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| Robert Charrow |
Robert Charrow, who was a Greenberg Traurig partner before joining the Trump administration, reenters the firm as the senior chairman of its health care and U.S. Food and Drug Administration practice group. He spent three years as the top lawyer at HHS, where he led an office of 600 attorneys and oversaw the chief counsel for agencies such as the FDA.
Charrow also assisted the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic and sat on the board of Operation Warp Speed, a federal initiative to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
"This is an extraordinary time in our country, including in the development of health care legislation and litigation," Charrow said in a statement. "It also is an exciting time at Greenberg Traurig. I am fortunate and excited to return and look forward to working closely with former and new colleagues."
He was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday.
Charrow was sworn in as HHS counsel in January 2018. During a Senate confirmation hearing, he said he would neutrally apply the Affordable Care Act in good faith in response to Democrats' questioning about the Trump administration's efforts to chip away at the law. The administration later urged the Fifth Circuit to dismantle the law, which the former president regularly disparaged.
Charrow is also an alum of the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. His private sector experience, which included time at Crowell & Moring LLP before joining Greenberg Traurig in 2002, has covered areas like the False Claims Act, employer wellness programs, bankruptcy and tax law.
In his work revolving around health care and biotechnology, he's represented health care providers, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, universities and research institutes in matters relating to the ACA, Medicare and Medicaid, among others, Greenberg Traurig said.
"There are few entities today not touched by the various aspects of health care and its impact on a global economy, national, and multinational corporations, governmental and non-governmental agencies and functions, and individual employers," health care and FDA practice co-chair Nancy E. Taylor said in a statement. "Bob's experience is a source of pride for the firm and will undoubtedly prove to be of value to our clients."
Notable additions to Greenberg Traurig's health care practice group over the past year include Andrew Tsui, who joined the Washington office in November after more than a decade as a litigation attorney at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Former Trump administration officials have been gradually returning to the private sector, landing at firms including Jones Day, K&L Gates and Gibson Dunn.
--Additional reporting by Emily Sides. Editing by Brian Baresch.
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