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Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Healthcare Law, Private Equity, and Service with John Saran, Partner at Holland & Knight LLP
00:10:32
In this episode, John Saran, Partner at Holland & Knight LLP and a Reserve Judge Advocate General for the Great Lakes District, U.S. Coast Guard, joins the podcast to discuss his career in healthcare private equity law,
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- [00:02]
A
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- [00:31]
B
This is Scott Becker with the Becker Business and the Becker Private Equity Podcast. We're thrilled today to visit with an old colleague, a brilliant lawyer and a brilliant leader. It's also someone who spent time serving our country too. We're joined today by a brilliant lawyer, John Saran, who spends a lot of his time in the healthcare and private equity area, but also serves the nation. John, can you take a moment and introduce yourself and tell us a bit about yourself and your practice and what you do?
- [00:59]
C
Sure, Scott, and thank you so much for having me on today. So, yeah, as you said, I'm currently a partner in Hollow Knight where I focus on healthcare transactions pretty much since day one of my career, which by the way, I started with you as a first and second year associate, McGuire Woods. Since day one I've worked in the private equity space advising them on a myriad of transactions, all different types of providers. And it has been an incredible journey from when I started in 2013 to where I am today day. My firm, you know, is, is, is, is a large national firm with, with practice all over the, all over the country. Some, you know, concentrations of attorneys in, in Nashville and Boston. But it's been a great platform for me recently to, you know, kind of build my, build my business and build my brand. But as you said, that's not the only thing I do. I am currently a Reserve Judge Advocate general for the US Coast Guard. I actually started volunteering for them in 2018 and then I made the transition actually this summer to the military reserve side. So in fact, this past weekend I did my first drill weekend.
- [02:09]
B
That's amazing. Congratulations. Take one moment before we go back to your work at Holland and Knight and what you do in healthcare and law. Take one moment and what that drill weekend was like and what that was like. I mean, just to go back and do that. I know it's just a part of the process, but it must be fascinating.
- [02:27]
C
Yes, it definitely was. And keep in mind, I literally just had graduated from Reserve Officer training about two or three weeks ago and so this was a early first reserve drill for me. But you know, I've Waited my whole life for this. You know, I'd always wanted to join the military. I haven't had the right time, and it just worked out in the last few years. And so to be able to walk in the door and, you know, be able to do the job, you know, was incredible, actually, day one, get thrown right into the funnel, you know, actually, you know, start doing trainings and actual, you know, legal work. It was a great experience, and it shows the value that we can bring, you know, currently practicing professionals, you know, can bring to the military even so late in their career. It's never too late. In fact, there are, you know, age waivers and all kinds of opportunities to serve. But it was an incredible experience.
- [03:28]
B
And talk about what inspired you and motivated you both to be a lawyer to begin with, but more interestingly, to join the Reserve and join the Judge Advocate Corps.
- [03:39]
C
So I think the primary focus for me was healthcare. I think my first job ever was working in the medical records department for a hospital. And that was back in the day before electronic. And from there I thought I wanted to be a doctor, a physician in college, made the transition to law and pretty much came out, you know, came out the gate looking for healthcare, you know, law positions, which took me to be able to work with you right out of law school, you know, at, you know, at McGuire Woods. So. And then from there, I actually had tried to join the Navy Reserve and had some issues at the time with, you know, medical waivers and all of that. But the times have changed with, you know, the. The medical processing and. And, you know, how that, you know, how all that works. And so it took some time to, you know, to get to where I am today. But it started off with. With being able to, you know, volunteering for the Coast Guard for, you know, several years before. Then I was able to make the jump, you know, to, you know, to the reserve side and naturally. Right. Wanting to bring the professional skills, the, you know, attorney way of thinking and, you know, to the coast, have them be able to benefit from, you know, from the over a decade of experience.
- [05:00]
B
It's literally a fantastic thing. And congratulations. And talk about your focus in healthcare and law and what some of the trends you're watching in the businesses that you follow closely. I know you do a lot of work in healthcare, private equity area, you're at a great firm. You do a lot of the same work that we do at McGuire Woods. Talk a bit about some of the areas you focus on and some of the trends you're watching. Sure.
- [05:22]
C
I mean, I pretty much do everything in healthcare right now. But I think the one thing that I've really focused a lot of my thought leadership in the last few years has been the federal and state scrutiny of healthcare transactions and more specifically the focus on private equity. On the federal side there were some large enforcement actions last year in Texas and whatnot. And with the changing administration there has been I think a no longer a spotlight on private equity and now it's more so the FTC is going to just continue sort of looking for your sort of run of the mill anti competitive conduct, not necessarily just focusing on private equity just because they can. And we also just recently saw a walk back of the federal rules for the non compete agreements. Even though they walked back the final rule. They then sent letters to healthcare businesses and put out some RFIs. So we'll see what happens there. But at least there's not that, you know, that that spotlight or bullseye on, on private equity. And then on the state side, you know, it has been, I think the most exciting for me is to watch the, you know, progression of you know, the states imposing their own requirements right. On, on, on what they think should, should be or shouldn't be right for healthcare consolidation. And it comes in a lot of different flavors whether it's transaction reporting, you know, sort of like annual reporting, almost like public mini, public company style type requirements or corporate practice. And medicine has seemed to have had a resurgence in a few states and then also a renewed focus on non compete laws especially with, you know, now, you know, some of the changes on the federal side. But I think the most exciting part about that is, you know, being at the forefront, you know, of those initiatives. And so it's not just bringing awareness to it but also motivating the industry to participate in the discussions regarding those, those measures so that there's actually a balanced discussion. Right. You're not left with, you know, results and then having to deal with a new law. Right. If you're, if you're able to kind of get to it while it's making its way through the, you know, through the legislative process, you're able to provide your perspective and, and get, you know, more, I don't want to say business friendly type, you know, changes to it, but you know, you're able to make sure the legislators understand sort of the impact of what, of what they're doing. And a good example of that right now are the, the two private equity bills that just got sent last week to Governor Newsom in California and what, what's happening there is, you know, last year, as you recall, Governor Newsom vetoed AB 31 29, which would have given the a current, the California attorney General a consent right on private equity transactions and also would have codified California's corporate practice of medicine statute. Now, fast forward to this year. That bill was sort of recycled and split into two different parts. And so now we've, and yes, there's been some changes since last year, but I think the fundamental question remains, you know, what will govern Governor Newsom do with both of those bill and whether those bills are still redundant. He as part of his veto from last year, he felt that last year's bill was redundant from what was already in effect in California. As you know. Right. California already has a transaction reporting statute and one of the most strict corporate practice medicine regimes in the country which by the way is enforced by courts, third parties. And it's one that as all practitioners. Right. We all know that California has those limitations already.
- [09:01]
B
Fantastic. And fancy. And then John, as you looked at the next year, what are you most focused and excited about? Where are you most, I mean you do great things now. You're helping to drive a major legal practice in the health care area. You're also part of the U.S. military Reserve. Just amazing. What are you most focused on and excited about heading into 2026?
- [09:24]
C
I, I'm just, I'm focused on, you know, continuing to build my brand kind of using the tools that, you know, frankly, you gave me when I started off in legal practice to build the brand, build the practice and, and hope. Right. That we return to write those years prior when it was just like, you know, gangbusters in terms of deal flow and deal activity. Yes. You know, we're seeing transactions out there. We're seeing day to day work. We're seeing sort of the regular, regular matters but not the level of, you know, M and A that we saw, you know, a few years ago. And so what I'm excited about and I've started to see it and you know, with sale processes starting up and you know, getting a lot of banker calls and whatnot, I'm hoping.
- [10:09]
B
Right.
- [10:09]
C
That we return to that, to that flow next year.
- [10:14]
B
Just fantastic. John, I'm with you 100%. It is great to visit with you. You're a terrific leader and professional. So impressed with what you've done with your career. Thank you for joining us in the Becker business and the Becker Private Equity podcast. Thank you very, very much.
- [10:29]
C
Thanks, Scott.