Thomas J. Mortell

SIGNIFICANT REPRESENTATION – HEALTHCARE

Mr. Mortell has acted as lead counsel and assisted healthcare clients in joint ventures and business transactions, including:

• Sale of multi-owner ambulatory surgery center.
• Ambulatory surgery center joint venture with hospital and physician investors.
• Hospital counsel for $25 million and $45 million bond issuances.
• The acquisition of multiple physician practices for hospital clients.
• A short-stay rehabilitation clinic joint venture.
• An imaging center joint venture with physician investors.
• The acquisition of an oncology clinic.
• Two medical office building joint ventures with physician investors.
• The acquisition of an ambulatory surgery center.
• The acquisition of a competing specialty hospital.
• A specialty hospital joint venture with physician investors.
• A conversion of county hospital to tax-exempt, non-profit corporation

SIGNIFICANT REPRESENTATION – CONSTRUCTION

• Represented school district owner in $2.5 million delay and impact claim in high school project
• Represented road construction contractor in several significant disputes, including a $2 million impact and delay claim on a highway construction project
• Represented project owners in multimillion dollar professional negligence case against project architect for two projects
• Represented school district owner in $900,000 delay/impact/defective construction case in state court relating to the performance of masonry contractor with companion arbitration matter against construction manager
• Represented hospital owners in construction of $40 million and $10 million expansion and remodel projects for two public hospitals in Idaho
• Represented contractor in defense of federal and California False Claims Act, with companion cases in federal and state court in San Francisco, California
• Represented school district owner in construction defect case (damages exceeding $6 million) in state court relating to design/installation of roof and insulation systems
• Represented stucco manufacturer in $160,000 defective stucco installation case in state court
• Represented engineering firm in $350,000 defective design case in state court
• Represented engineering firm in $1 million plus contract termination dispute settled with mediation/arbitration pending
• Represented university owner in $350,000 construction delay/impact case in state court
• Represented German manufacturer of sugar extraction equipment in $2 million arbitration case relating to installation and performance of sugar diffusion tower
• Represented steel fabrication subcontractor in $1 million dollar construction defect case in state court relating to the materials supplied to a bridge project
• Represented university owner in $200,000 state court dispute relating to remodel of university’s historic administration building
• Represented general contractor in dispute with city owner, subcontractors, and suppliers relating to the redevelopment of city’s downtown sidewalks and streets
• Represented semiconductor manufacturer in $70 million state court case against concrete contractor, steel erection contractor, construction manager, and project engineer
• Law clerk for state court judge during ten-week trial relating multi-million dollar claims brought by over forty subcontractors, suppliers, and others arising from the general contractor’s default on natural gas pipeline expansion project

PRESENTATIONS & PANELS

• Panelist, The First 100 Days: Health Care, Idaho Business Review, February 2021
• Moderator, Breakfast Series: Keeping Idaho Healthy: Innovators shaping the industry, Idaho Business Review, October 2020
• Co-presenter, Dealing with Medicare and Medicaid Appeals, Audits, and Repayments, Idaho Hospital Association, October 2019
• Moderator, Breakfast Series: Taking a Pulse on Health Care, Idaho Business Review, August 2019
• Interviewee, Interview with Tom Moretll of Hawley Troxell on Healthcare and Rural Hosptials, Idaho Business Review, Idaho Business Out Loud, July 2019
• Co-presenter, What to Do When an Event Occurs and What Are My Legal Responsibilities, Idaho Hospital Association, October 2018
• Co-presenter, Dealing with Physicians: Pitfalls and Roadblocks, The Hospital Cooperative, May 2018
• Duties and Responsibilities of Hospital Boards, Idaho/Wyoming Hospital Trustee Symposium, The Hospital Cooperative, August 2017
• Contracting with Physicians: Basic Concepts and New Developments, Idaho HFMA Summer Conference, August 2017
• Compliance Principles for Hospital Board, Idaho Hospital Association, October 2016
• Workplace Violence-Protecting Patients, and Staff in a Climate of Increasing Risk and Danger, Idaho Hospital Association, June 2016
• Doing a Deal with a Physician or Group-Nuts and Bolts, and Other Things, HFMA-Idaho Chapter, October 2015
• The Impact of Healthcare Reform and the ACA – A Legal Perspective, Idaho Hospital Association, June, 2015
• Principles of Good Governance For Hospital Boards, Western Regional Trustee Symposium, June, 2015
• What You Need to Know in 2015 – Physician Integration, Fraud Enforcement and the ACA, HFMA – Idaho Chapter, January, 2015
• Co-Presenter, Repayment Obligations for Idaho’s Hospitals – Living in an Era of Increased Enforcement, HFMA – Idaho Chapter, July, 2014
• HIPAA-What May Come in 2015, IHA Convention, October, 2014
• Board Training – Effective Governance Principles, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, October 2013
• Presenter, Medicaid Expansion in Idaho-Health Insurance for the Working Poor, Southwest Idaho Legislative Summit, September 2013
• Co-presenter, Hidden Health Care Reform Perils for Employers, Southeast Idaho, Hawley Troxell Seminars, June 2013
• Co-presenter, PPACA: Pitfalls and Opportunities for Businesses in Idaho, IACI Annual Convention, June 2013
• 2012 Health Law Update, Idaho State Bar, December 2012
• The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Business, Idaho State Bar, September 2012
• The Affordable Care Act – Impact on Idaho’s Health Care Industries, Idaho Health Facilities Authority, August 2012
• Co-presenter, Fraud and Abuse Laws: Application to Common Situations, Idaho Hospital Association, 2011
• Board Training: Effective Governance Principles, 2008-2010
• Physician/Hospital Joint Ventures, Idaho Hospital Association, 2010
• Compliance Issues for Idaho Hospitals, The Hospital Cooperative, 2010
• Co-presenter, Developing Physician and Hospital Partnerships, The Hospital Cooperative, 2008

EDUCATION

Law School:

Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School, J.D. cum laude, 1994

Undergraduate:

Brigham Young University, B.S. Economics, 1991

CLERKSHIP

Law Clerk for Honorable William H. Woodland, District Judge, Idaho Sixth Judicial District Court, 1994-1996

Law Clerk, Utah County Attorney’s Office, 1993-1994

BAR ADMISSIONS

Idaho, since 1995

Utah, since 1994

PROFESSIONAL/COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS

American Bar Association

American Health Lawyers Association

Idaho State Bar, Health Law Section, Past Chair

Section of Litigation and Forum on the Construction Industry (Construction Litigation)

Boise Valley Economic Partnership, Board Member

Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, Health Care Subcommittee Member

Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce
– Board Member since 2016
– Board Chair, 2021
– Policy Committee Chair since 2022
– Leadership Boise graduate, 2007

Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Member of the Board of Trustees, since 2021

Advisory Board, Athlos Academies/Braintree Group, since 2019

American Inns of Court, 1995–2002

Idaho Law Foundation, Mock Trial Program for high school students, 1999–2002

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Idaho Business Review’s 2023 Power List, Most Influential Business Leaders in Idaho

Idaho Business Review’s Leaders in Law–Partner, 2020

Best Lawyers in America – Health Care, since 2013; Construction Law, since 2021

Best Lawyers, Boise Health Care Law “Lawyer of the Year.” 2016 and 2022

PUBLICATIONS

• The Idaho Patient Act: What it means for Idahoans, Hawley Troxell Health Law Blog, April 2020
• What the Medicaid Expansion Ballot Initiative Could Mean for Idaho, East Idaho Business Journal, May 2018
• Co-author, Medicare’s 60-day Repayment Statute: When Failing to Return an Overpayment Becomes a False Claim, The Advocate, Idaho State Bar, January 2018
• What the American Health Care Act Could Mean For Idaho, Idaho Business Review, May 2017
• Idaho’s Telehealth Access Act, The Advocate, Idaho State Bar, January, 2016
• Co-author, King v. Burwell: Obamacare Survives Another Challenge, Idaho Business Review, June, 2015
• Why Idaho’s Business Community Should Care About The Quality of Health Care, Idaho Business Review, June, 2015
• Idaho’s Telehealth Access Act: Another Step Toward Reform, Idaho Business Review, May, 2015
• What is Medicaid ReDesign and Why Should Idaho’s Businesses Care About It, Idaho Business Review, January, 2015
• Co-Author, Idaho’s Health Insurance Exchange – One Year Later, Idaho Business Review, May 16, 2014.
• Author, Does saying ‘I’m sorry’ help?, Idaho Business Review, January 2, 2014
• Co-author, Idaho’s Health Insurance Exchange Onward and Upward, The Advocate, Idaho State Bar, June/July 2013
• Co-Author, Idaho’s Health Insurance Exchange: What’s Next?, Idaho Business Review, April 11, 2013
• Co-author, The Resurgence of the Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine, The Advocate, Idaho State Bar, June/July 2012
• Health Insurance Exchanges – What Idaho’s Health Care Providers Should Know, Hawley Troxell Health Law Update, February, 2012
• Liability of Health Care Providers in Idaho – Apparent Authority and Negligent Credentialing, The Advocate, October, 2010