Sarah G. Raaii devotes her practice to issues impacting group health and welfare benefit plans by counseling employers, digital health and point solution clients, plan administrators, insurers, consultants and other health plan service providers.

Sarah advises her clients on healthcare reform issues; consumer-driven health benefits; self-funded and fully insured health plans; data privacy and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); wellness programs; cafeteria plans; and regulatory, sub-regulatory and legal compliance. She provides guidance on the Affordable Care Act (ACA); the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); health plan transparency; mental health parity; the No Surprises Act; the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA); flexible benefit plans; health reimbursement accounts (HRAs); health savings accounts (HSAs); plan network design; multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs); association health plans; captive insurance arrangements; and other health benefits issues.

Sarah drafts and negotiates complex agreements between employers, health plans, third-party administrators, pharmacy benefit managers, carriers, consultants and other health plan service providers. She also counsels digital health, telehealth and point solution entities; third-party administrators; pharmacy benefit managers; and other benefit administrators on partnering with employers, group health plans and insurers. As co-chair of the Firm’s Post-Roe Working Group – a multidisciplinary team of lawyers providing clients with reproductive health guidance – Sarah has advised hundreds of health plans and benefit administrators on health benefits following the end of Roe v. Wade.

Additionally, Sarah routinely analyzes frequently changing health benefits laws and regulations and recommends risk mitigation strategies. She provides strategic due diligence and health benefits design, implementation and transition advice on issues arising from corporate and private equity mergers, acquisitions and other transactions.

Sarah frequently publishes and presents on health benefits trends and developments and has been quoted on health plan issues in prominent media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Law and Law360.

Prior to joining the firm, Sarah worked at the White House for the National Economic Council, where she implemented the ACA with leaders from the Executive Office of the President, the US Department of Labor, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the US Department of the Treasury. She previously collaborated with in-house lawyers and federal and state government relations professionals in the leadership development program of a Fortune 500 global insurance and financial services corporation.

Advises companies and investors across the full ecosystem of FDA-regulated products, including drugs, devices, health technologies, biologics, food, cosmetics, and cannabis  

Provides FDA regulatory counseling from the product concept stage through post-market and product marketing  

Assists clients with FDA-related due diligence in healthcare and life sciences transactions  

Handles the regulatory components of internal investigations, government enforcement, and consumer protection litigation 

Paul Gadiock leverages his firsthand experience at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide life sciences, healthcare and other FDA-regulated companies with practical, strategic counsel at every phase of the product life cycle. Paul supports medical device, digital therapeutic, and biopharma companies, drug compounders, software as a medical device (SaMD) and clinical decision support (CDS) developers, and their investors on their FDA regulatory and due diligence needs, delivering premarket and postmarket regulatory guidance to maximize business outcomes.

From providing strategic regulatory direction at the product concept stage through post-marketing issues such as product marketing, labeling, advertising, and recalls and crisis matters, Paul has substantial experience helping his clients bring novel technologies and innovative products to market and maintain competitive advantages. His deep experience allows him to provide practical, business-minded due diligence support to buyers, sellers and investors in achieving their transaction goals.

As a member of the senior leadership team at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Paul advised agency officials on issues related to the regulatory scope of the FDA’s policies, programs, regulations, and legislation to the medical device industry. He also collaborated with the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Government Accountability Office (GAO) on analyses, investigations and oversight of major national programs.

In addition to his government experience, Paul provides a commercially minded approach rooted in real-world experience as a business development executive at a national diagnostic biotechnology company. In that role, he worked with an international team on market entry and regulatory compliance issues to effectively launch and promote products in new market. Prior to joining McDermott Will & Schulte, Paul was a lawyer at several large national law firms.

Michael J. Bruno advises multinational companies, funds, single family offices, and entrepreneurs on sophisticated US and international tax planning and transactions. He has extensive experience in advising clients in the technology, healthcare, life sciences, digital health, consumer products, FinTech and cryptocurrency, and sports and entertainment industries.

Michael regularly advises clients on mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, joint ventures, and divestitures in various business contexts. He has assisted clients with many international tax issues, including navigating anti-deferral (controlled foreign corporation (CFC) and passive foreign investment company) regimes, foreign tax credit planning, export planning, treaty planning, intellectual property migrations, tax-efficient cash repatriation strategies, and post-acquisition integration and implementation.

Michael also regularly advises entrepreneurial families on strategies for minimizing US income taxation with respect to their closely held businesses and investments, including qualified small business stock planning. Through comments and a presentation, Michael advocated on behalf of The Florida Bar Tax Section for Congress, the Internal Revenue Service, and the US Department of the Treasury to afford the Section 250 deduction to electing Section 962 shareholders that earn Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income, as well as reinstating the repeal of Section 958(b)(4) for CFC downward attribution.

He has written numerous articles on international tax planning and frequently submits comments on statutory and regulatory promulgations. As a strong proponent for pro bono legal services, Michael founded the Transactional Equal Justice Program with Legal Services of Greater Miami, which offers free legal advice to nonprofits and low-to-moderate income small business owners to help them launch a business.

Catherine (Cate) A. Battin is the head of McDermott Will & Schulte’s State & Local Tax Practice Group and has practiced at the firm for more than 20 years.

Cate represents clients in all aspects of state and local tax matters, including controversies at the audit, administrative, and judicial levels across several jurisdictions. She advises on national state tax strategies involving a broad range of issues, such as income tax apportionment, sourcing, nexus, transfer pricing, combination and sales tax characterization of products and services, and other local excise tax issues. She has a particular focus on state and local tax controversies and has litigated cases throughout the United States, successfully arguing cases before state appellate and supreme courts.

Cate regularly speaks on state and local tax issues and has presented before organizations such as the Tax Executives Institute, the Council on State Taxation, the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois, and The Chicago Tax Club.

Prior to joining McDermott, Cate worked at a major international accounting and consulting firm, where she focused exclusively on state and local taxes.

Richard C. Call focuses his practice on a broad range of state and local tax matters, including litigation, advisory, and transactional work. He represents clients in proceedings before administrative bodies, trial courts, and appellate courts across multiple jurisdictions.

Corporate Income Tax Litigation and Transactions: Richard has significant experience with all major areas of corporate income tax, advising clients on complex issues such as nexus, apportionment, addbacks, transfer pricing, and combination . He represents clients on transfer pricing and alternative apportionment issues in various states, including Alabama, Louisiana, and South Carolina. He also regularly works with clients to evaluate and efficiently structure state income and franchise tax related to mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic transactions.

Sales Taxes and Company Business Models: Richard advises clients on sales tax issues that are affecting their overall business models, helping companies structure transactions to mitigate sales tax exposure, which often results in significant savings. As states increasingly expand the taxation of software, digital products, and services, he assists companies in identifying and managing their exposure to such taxes, particularly in advance of mergers, acquisitions, and other liquidity events.

Personal Income Tax Residency: Richard routinely advises clients on residency for various states, including New York, Massachusetts, California, and Illinois

Speeches and Publications: Richard frequently speaks on state and local tax issues and has presented before organizations such as the NYU SPS Annual Institute on State and Local Taxation, the Council On State Taxation, the Tax Executives Institute, and the Practising Law Institute. He also publishes frequently on state and local tax topics, with articles appearing in several publications, including Tax Notes State, Bloomberg BNA Weekly State Tax Report, Bloomberg BNA Multistate Tax Report, Tax Executive, Journal of State Taxation, Boston Business Journal, and NYU SPS Annual Institute on State and Local Taxation.

Jonathan D. Lockhart focuses his practice primarily on international tax planning and controversies. Jonathan helps clients structure international acquisitions and reorganizations in a tax-efficient manner, as well as with foreign earnings repatriation, foreign tax credit planning and intellectual property migration.

While in law school, Jonathan served as an assistant editor for the William Mitchell Law Review and was a National Tax Moot Court participant. He also served as an extern for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of the Chief Counsel in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Elizabeth advises multinational corporations on US federal and international tax matters.

Elizabeth helps businesses navigate the US tax implications of their global operations and transactions. She advises businesses on loss and other attribute planning, subpart F and net CFC tested income, foreign tax credits, foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI), the base erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT), the corporate alternative minimum tax (CAMT), and other key provisions of the Code.

Elizabeth counsel clients on global supply chain restructurings, post-acquisition integrations, internal reorganizations, debt financings, and intellectual property migrations. She also has experience with tax treaties, tax audits and controversies, and the tax aspects of acquisitions and dispositions.

Mary Kay McCalla Martire focuses her practice on a wide variety state and local tax issues. She advises clients on matters related to sales tax, with an emphasis on the sale of digital products. In addition, she advises business clients on income tax apportionment and remote employee withholding obligations. Mary Kay counsels individual clients on residency and income sourcing questions, and frequently advises captives and their insureds on direct procurement tax issues. She also has experience with state and local utility and telecommunications tax matters.

Mary Kay has an extensive litigation background in state and federal court, as well as administrative tribunals. She has particular experience in the defense of qui tam (whistleblower) claims filed in the state tax arena and has won the dismissal of many Illinois False Claims Act cases. Mary Kay played a key role in many of the reported decisions issued by the Illinois appellate court in this area. She also has experience defending clients against class action and consumer fraud claims.

Mary Kay also has represented clients in a number of state insurance tax litigation matters, including serving as the principal trial attorney for a group of insurance companies that successfully challenged the constitutionality of the Illinois Privilege Tax (Milwaukee Safeguard Ins. Co. v. Selky, 179 Ill.2d 94 (1997)).

Mary Kay serves as Co-Chair of the Chicago Office Pro Bono Committee. She is actively engaged in a number of pro bono matters, including the representation of not for profits seeking sales and property tax exemptions, and serving as a guardian ad litem in child custody disputes. In 2014, Mary Kay was awarded one of McDermott’s Chicago Office pro bono service awards. In addition, she is an editor of the Firm’s State Tax Blog, InsideSALT.com.

Leads McDermott’s AdTech and Data Monetization group, combining practical business advice with deep technical experience

Advises on cutting edge issues spanning AI, digital health, connected vehicles, fintech, biometrics, advertising, and other complex topics

Draws on Chief Privacy Officer secondment to design and operationalize global privacy programs, including a library of easy-to-implement materials

Natalie Rowles focuses her practice on corporate restructuring and insolvency matters. She represents debtors, creditors, official committees, investors and other parties-in-interest in a variety of restructuring transactions, including Chapter 11 reorganizations, out-of-court restructurings and distressed asset sales.

Prior to joining the Firm, Natalie clerked for the Honorable Melvin S. Hoffman of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.

While in law school, Natalie served as managing editor of the American Journal of Law and Medicine and as a judicial intern to the Honorable Jay A. García-Gregory of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.