William Abalona is a partner and healthcare lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. His practice is devoted largely to representing hospitals and health systems in complex transactions, and regulatory and legislative matters. Mr. Abalona is a member of the firm’s Health Care Industry Team and the Government & Public Policy Practice.

William represents hospitals and integrated health systems on a variety of transactional and regulatory matters. He provides strategic counseling to hospitals, health systems and trade associations in the development and execution of business and public policy. He represents hospitals before regulatory bodies and participates in litigating large payment issues. Working with the firm’s public advocacy practice, he provides legislative counsel and advocacy at the state and federal levels. He provides counseling on major compliance and audit response cases, focusing on the role of governing boards. His practice encompasses antitrust and anti-referral law counseling, state Attorney General review of the transfer of nonprofit hospital assets, licensing and state building permit issues for health facilities, payment and referral counseling, and Knox-Keene Act filings on behalf of health plans. His transactional experience includes hospital mergers, acquisitions, and restructurings; structuring private management of public hospitals; sale/acquisition transactions and joint ventures involving clinics; and liquidating hospitals and subsidiaries, (including a captive off-shore insurance company). He served as general counsel for a large, acute hospital for several years, and as legal adviser to the board of directors of a state hospital association.

Prior to entering the practice of law, William was extensively involved in health legislation. He served for more than eight years as a committee consultant to the California Assembly, principally as the health and welfare consultant to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

After leaving the legislature in 1980, William spent four years heading up the government relations program for the California Hospital Association prior to entering the private practice of law.