Issue

In an extraordinary achievement that took a decade to complete, Archer Norris and our client, the Peninsula Healthcare District, successfully teamed up to get the residents of the District a new, state-of-the-art $600 million hospital to meet state-mandated seismic standards without payment of additional taxes.

Strategy

Healthcare partner Colin Coffey guided the District through five years of extremely complicated negotiations and public hearings to conclude a business deal for the construction and operation of a new hospital in Burlingame with all construction and operating expenses to be paid by hospital operator Mills Peninsula Health Services.

Problem

When a former Board member spearheaded legal proceedings against the District's deal, the election where the District sought voter approval for the deal, and the District's communications with its residents about the deal in the run-up to the election, Archer Norris litigation partner Doug Straus stepped in to defend the District in a hard-fought lawsuit that lasted more than five years.

Solution

On Doug’s third and most recent successful trip to the Court of Appeal, the First District Court of Appeal ordered dismissal of the last remnant of this multi-front legal attack on the District's new hospital plan.

Over the years, Colin and Doug were ably assisted by Mark Olson and Mike Peterson.