Attorneys Crystal Howard and Hillary Martel are the focus of a recent Law360 feature, Spencer Fane Attys Talk Med Spas and Healthcare Law.
The article highlights the team’s recent blog series on med spas and how that industry continues to grow and features a Q&A. In their interview, Crystal and Hillary discuss how their law practices intersect with the med spa industry; legal considerations and obligations for starting, running, and transitioning such a business; evolving regulations in the wellness space, and how their work continues growing to address client needs.
“We are in the process of forming a wellness industry team within our firm, because what we have experienced is that med spas are popular, and people know and understand that. But there’s a lot more in this space that’s maybe med spa-adjacent, what is considered ‘wellness,’” Crystal shares. “As we reach out to the people who are in this space, it’s a little bit of helping them to understand where they are on the spectrum between pure healthcare law and this other space that is wellness.”
Hillary emphasized the importance of best practices for this area of business: “What we recommend for med spas would be to have a compliance manual and annual audits – so essentially outlining your legal, clinical and operational standards to staff. It’s also important – because this is a rapidly changing, evolving space – to track the regulations and guidelines or guidance from your applicable medical board if you’re a physician, or nursing board or cosmetology board.”
At the firm, Crystal’s practice resides at the intersection of business transactions and tax efficiency. Regularly counseling clients on a wide range of business and tax matters, she helps navigate complex commercial transactions and related tax planning. This work includes helping med spa owners create opportunities for outside investment and growth by facilitating acquisitions of well-run and appropriately scaled med spas and wellness businesses. Hillary combines clinical insight and legal experience, which gives her an in-depth understanding of the needs of health care clients. She serves as a trusted advisor to health care providers and organizations on a wide range of regulatory and compliance matters such as guidelines and laws for med spa and wellness operations. She leverages her unique perspective to counsel providers with health care legal issues.
Read the team’s full Law360 feature here. Please note, a subscription may be required.