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“It is great to work with an attorney who understands not only the legal aspects of our business but also the business side.”

Michael J. Repka, CEO/Executive Director, Independent Physicians Network

Overview

Bruce is a relationship builder -- with clients, between clients, within the communities he serves and with the institutions that shape his practice. Like the healthcare professionals he admires, Bruce applies these principles to his practice: diagnose, predict and treat.

Decades of experience representing companies and providers at every stage of the healthcare continuum give Bruce a distinct understanding of the industry. He counsels clients on all aspects of the healthcare field, including hospital-physician strategic alignment, payor agreements (from both the provider and payor perspectives) and joint ventures, advising multispecialty clinics, individual or small-group physician practices, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and ambulatory surgery centers.

Bruce also has extensive experience in insolvency proceedings, including restructurings involving hospitals, continuing care retirement communities, nursing homes, domestic health insurers and dioceses. Bruce brings a unique perspective to restructuring, having served as the debtor’s counsel in many of the major cases filed in Milwaukee.

For 19 years Bruce served as a Director of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, which combined with Husch Blackwell in 2016. In this capacity, Bruce not only directed and contributed to the growth of the firm but also gained valuable leadership experience that he employs to help clients move their businesses forward.

“It is great to work with an attorney who understands not only the legal aspects of our business but also the business side.”

Michael J. Repka, CEO/Executive Director, Independent Physicians Network

Industry

Services

Recognition

  • The Best Lawyers in America®
    • Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2005-2025
    • Health Care Law, 2005-2025
  • St. Thomas More Lawyers Society of Wisconsin, Faithful Servant Award, 2020
  • Milwaukee Magazine, 75 Best Lawyers in Milwaukee, 1994, 2004
  • Wisconsin Super Lawyers, Health Care, 2005-2022
  • Judge Dale E. Ihlenfeldt Bankruptcy Award, 2010
  • Wisconsin Law Journal Leader in the Law Award, 2010
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent

Education

  • J.D., University of Michigan Law School
    • cum laude
  • B.S.B.A., Georgetown University
    • summa cum laude
      • Salutatorian

Admissions

  • Wisconsin
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • American Health Law Association
  • National Diocesan Attorneys Association
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • ALFA International Health Care Practice Group, Program Chair, 2001-2003; Practice Group Chair, 2003-2016
  • Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association, Director, 2002-2005; Co-Chair, Bankruptcy Section, 2006-2014
  • American Bar Association, Business and Health Law Sections
  • State Bar of Wisconsin, Health Law and Bankruptcy Sections
  • Milwaukee Bar Association, Bankruptcy and Health Law Sections
  • Seventh Circuit Bar Association
Experience
  • As a key member of the firm's CARES Act resource team, advised clients on accessing COVID-19-driven financial assistance, including Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Main Street Lending Program.
  • Provided guidance in creating one of Wisconsin's first accountable care organizations (ACOs).
  • Advised on creation and implementation of Wisconsin's first regional health information organization (RHIO), the Wisconsin Health Information Exchange.
  • Guided the Archdiocese of Milwaukee through multiyear restructuring process involving questions of first impression under Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
  • Structured financing transactions for startup telemedicine technology solutions company. Project included developing private placement memorandum, negotiating with potential investors and arranging sophisticated stock incentives for key employees.
  • Created clinical co-management arrangements including, most recently, orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery service lines.
  • Offered guidance on creation, development and sale of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), including so-called "hospital joint venture" ASCs.
  • Advised physicians, hospitals and managed care organizations in developing, implementing and enforcing credentialing protocols, including service as special counsel to the medical staffs of several hospitals in creating consolidated medical staff bylaws under the Medicare disproportionate share hospital rules.
  • Created multiemployer "church plan" among several hundred employers.
  • Advised on creation, acquisition and sale of Wisconsin domestic health insurers, including through change of control agreements, purchase of assets and ceding transactions.
  • Counseled several multispecialty groups on the development of physician compensation formulas that comply with the federal statutes, including Professional Services Agreements and compensation models applying survey data tied to a least-squares regression line formula.
  • Advised on creation of compliance plans uniquely tailored to emergency medicine, neurosurgery, ambulance services, medical billing companies and ambulatory surgery centers.
  • Counseled physicians nationwide on whether to sell their practices and, if they chose to do so, how to achieve favorable employment agreements and appropriate corporate governance protections.
Outside the Office

Bruce and his wife are adventurous “foodies” who are equally fanatical about cooking and eating.

They enjoy taking cooking classes together and studied under world-class chef Sandy D’Amato at Good Stock Farm Cooking School in Hatfield, Massachusetts. The couple also enjoy raising and training golden retrievers. Their current goldens, Rusty and Baxter, have their own Instagram account: “browndogwhitedog.”

Community Leadership

An agent for change.

Bruce grew up idolizing Robert F. Kennedy and knew early on that becoming a lawyer could carry the honor of being a change agent. Bruce’s parents raised their children to give back to the community, and Bruce’s special passion is Catholic education.

Bruce’s community leadership also includes:

  • Seton Catholic Schools, Vice Chair, Board of Directors, 2016-2019; Chair, 2019-present
  • The Legatus Society, 2024-present
  • Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, 2018-2019 Good Samaritan Campaign, Chair
  • Marquette University High School, Board of Directors, 2010-2016, Board Chair, 2014-2016
  • Georgetown University Alumni Club of Wisconsin, Past President
  • Milwaukee Bar Foundation, Director, 2011-2017
  • Divine Savior Holy Angels High School, Board of Directors, 2002-2008, Board Chair, 2007-2008
  • St. Thomas More Lawyers Society of Wisconsin, Past President
  • National Institute for Medical Informatics, the Wisconsin Health Information Exchange, Board Chair, 2007-2013
  • Faith in Our Future Trust, Trustee, 2007-2010