Del Mar attorney named a ‘2010 Attorney of the Year’ by California Lawyer

Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP announced recently that California Lawyer magazine has recognized partner Christopher J. Healey, a Del Mar resident, as a 2010 Attorney of the Year, also referred to as the CLAY awards.

Last July, Healey led a team of Luce Forward attorneys, along with co-lead counsel Michael D. Thamer, and Michael J. Crowley and W. Timothy Needham of the law firm of Janssen, Malloy, Needham, Morrison, Reinholtsen, Crowley & Griego LLP, to a $677 million verdict against Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. Thamer, Crowley and Needham were also named 2010 Attorneys of the Year, all within the Elder Care category.

“Being named one of the top attorneys in all of California for 2010 is an extraordinary honor and one that is well-deserved,” said Kurt L. Kicklighter, Luce Forward’s managing partner. “Chris’ commitment to a very deserving class of the elderly and their families and his strong leadership capabilities were key factors to his team prevailing.”

The Skilled Healthcare class-action lawsuit was one of the largest of the past decade, and the largest ever against a nursing home chain. After a six-month trial, a jury found that Skilled Healthcare, one of the country’s largest nursing home businesses, consistently failed to comply with California’s minimum nurse staffing requirements. Its outcome is already changing practices in the nursing home industry to improve the service for the elderly.

Healey and his co-counsel are among 45 attorneys throughout California to receive California Lawyer’s 15th annual CLAY awards, honoring attorneys whose achievements had a significant impact in 2010, or are expected to have such an effect in the coming years. The honored include law professors; attorneys from international law firms, government agencies and public interest organizations; and members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

For more information, visit www.luce.com.

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