Claire H. Topp is a partner in Dorsey's Health Group and Chair of Dorsey's Non-Profit and Tax Exempt Organizations practice group. Her three primary areas of practice include (i) healthcare transactions, (ii) counseling nonprofit organizations and (iii) advising standards development organizations. Claire represents hospitals, multi-hospital systems and individual physicians and physician groups in a range of specialty areas including ophthalmology, radiology, ENT, OB/GYN, cardiology, anesthesia, emergency medicine, neurology, gastroenterology and others. She has extensive experience on both the purchase and sale side of physician group transactions with hospitals. Claire regularly advises clients on the regulatory aspects of hospital-physician joint ventures, including, but not limited to, compliance with Stark II, fraud and abuse and tax exemption matters. Additionally, Claire’s expertise covers other matters that arise in the transactional setting, including corporate governance, employment agreements and fair market value analysis. Physician management companies and other entities also call on Claire for advice with respect to compliance with states’ laws across the country regarding the corporate practice of medicine.

In both healthcare and non-healthcare settings, Claire counsels public charities, private foundations and trade associations on issues relating to formation, governance, fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest, charitable solicitation registration, public charity status, excise taxes, excess benefit transactions and unrelated business income. She regularly works with clients to obtain Internal Revenue Service rulings and determination letters. Claire also works with philanthropists and charitable institutions to establish endowments, donor advised funds, supporting organizations and has represented health care conversion foundations on their formation and continued operations.

Claire counsels numerous industry trade associations and standards development organizations on a wide range of issues arising during the lifecycle of the standards process, including, formation, governance (such as fiduciary duties and conflict of interest issues), appeals, risk management, intellectual property rights policies, patent pools, conformance programs, and tax. Claire serves as outside counsel to IEEE Standards Association.