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Faegre Drinker’s latest corporate lawyer is bringing years of health and life sciences experience to the firm’s expanding practice.
Greg Gentry joined the law firm’s Indianapolis office as counsel last month after seven years as in-house counsel at locally based Elevance Health, the nation’s second-largest health insurance company. Gentry’s expertise in complex deals, mergers and acquisitions is expected to be a “great fit” as Faegre Drinker continues growing its health care transactions team, John Marcil, leader of the firm’s corporate practice group, said in a press release on Tuesday.
“Greg knows how to navigate multijurisdictional deals, regulatory approvals, and high-stakes negotiations, and his perspective from his time in-house will be invaluable as we advise clients through sophisticated transactions,” Marcil said. “We’re excited to welcome him to the firm.”
Born in Chesterton, Indiana, Gentry received his bachelors degree in biochemistry from Purdue University and his law degree from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
As associate general counsel at Elevance, Gentry supported M&A, venture capital investments and joint ventures, overseeing several complex transactions.
“Working at Elevance Health gave me a really exceptional opportunity to work very closely with some great business leaders, and it gave me an appreciation for how they make decisions and what kind of pressures they’re under,” Gentry told The Indiana Lawyer on Tuesday.
He said he saw leaders dealing with numerous pressures, including competing priorities, deadlines, balancing regulatory considerations and financial objectives.
“Knowing the pressures they’re under and knowing their needs I think is really going to help me provide the best advice possible to them,” Gentry said.
And some of the best advice he can give should not just be technically correct, he said, but also practical and actionable.
Gentry said providing a practical, business-oriented approach to navigating deals, first begins by understanding what the client is actually trying to achieve. Once the goal is understood, then counsel can start orienting work to achieve the goal, he said.
“It’s really about achieving those great outcomes and objectives for the client,” Gentry said.
While at Elevance, Gentry oversaw the completion of several multimillion-dollar deals. One such deal he said he is proud of was a $115 acquisition of a provider-owned health plan, which he said was basically two deals in one. According to Faegre Drinker, the deal required simultaneous closing of an equity purchase and the novation of a Medicare Advantage H-Contract, which faced several regulatory challenges within a tight timeframe.
Although that deal was fast-paced, Gentry said it was also exciting.
The scope of Gentry’s practice will not really change as he transitions to Faegre Drinker, he said, but he emphasized that he’ll be able to use the skills he’s developed with a broader range of clients and industries, especially as he continues to monitor changes in the health and life sciences field, specifically the rise of state level pre-merger notification requirements.
“Those, I think, are going to continue to be adopted by a number of states,” Gentry said. “They’re going to continue to evolve, and we see that in Indiana, as well.”
Faegre Drinker is the third-largest law firm doing business in Indianapolis area, with 167 local attorneys as of 2024, according to IBJ research.
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