Heather L. Richardson’s practice at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP focuses on health care, insurance, and class action matters. Ms. Richardson has represented health plans and insurers in a variety of lawsuits and government inquiries on a wide range of issues including reimbursement policy, coverage determinations, quality of care, and provider contracting. She has also represented clients in the medical device industry in antitrust and licensing disputes.

Matters in which Ms. Richardson has been involved include:

In re Aetna UCR Litigation (D.N.J.): representing Aetna in multidistrict litigation brought by putative classes of providers and subscribers alleging that Aetna and other health plans engaged in a conspiracy to depress payment rates to out-of-network providers.
Sarkisyan v. CIGNA Corp. (C.D. Cal.): securing complete dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims for wrongful death and denial of benefits in a highly-publicized lawsuit in which Plaintiffs alleged that CIGNA had caused the death of their daughter through the denial of coverage for a liver transplant.
Allied Orthopedic Appliances v. Tyco Healthcare Group (C.D. Cal.): in an antitrust suit brought by a putative class of purchasers of pulse oximetry products against Tyco Healthcare Group, defeating class certification and winning summary judgment.
Consolidated Fiberglass Products Co. v. Gemini Insurance Co. (S.D. Cal.): defeating certification of a putative nationwide class of insureds who claimed that Gemini’s consistent interpretation of the applicability of a deductible endorsement violated California’s Unfair Competition Law (Cal. Bus. & Profs. Code § 17200 et seq).

Ms. Richardson is a member of the firm’s Class Action Practice Group and has successfully represented a number of clients in class actions and multi-district litigation proceedings. She is also a member of the firm’s Electronic Discovery and Information Law practice group, and has advised clients on compliance with data security and privacy-related issues, including compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).

Ms. Richardson earned a degree of Master of Public Health from UCLA in 2006, with a specialization in Health Services. Ms. Richardson graduated from UCLA School of Law in 2006. Ms. Richardson graduated cum laude from Yale University in 2002, with a double-major in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and History. Ms. Richardson was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the UCLA School of Law Alumni Association, and currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Western Center on Law and Poverty and the Bet Tzedek New Leadership Council.