Normand F. Pizza

After receiving his law degree, Mr. Pizza became an associate in the offices of Reuter & Reuter in 1974, where he practiced insurance defense law. He became a partner at Reuter, Reuter, Reuter & Pizza, PLC, from 1979 to 1987. Prior to joining the Milling firm, Mr. Pizza was a senior partner serving on the Management Committee of Brook, Morial, Cassibry, Fraiche & Pizza, LLP, New Orleans, Louisiana. He serves on the Management Committee for Milling Benson Woodward L.L.P..

Normand Pizza is engaged primarily in the areas of health care and hospital law, nursing home and home health law, Medicare and Medicaid law, medical malpractice defense litigation, insurance coverage litigation, employment law, and general tort liability. He has been selected as Best Lawyer for years 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He is rated AV by Martindale Hubbell and is listed as a 2016 Top Rated Lawyer in HealthCare Law by American Lawyer and Martindale Hubbell. In 2015 he was listed as a Lawyer of Distinction. He is recognized by the Bond Buyer’s Municipal Marketplace (the “Red Book”) as qualified bond counsel and is a member of the National Association of Bond Counsel.

Professional Activities

Mr. Pizza is a member of the American College of Health Care Executives and American Health Lawyers Association (1989) and has been a guest speaker at forums sponsored by the American Health Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association, the Louisiana Society of Hospital Attorneys and other groups. Through June of 2016 he was a member of the AHLA Life Members Council.

Mr. Pizza is admitted to practice before all of the United States District Courts in Louisiana, the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth and Third Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the American, Louisiana, New Orleans, and St. Tammany Bar Associations. He also participates in the Torts and Insurance Practice Forum on Health Law of the American Bar Association.

Mr. Pizza has represented numerous hospitals and physicians in the creation of Independent Practice Associations, Clinically Integrated Networks, Accountable Care Organizations, partnerships and joint ventures between physicians, clinics and hospitals. He has worked on the restructuring of hospitals. Hospitals that have been represented include among others Touro Infirmary, Slidell Memorial Hospital, Iberia Hospital, Richland Parish Hospital at Delhi, the American Legion Hospital, Lincoln General Hospital, St. Tammany Parish Hospital, West Jefferson Hospital, West Carroll Hospital and Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. Physician practice groups include the Cardiovascular Institute of the South. Another notable client is the Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Company (LAMMICO).

He has represented numerous hospitals located throughout Louisiana providing advice and consultation on issues ranging from physician/hospital contracts, Clinically Integrated Networks, Accountable Care Organizations, HMOs, PPOs, medical office building construction and leasing, bond issues, practice integration, Medicare and Medicaid law, peer review, bylaw preparation and many other health law matters. He has extensive experience in the field and has been principal counsel in major litigation involving Medicaid reimbursement and Qui Tam actions (See: St. Tammany Hospital Service District I v. Louisiana and Abbeville General Hospital v. Ramsey and Qui Tam Litigation, LaCorte v. Lab Corps and Merena, et al v. SmithKline Beecham Labs; Louisiana Nursing Home Association, Evergreen Presbyterian Hospital v Hood.)

He has lectured and written articles on health law issues. The topics of his speeches include among others, EMTALA, Outcome Measurement and Practice Parameters, Medicaid Records, Employment of Physicians, Hospital Acquisitions, Stark II and Fraud and Abuse, Confidentiality of Mental Health Records, Informed Consent, Guardianship, Advance Directives, Confidentiality of Medical Records, Hospital Service District to Community Hospital, Insurance Law, Elder Law and Estate Planning, Recent Developments in Insurance Law, Patient Care Law Rights, Liabilities and Strategies, and the special legal problems related to HIV infection. He has written articles on Patient Transfers -COBRA as Amended, as well as ER Liability Under COBRA Anti-Dumping. He lectured for the ABA on at its teleconference program entitled “Practical Steps in Structuring Joint Ventures among Providers in an Ever-Changing Health Care Market.” He has given lectures and prepared monographs for the Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Company (LAMMICO) on topics concerning EMTALA, HIPAA, representing physicians before the Board of Medical Examiners and other issues.

Outside of healthcare law, he has represented insurers and businesses in employment law, personal injury and insurance coverage issues in the courts of Louisiana, both state and federal. He has served as bond counsel and issuer’s counsel to political subdivisions of Louisiana. He has represented judges before the Louisiana Judicial Commission, nurses before the Louisiana Nursing Board, and physicians before the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.

Community Service

Normand Pizza was an adjunct professor at Troy State University, Florida Region, where he taught Health & The Law for the Master’s in Public Administration Program beginning in 1996. In 2008 he began teaching Health Care Law and Ethics in the Business Management College at the University of New Orleans (UNO) to students seeking a Master’s Degree in Health Care Management. He is a past president of the New Orleans Healthcare Managers Association. Mr. Pizza has served as subcommittee chairman for the American Academy of Hospital Attorneys on Boren Amendment litigation. He was a member of the Advisory Council of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He was a director of Louisiana HOSPAC. Mr. Pizza was a Director and founding member of the Louisiana Society of Hospital Attorneys. Mr. Pizza was also a founding member of the Community Hospital Coalition (a lobbying group composed of nine mid-sized hospitals in Louisiana). He has both written and lectured for the American Bar Association Forum on Health Law and TIPs (Torts and Insurance Practice), and for the American Health Lawyer’s Association. He is a Member of the East and West St. Tammany Chambers of Commerce and The Knights of Columbus.

Cases

In the case of Aaron Istre v. LINA, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Melancon of the Western District of Louisiana. Upholding a summary judgment, the 5th Circuit held that no coverage was provided under the policy for a common law spouse because under Louisiana law living together in an unsolemnized union is not recognized as a valid marriage. St. Tammany Parish Hospital Service District v. Dept. of Health and Human Resources, 677 F.Supp. 455 (E.D. La. 1988); (Hospital action claiming state’s emergency rule reimbursement rate violated federal and state law.)

Abbeville General v. Dept. of Health & Hospitals, 3 F.3rd 797 (Fifth Circuit 1993); “Over 50 Louisiana hospitals sued the State of Louisiana alleging it violated federal law, the Boren Amendment in setting rates for Medicaid reimbursement for Louisiana hospitals.” “The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.”

Rayford v. Bowen, 715 F.Supp. 1347 (W.D. La. 1989); (Owners of nursing homes sought preliminary injunction blocking implementation of a federal program.)

Rayford v. Bowen, 715 F.Supp. 1347 (W.D. La. 1989); (Owners of nursing homes sought preliminary injunction blocking implementation of a federal program.) Bagert v. State Board of Ethics for Elected Officials, 588 S.2d 1264 (La. App. 1 Cir. 1991); (Concerned challenge to certain contracts with parish hospitals.)

Evergreen Presbyterian Hospital, Louisiana Nursing Home Association v. Hood, U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana, May 2000.

Butler v. RelMax New Orleans, the La. 4th Circuit Court of Appeal upheld the summary judgment granted by the lower court. The court held that a real estate agent who has sole possession of the keys to a listed property does not acquire sufficient custody or control over the property to have garde and therefore cannot be liable for plaintiffs death under Article 2317 (strict liability).

Hood v. Dr. Cotter, 2009, the Louisiana Supreme Court recognized that malpractice and other insurers could write a “claims made” insurance policy and enforce its claims made provision even though the suit was filed against either the insured or the insurer less than a year after the alleged occurrence of malpractice.