Jane became a member of the firm’s policy committee (the firm’s governing body) in 2019, after serving for several years as co-chair of the global litigation and enforcement practice. Jane focuses her practice on complex business litigation, class action litigation, and antitrust matters, including in large part, matters for health care and life sciences clients.
Jane has been named the Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” for Antitrust in Boston for several years, including 2022. Jane also maintains a Chambers Band 1 ranking. According to Chambers USA: Jane Willis “is an extremely strong critical thinker. She can navigate really complex questions and provide advice that can be shared with business leaders.”
As lead counsel, Jane represents a wide range of clients including health care systems, publicly-traded companies, real estate investment trusts, and private equity funds. Her health care and life sciences client list includes hospitals and health care systems, commercial health and dental payors, physician practice management companies, medical device and biotech companies, pharmacies, home health care providers, and senior living providers. In addition to health care, Jane has handled antitrust matters for a range of industries including consumer electronics, consumer products, sports, and transportation.
As a part of her antitrust practice, Jane has represented many clients in civil investigations by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, as well as criminal antitrust investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice. Jane also represents many clients in mergers and acquisitions subject to antitrust merger review and investigation by the DOJ and the FTC.
Jane has been interviewed for her antitrust experience by various publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Legal Times, National Law Journal, Competition Law 360, Health Law 360, Modern Healthcare, Reuters, Associated Press, and Bloomberg News Services.
Experience
Representative antitrust transactional matters include:
Jane represented Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc. in its successful antitrust advocacy with the DOJ in connection with its merger with Tufts Health Plan, Inc.
Jane has extensive experience in antitrust merger advocacy for health care providers and other clients at the Federal Trade Commission. By way of example, Jane has advised on antitrust transactions involving hospitals, outpatient facilities, and specific physician specialties, such as cardiology and anesthesiology. Jane has advised and advocated on behalf of health care provider clients in many states, including: New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.
Representative litigation matters include:
- Boston Children’s Hospital. Successfully defeated three preliminary injunction attempts, and successfully defeated a challenge to a determination of need, brought by opponents of a much needed modernization and expansion project to build, among other things, a state-of-the-art NICU and heart center at Boston Children’s Hospital.
- TravelCenters of America. Lead counsel for Fortune 500 Company in multiple litigation and arbitration matters, including federal antitrust litigation, multi-district consumer class actions for 28 states, and a successful trial against a card issuer in Delaware Chancery Court.
- IASIS Healthcare. Lead counsel for for-profit health system in multiple matters, including in defense of class action antitrust litigation, in antitrust litigation over peer review matters, and in mergers & acquisition disputes.
- Leading Massachusetts Biotech Company. Lead counsel in successful defense of attempt by distributors to obtain a preliminary injunction against change in distribution system for leading multiple sclerosis drug. Won dismissal of case after defeat of preliminary injunction.
- Five Star Quality Care, Inc. Lead counsel for publicly traded NYSE health care company in multiple matters, including a suit brought by Five Star against a manager of health care facilities.
- HealthSouth Litigation. First-chair trial counsel for a publicly traded REIT in a successful trial against HealthSouth involving the ownership of certain rehabilitation hospitals.
- Daewoo International. Successfully obtained dismissal for Korean company named as a defendant in a class action antitrust case arising out of an alleged international cartel.
- Hitachi-LG Data Storage. Co-lead counsel for a Korean-Japanese joint venture in defending antitrust class actions alleging price-fixing in the optical disk drive industry. Successfully defeated a class certification motion filed by direct purchaser and indirect purchaser plaintiffs.
- Boston Red Sox. First-chair trial counsel in a successful trial in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and first chair counsel in a preliminary injunction proceeding in U.S. District Court to ensure the establishment of an entertainment concourse on game days on Yawkey Way near Fenway Park.