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Bob Morgan

Partner
Chicago
T.
312.624.6356
liamE

Bob is a nationally recognized healthcare regulatory and policy attorney with extensive experience in both public service and the private sector. He advises businesses, health systems, consulting firms, pharmacies, and advocacy groups on the implications of federal and state healthcare reform, regulatory compliance, and navigating complex relationships between private entities, state and federal regulators, and law enforcement agencies.

In his practice, Bob counsels clients on state licensure, federal certification, regulatory survey responses, government investigations, and managing ownership transitions and transactions with complex regulatory considerations. He also serves as a trusted business advisor, guiding clients in making high-stakes decisions and building resilient business strategies in today’s evolving healthcare environment.

In addition to his work as an attorney, Bob has served as State Representative for the 58th District of Illinois since 2019. As a legislator, he brings a comprehensive understanding of how healthcare policy shapes the lives of individuals, businesses, and communities. His diverse career path has provided him with insight across the entire healthcare continuum, and he brings a deep understanding of the intersection between business, law, and policy.

Forward-thinking and entrepreneurial, Bob has witnessed the transformative role of innovative technologies, healthcare protocols, and strategic government initiatives in driving more equitable healthcare. He is passionate about supporting clients in achieving their long-term goals and alleviating the pressures they face in this demanding industry.

Bob was general counsel for the Illinois Department of Public Health, where he advised the agency director and senior staff on a broad range of complex legal issues, including licensure of healthcare facilities, emergency preparedness, communicable disease and pandemic preparation and response, maternal and child health initiatives, mental health and developmental disability facilities, and food safety.

Bob was appointed as the first statewide project coordinator for the Illinois Medical Cannabis Pilot Program, where he developed and implemented a regulatory framework for the use of cannabis by eligible patients. He oversaw the efforts of five state agencies and over 50 employees charged with creating program rules and fees, laboratory testing and database systems, and a selection process for licensed dispensary facilities and cultivation centers. The program has already helped over 250,000 residents struggling with debilitating medical conditions like cancer and PTSD, and Bob continues to advocate for patients still waiting for access to the program.

Prior to that, Bob served as associate general counsel and lead attorney in the Office of the Governor of the State of Illinois on issues involving health care, the Affordable Care Act, private and public insurance, and health information technology.

Representative Experience

  • Represented UroPartners, the largest Urologic practice in the Chicago area with more than 30 locations and over 60 providers, with respect to a Certificate of Need (CON) application. 
  • Counseled Encompass Health, one of the United States' largest providers of post-acute healthcare services, with three Certificate Of Need (CON) permits to establish rehabilitation hospitals in Illinois.
  • Counseled MercyHealth, a non-profit health care provider and hospital system based in Janesville, Wisconsin with over 85 facilities serving a total of 50 communities throughout southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, with respect to CON applications and regulatory matters.
  • Counseled Meadows Mennonite Retirement Community with respect to licensing and regulatory guidance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Represented UnityPoint Health – Trinity to obtain regulatory approval to close rehabilitation unit and establish free standing rehabilitation hospital in Moline, IL.
  • Represented AccentCare Inc., a nationwide leader in post-acute healthcare, as healthcare regulatory counsel in its merger with Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care, one of the largest hospice providers in the U.S.
  • Represented PharmaCann, one of the country’s largest vertically integrated cannabis companies, as lead counsel on a $25 million senior secured convertible loan facility secured by Illinois medical and adult use dispensary assets.
  • Represented Caliva, a direct-to-consumer cannabis brand, as real estate counsel in its acquisition of multiple licensed cannabis operations and several newly awarded dispensary licenses, all in California.

  • Representing Red Arrow Farm, a Michigan-based cultivation and processing facility that has increasing market share in the still-developing adult-use market in the state, as outside general counsel in matters including regulatory and corporate counsel on an ongoing basis. Red Arrow are pioneers in a brand new industry in Michigan and face myriad legal challenges at a state and local level along the way.
  • Represented GTI, a leading national cannabis company and owner of Rise™ and Essence retail stores, in matters including a cultivation license from the Ohio Department of Commerce, following an appeal. The cultivation operation will be located in Toledo as part of a processing and manufacturing facility that will also produce GTI’s branded product portfolio.

  • Benesch Healthcare+
  • Regulatory & Compliance/Audit & Appeals
  • Healthcare Business Transactions
  • Cannabis
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Northern Illinois University College of Law, 2005, J.D.
  • University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, 2002, B.A.
  • Illinois
  • Michigan
  • Listed, Crain's Chicago Business Notable Rising Star in Law, 2021
  • Listed, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin 40 Under 40, 2020
  • Listed, Leading Lawyers Network – Emerging Lawyers, Governmental, Municipal, Lobbying & Administrative Law and Health Law, 2017–2018
  • Board Member, Anti-Defamation League, Midwest Region 
  • Board Member, Equip For Equality Board of Trustees 
  • National Co-Chair, Legislators for Safer States Coalition 
  • Illinois State Representative, 58th District
Articles and Presentations
June 15, 2023
End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency | Bob Morgan
January 10, 2023
Bob Morgan quoted in article Healthcare Risk Management | "Providing Legal Cannabis Can Bring Potential Liability"
September 16, 2022
Physicians Legal Issues: Healthcare Delivery & Innovation Conference | Bob Morgan

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News
December 13, 2024
Bob Morgan Quoted in Modern Healthcare | "Ghost networks lawsuit may signal trouble for insurers"
June 12, 2024
Benesch’s Cannabis Industry Team Ranks in 2024 Edition of The Legal 500
September 6, 2023
Benesch Ranks in the 2023 Edition of The Legal 500

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