Michael C. Wood

During his stint as Legal Operations Counsel for three California hospitals, Michael gained operational experience leading all physician and non-physician contracting, advising hospital leadership on day-to-day operational matters, including patient consent and capacity issues, risk management, and ethical dilemmas.

Previously, Michael spent two years as in-house counsel for a national provider of optometry services, where he addressed all aspects of the company’s operations, including in-house and third-party manufacturing labs, distribution and import of medical devices, regulatory compliance, commercial contracts, and anti-corruption and anti-kickback compliance.

Michael advises on Anti-Kickback Statute compliance across the full range of healthcare arrangements, from complex physician compensation structures and medical director agreements to vendor contracts and referral relationships. He also advises buyers and sellers on healthcare regulatory and compliance due diligence in connection with acquisitions and other transactional matters. He combines extensive law firm and in-house experience with a strong commercial background to advance client business objectives while maintaining rigorous regulatory compliance.

In his work on government price-reporting matters, Michael advises clients on compliance with the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, Medicare Part B pricing, Department of Veterans Affairs requirements, and 340B Program obligations, as well as with state drug-pricing transparency requirements.

Michael’s clients include pharmaceutical manufacturers, hospitals and integrated health networks, clinical laboratories, physicians and other healthcare providers, practice management companies, telehealth platforms, pharmacies, and developers of mobile and digital health technology. With particular expertise in California healthcare regulatory matters, deepened by his time providing day-to-day operational legal counsel, Michael addresses the unique compliance challenges facing national and West Coast healthcare organizations with operations in California. He regularly engages with state and federal healthcare regulatory agencies and serves as a resource for California-specific healthcare regulatory analyses across the firm.

Earlier in his career, Michael spent nearly five years at a large international law firm focusing on complex compliance and regulatory matters for multinational corporations, as well as hospitals across California. He helped a variety of clients navigate litigation, regulatory actions, and internal and government investigations involving complex civil, criminal, and compliance issues. Michael successfully defended a large California hospital system in a qui tam matter involving complex allegations of billing and coding. As a junior attorney, he also conducted internal compliance investigations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia regarding allegations of money laundering and financial fraud, senior management misconduct, the False Claims Act, anti-kickback statutes, insurance fraud, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

While at his first firm, Michael also completed a three-month secondment with the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, leading multiple jury trials to verdict as a volunteer deputy district attorney.

Michael began his career as a law clerk to then-Chief Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California in 2013 and 2014, where he researched and drafted proposed opinions and orders in a variety of civil and criminal matters at all stages of the proceedings.

Michael earned his J.D. from the Pepperdine University School of Law, where he served as symposium editor for the Pepperdine Law Review and graduated summa cum laude, salutatorian, and Order of the Coif. While at Pepperdine, Michael also received a Master of Dispute Resolution (M.D.R.) from the law school’s Straus Institute and a Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.). Michael graduated cum laude from Georgetown University with a degree in government.