession Section

  • Member, LACBA Healthcare Section

  • Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (SCCLA), Lifetime Member

Representative Matters

  • Advise a wide range of provider clients on compliance with the No Surprises Act and state-level balance billing laws.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital v. Anthem, Inc. et al., 829 Fed. Appx. 156 (9th Cir. Oct. 2, 2020) – obtained affirmance on appeal of judgment against Anthem and a self-funded benefit plan for directing benefit checks to the patient following emergency care rendered by an out-of-network hospital, in violation of ERISA.  The district court below, 2008 WL 3830009 (C.D. Cal. July 5, 2018), had ordered the defendants to pay the hospital even though over $700,000 worth of checks had already been deposited by the patients.

  • Plum v. MatrixCare, Inc. (San Diego Superior Court, 2019) – obtained temporary restraining order against EHR vendor who shut off access to crucial data feed needed to ensure quality control and health & safety of patients.  The matter ultimately settled.

  • Applied General Agency v. Chinese Community Health Plan, 2019 WL 949258  (California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, February 27, 2019 (unpub.)) – obtained affirmance of ruling denying request for millions of dollars in attorney’s fees sought by plaintiff.

  • Applied General Agency v. Chinese Community Health Plan (Orange County Superior Court, 2017) – successfully defended provider-owned community health plan in three-week jury trial against breach of contract claims.  The jury awarded just one-sixth of the damages sought and effectively cut off the  right to future commissions.

  • Downey Surgical Clinic, Inc. v. OptumInsight, Inc., 2016 WL 5938722 (C.D. Cal., settled 2016) - Represented class of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) against United Healthcare, Ingenix (now Optum), and self-funded ERISA health benefit plans regarding out-of-network payments. Reached class settlement for $9.5 million for the benefit of California ASCs affected by defendants' low-payment practices.

  • Successfully defended academic health system against $50 million arbitration demand brought by national EHR vendor for breach of contract relating to software licensing and managed IT services.  (AAA Arbitration, 2015.)

Recent Publications

  • The No Surprises Act: Considerations for Payors and Providers in the Initial Implementation, HEALTH LAW HANDBOOK, (2022 Edition) WestGroup, a Thomson Company

  • The No Surprises Act – A Crystal Ball for Emerging Litigation, American Bar Association Health eSource, February 28, 2022 (link)

  • Another Kind of Medical Shock, Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine, April 2020, Vol. 43, No. 2 (link)

  • Beyond ERISA Assignments of Benefits: A New Path for Healthcare Providers as Authorized Representatives that Leaves Patients Out of the Dispute, California Health Law News, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 2, Fall 2019

Credentials

Eric received his B.S. degree in Cybernetics, summa cum laude, from University of California at Los Angeles. He received his J.D. degree from Stanford University, where he was Co-Editor-In-Chief of Stanford Technology Law Review and a Student Fellow in the Stanford Cyberlaw Clinic. After graduation, he clerked for the Hon. Mariana R. Pfaelzer of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Recent Speaking Engagements

  • The No Surprises Act, Four Months In (April 1, 2022) California Society for Healthcare Attorneys Annual Conference, Napa, CA

  • The No Surprises Act: New Regulations Clarify the Notice & Consent Process for Post-Stabilization Care (September 14, 2021) Healthcare Financial Management Association West Region Webinar

  • The No Surprises Act: What to Expect and How to Comply (June 29, 2021) American Health Law Association Annual Conference

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