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Daniel Patten

Partner, Healthcare Regulatory & Enforcement at Holland & Knight LLP

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

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Why they matter

A Nashville healthcare regulatory partner actively working live behavioral health deal flow and shaping how PE-backed roll-ups navigate compliance dealbreakers.

Background

Daniel Patten is a Partner in Holland & Knight's Healthcare Regulatory & Enforcement practice, based in Nashville. He joined via the March 2023 combination of Holland & Knight with Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, where he had practiced in the Healthcare Compliance and Operations group since 2014. He holds a J.D. magna cum laude from Belmont University College of Law and a B.A. in Anthropology from Wake Forest University.

Notable deals

  • 2025
    Served as healthcare regulatory counsel to Achieve Partners on its strategic growth investment in Westside Children's Therapy, a Chicago-based pediatric therapy provider
  • 2025
    Co-led a session on regulatory pitfalls and dealbreakers in behavioral health M&A at the Behavioral Health Business (BHB) INVEST Conference
  • 2025
    Spoke on regulatory and policy changes affecting value-based behavioral healthcare at the Behavioral Health Business VALUE Conference in New Orleans

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Partner, Healthcare Regulatory & Enforcement, Holland & Knight (Nashville); joined via the 2023 Waller Lansden combination after nearly a decade at Waller's Healthcare Compliance and Operations group.
  • J.D. magna cum laude, Belmont University College of Law; B.A. Anthropology, Wake Forest.
  • Recognized as a Best Lawyers "Ones to Watch" (Nashville Health Care Law, 2021-2025; Administrative/Regulatory Law, 2022-2025) and Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Star (2020-2024).

Current focus

  • Regulatory workstreams on healthcare M&A and joint ventures, with a concentration in behavioral health, value-based care, and physician practice management.
  • Advises on fraud and abuse (Stark/AKS), HIPAA/state privacy law, and Medicare conditions of participation — the exact diligence issues that kill or reprice PE roll-up deals.
  • Active industry voice: hosts Holland & Knight's "Counsel That Cares" podcast on value-based care and speaks regularly at Behavioral Health Business conferences.

What he cares about

  • Getting regulatory diligence engaged early enough in a deal to catch dealbreakers before LOI, not after.
  • Value-based care contracting structures and how they interact with fraud-and-abuse exposure in consolidating platforms.

Recent moves

  • August 2025: regulatory counsel to Achieve Partners on its growth investment in Westside Children's Therapy (pediatric/ABA therapy platform).
  • 2025: back-to-back speaking slots at BHB's VALUE and INVEST conferences on regulatory realities in behavioral health M&A — signals he's seeing significant current deal volume in the space.

Sensitivities

  • As outside regulatory counsel (not lead deal counsel) on named transactions, he may be constrained by client confidentiality on specifics — frame questions around market patterns, not his clients' deal terms.

Questions to ask

  1. What regulatory red flags are most frequently killing or repricing behavioral health roll-up deals right now?
  2. How is state-level corporate practice of medicine / fee-splitting enforcement trending for multi-site behavioral health platforms?
  3. What diligence gaps does he see PE sponsors consistently underweight in ABA/pediatric therapy and outpatient behavioral health add-ons?

Outreach draft

Subject
Behavioral health regulatory diligence — quick call?
Hi Daniel, I came across your recent work advising Achieve Partners on the Westside Children's Therapy investment, along with your sessions at the BHB VALUE and INVEST conferences on regulatory pitfalls in behavioral health M&A. We're evaluating a roll-up thesis in behavioral health and would value your read on where regulatory risk is concentrated right now — particularly around fraud-and-abuse exposure and state-level practice restrictions for multi-site platforms. Would you have 20-30 minutes in the next couple of weeks for a call? Happy to work around your schedule, and glad to share more on what we're looking at if useful. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

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