Melissa (Lisa) Thompson advises companies, senior management, and boards of directors, with a focus on health care, life sciences, and technology. She serves on the Dispute Resolution Council of the American Health Law Association and is on their arbitration and mediation panels. Lisa also serves on the American Arbitration Association's (AAA) Master Mediator Panel and is an international and domestic arbitrator on the AAA's Commercial, Life Sciences, and Health Care panels. She is a member of the advisory committee for the Boston International Arbitration Council (BIAC).

Lisa has represented domestic and international clients in the health care, life sciences, and technology industries. Lisa handles a range of matters, including corporate law and commercial contracting, government audits, clinical research law, and matters involving Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). She has experience representing clients on issues involving privacy and security including HIPAA, reimbursement, Medicare and Medicaid, state and federal surveys and termination actions, managed care disputes, pharmacy and compounding laws, 340B, fraud and abuse, Stark Law, anti-kickback, and federal program exclusions.

Lisa’s experience includes U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) compliance and regulatory matters, product recalls, FDA citizen petitions and appeals, medical device and pharmaceutical labeling review, advertising and marketing compliance, drug and medical device reimbursement, clinical research agreements, and commercial contracting. Her technology sector experience includes advising on privacy and security, software licensing, data use agreements, information exchange system agreements, and regulatory requirements.

Lisa formerly served in-house as chief counsel for an international medical device manufacturer, as general counsel for a pharmacy benefit management company, and as corporate, privacy, and research counsel for a major academic medical center. 

Administrative Appeals

In addition to corporate and regulatory matters, Lisa handles administrative appeals for clients. Lisa has prevailed in consolidated reimbursement appeals cases before the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administrative law judges. She has also obtained temporary restraining orders in U.S. District Court against CMS. She has successfully helped clients resolve matters through alternative dispute resolution, and negotiated settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on behalf of clients. Lisa also has prior experience with complex commercial litigation, product liability lawsuits, toxic torts and environmental litigation, class actions, shareholder suits, managed care issues, and insurance coverage disputes.

Arbitration + Mediation

Lisa provides mediation and arbitration services, both as an advocate and as a neutral. She is an arbitrator and Master Mediator with the American Arbitration Association, serving on its Life Sciences Panel, Commercial Panel, and National Healthcare Panel, and arbitrates and mediates with the American Health Law Association. She has also provided arbitration services for consultants preparing clients for arbitration. Lisa is on the advisory board of the Boston International Arbitration Council (BIAC) and on the Dispute Resolution Council for the American Health Law Association. Her matters have included:

• International and domestic arbitrations
• Life sciences arbitrations
• Health care arbitrations
• Commercial contract disputes
• Federal and state government party mediations
•  Licensing and product development
• Managed care arbitration between plans and providers
• Intellectual property and technology
• Product liability claims
• Real estate and franchise matters
• Partnership, employment, non-compete, and recruitment agreements
• Insurance coverage disputes