The law firm of Baker Donelson has named new leaders within its Health Law and Public Policy Department. Michaela D. Poizner has been named chair of the Firm's Health Law and Public Policy Department, Robert Wells has been named chair of the Health Law Group, and Craig C. Conley has been named chair of the Health Care Litigation Group.
While serving in these leadership roles, Ms. Poizner, Mr. Wells, and Mr. Conley will all maintain their legal practices.
As chair of the Health Law and Public Policy Department, Ms. Poizner will oversee more than 200 attorneys and public policy advisors across 11 states and Washington, D.C. A shareholder in the Nashville office, Ms. Poizner previously served as chair of the Firm's nationally recognized Health Law Group, and she also founded the Firm's Behavioral Health Initiative. Her practice is focused on assisting clients in executing a wide range of strategic transactions, from acquisitions and sales to joint ventures, mergers, and other forms of affiliation. She also helps clients navigate operational matters, including privacy and security concerns, fraud and abuse analysis, policy development, and licensure and Medicare enrollment.
Ms. Poizner's behavioral health clients include multistate psychiatric hospital systems, outpatient and residential mental health treatment programs, and addiction treatment facilities. She also represents multifacility providers of skilled nursing and assisted living care, organizations that serve the intellectually and developmentally disabled, and medical-surgical facilities ranging from physician practice organizations to large regional health systems.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, Ms. Poizner has served on the board and as the chair of Leadership Health Care. She has been recognized in the area of health care law by both The Best Lawyers in America® and Mid-South Super Lawyers. Before joining Baker Donelson, she clerked for the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Office of General Counsel. Ms. Poizner is a member of the American Health Law Association, where she has served as chair of the Fundamentals of Health Law Program Planning Committee.
Mr. Wells, who is a shareholder in the Baltimore office, will oversee more than 200 attorneys across 11 states and Washington, D.C., in his role as chair of the Health Law Group. He has more than two decades of experience representing clients in health care regulatory and corporate matters. His practice primarily focuses on fraud and abuse issues. Mr. Wells handles complex legal and operational matters, such as the development, implementation, and assessment of corporate compliance programs for providers across the health care industry, including the challenging regulatory issues governing pharmaceutical and medical device companies and their interactions with health care providers. In addition, he regularly counsels clients on health care fraud and abuse regulatory compliance matters to help advance their strategic objectives and has assisted with the development and growth of innovative technology and health care data analytics partnerships.
Mr. Wells' experience also includes functioning as a corporate executive while serving as in-house counsel. He was the chief legal officer of Integra Connect, a health care practice management and technology company, and he also served as general counsel of Flatiron Health, a health care IT and data analytics company. Mr. Wells also previously held senior legal roles at the Fortune 20 companies AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health.
Mr. Wells earned his J.D. from the Ohio State University College of Law and his undergraduate degree from West Virginia University, where he was a Truman Scholar. He is recognized in Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America® and was named a 2025 Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer. His recognitions also include being named to Savoy Magazine's 2022 Most Influential Black Lawyers and among The Daily Record and Maryland State Bar Association's 2024 Leaders in Law. Mr. Wells is a member of the American Health Law Association and has served on the board of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation.
Mr. Conley, a shareholder in the Firm's Memphis office, will lead a multidisciplinary team of attorneys in the Health Care Litigation Group who have broad experience representing health care clients across the country. His practice has an emphasis on health care litigation involving hospitals, long-term care facilities, physicians, nurses, and other health care providers. He also is experienced in health care regulatory matters, including issues involving federal and state regulations and licensing, survey, and certification.
Mr. Conley is a Rule 31 Listed General Civil Mediator for the state of Tennessee and has served as lead counsel as well as co-counsel in jury and non-jury trials in state and federal courts in Tennessee and throughout the United States. Prior to joining Baker Donelson, he was in-house counsel for Federal Express Corporation within the litigation department, with a focus on labor and employment. He also served as law clerk to the Honorable W. Frank Crawford of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Western Section.
A graduate of the University of Memphis School of Law, Mr. Conley is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® and was named the Best Lawyers® 2021 Health Care Litigation "Lawyer of the Year" in Memphis. He has been selected to the Mid-South Super Lawyers list every year since 2013 and has been listed as one of the top 100 Tennessee attorneys and top 50 Memphis attorneys. Mr. Conley has held numerous bar leadership roles, including serving as a board member of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, as president of the Memphis Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, and board member of the Memphis Bar Association. He is a member of the state bar associations of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Kentucky, as well as the American Board of Trial Advocates and the American Health Law Association.