Janet L. Pulliam

Janet L. Pulliam has thirty years of experience in the areas of labor and employment law, health law, commercial litigation, and education law. While she often appears in cases in the state courts of Arkansas, most of her litigation experience has been in the federal district and appellate courts.

Ms. Pulliam is a member of the peer-selected American Board of Trial Advocates and is listed in Best Lawyers in America under Labor and Employment Law; in Chambers USA as a “Leader” in the field of Labor & Employment; and in Mid-South Super Lawyers in the areas of Health Care, Employment Litigation: Defense and Business Litigation.

Ms. Pulliam regularly advises and litigates in areas affecting public policy. Presently, her concentration is in the health law industry. She was selected by her peers as one of the most outstanding regional attorneys in the area of Health Care law for 2008 by Mid-South Super Lawyers. Ms. Pulliam provides a range of services to health care providers, assisting them with employment issues, commercial disputes, governmental claims and civil and criminal investigations.

Ms. Pulliam serves as general counsel for the Little Rock Cardiology Clinic, where she is involved in general advice and litigation in emerging health care issues, including specialty hospitals, physician ownership and referral, economic credentialing, pay for performance and antitrust. She served on the Institutional Review Board of Arkansas Heart Hospital from its inception in 1996 to 2007.

Ms. Pulliam is currently trial counsel in Murphy et al. v. Baptist Health; Pulaski County Circuit Court No. CV 2004-2002. In Murphy, et al., a group of cardiologists she represents, prevailed in obtaining a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Baptist Hospital's economic credentialing policy. This preliminary injunction has been sustained by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Subsequently, a final judgment was entered for the Murphy plaintiffs, granting a permanent injunction. Ms. Pulliam is also involved in litigation involving the Patient Protection Act (Any Willing Provider Law) St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, et al. v. Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Pulaski County Circuit Court No. CV 2006-4935. She is also trial counsel in Little Rock Cardiology Clinic, P.A. et al. v. Baptist Health, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas Civ. No. 4:06-CV 01594, alleging violations of the Federal Antitrust laws.

Ms. Pulliam is an active member of the ABA Health Law Section. She is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and participates in several sub-committees relevant to her practice.

Recent work with providers has included analysis of the value and possibilities of Hospital Syndications and assisting providers who are converting to Electronic Medical Records.

Ms. Pulliam has acted as lead trial counsel representing both individuals and employers in class action employment matters and voting rights cases. See, e.g., Perkins v. City of West Helena, 675 F.2nd 201 (8th Cir. 1982).

In the area of Education law, Ms. Pulliam has represented school districts, teachers, and students in a myriad of matters, and has assisted in the creation and design of student choice and student assignment plans in Illinois, Florida, and Massachusetts. In the litigation area she was one of four lead attorneys representing the Little Rock School District seeking an inter-district remedy in a school desegregation case. This was one of the few successful inter-district remedy cases post-Miliken. Little Rock School District v. Pulaski County Special School District, 738 F.2d 82 (8th Cir. 1984), 778 F.2d 404 (en banc), cert. denied, 106 S. Ct. 2926 (1986).

In 1995, Ms. Pulliam was appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, to serve as legal assistant to the Special Master in the remedy phase of a school desegregation case. She served in that role until the case was concluded in 2002. People Who Care v. Rockford Board of Education School District #205, 111 F.3d 528 (7th Cir. 1997).

Also in 1995, she was appointed by the Governor of Arkansas to serve as Special Justice for the Arkansas Supreme Court. In 2002, she took a sabbatical from private practice to serve as a senior law clerk for United States District Court Judge William R. Wilson, Jr. , and she worked with the Court in the creation of a Multi-District Litigation Proceeding (MDL) in In re Prempro Products Liability Litigation, 417 F. Supp. 2d 1058 (E.D. Ark. 2006).

In 1994, she successfully represented a class of hearing-impaired persons in obtaining a ruling that the state statute barring hearing-impaired individuals from jury service was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. After class certification, the State admitted liability, and the case was resolved by consent decree. Quinn v. Bogard, No. 93-CV-552 (E.D. Ark. 1993).

PRACTICE AREAS: Health Law, Employment Law, Commercial Litigation, and Education Law

Janet L. Pulliam

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