Maria E. Gonzalez Knavel

Maria E. Gonzalez Knavel is a retired partner and health care lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. She has counseled health care clients on compliance issues, corporate matters and general operational issues of health care entities (including providers and medical device manufacturers), and Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement. Ms. Gonzalez Knavel was a member of the firm's Health Care and Life Sciences Industry Teams and the Government Enforcement, Compliance & White Collar Defense Practice. 

Prior to entering law school, she managed a medical clinic for 12 years.

Thought Leadership

Ms. Gonzalez Knavel’s professional activities include national speaking engagements on a diversity of topics, including health care fraud, critical compliance issues and voluntary disclosure, as well as presentations to hospital and health care associations such as "Physician Contracting and Affiliations under Stark II" and "Key Changes in the Final Physician Payment Sunshine Act Regulations." She also has been quoted in national health publications, including the Health Care Program Compliance Guide, Health Care Fraud Report, and Physician Practice Compliance Report.

Education

Ms. Gonzalez Knavel is a graduate of Marquette University School of Law (J.D., 1993), where she was a member of the Marquette Law Review, and Pennsylvania State University (B.S., with distinction, 1976).

Admissions and Professional Memberships

Admitted to the Wisconsin State Bar in 1993, she is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association for Women Lawyers, and the American Health Lawyers Association where she is on the Diversity Council. She has been invited to serve as co-chair of the 2012-2014 HNBA Standing Commission on the Status of Latinas in the Legal Profession and has been appointed vice chair of the Stark & Anti-Kickback Toolkit Editorial Board, ABA Health Law Section, for the 2013-2014 bar year.

Community Engagement

Ms. Gonzalez Knavel is a board member of the Zoological Society of Milwaukee County. She is also on the board of directors for COA Youth and Family Centers, and is a member of the Children’s Hospital and Health System Human Research Review Board.

Affiliations

Ms. Gonzalez Knavel is a member of the Diversity Recruitment Committee for Marquette Law School.

Recognition

She is the recipient of the 2010 Association of Women Lawyers (AWL) Community Involvement Award. This honor recognizes an attorney who demonstrates significant involvement in organizations committed to strengthening and improving the quality of life for those in Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin. Ms. Gonzalez Knavel has also been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© since 2009 in the area of health care law. In recognition of her experience, Ms. Gonzalez Knavel has been Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system.

Languages

Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Ms. Gonzalez Knavel has maintained her Spanish fluency.