This is a special year for POWERS as the firm marks its 40th anniversary. We wish to thank you, our clients, colleagues, and friends, for choosing to partner with us over the years as we have grown your business and advanced your organizations’ missions. We are honored that you have turned to us to help solve your most complex legal, regulatory, and government relations challenges.
The POWERS firm was founded in 1982 by Galen Powers, Jim Pyles, and Ron Sutter. Powers had been the first Chief Counsel of the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), and both Pyles and Sutter had been lawyers in the Office of General Counsel of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now DHHS). The three founders had a clear strategic vision: to become Washington’s leading healthcare “boutique” with a national practice representing hospitals and the health system and with an emphasis on Medicare and Medicaid payment matters. That vision served the firm well in its early years, and the firm was soon representing clients in Federal Courts throughout the country up to and including the United States Supreme Court.
That early vision evolved with the times just as the healthcare system was evolving. In 1994, it added a group of seasoned attorneys led by Richard Verville with a client base focused more on physician organizations, rehabilitation providers, nursing groups, and other non-hospital organizations. The Verville group also expanded the firm’s legislative practice, brought NIH and other public health expertise, and an emerging higher education practice. Subsequent additions to the health practice added expertise and clients in medical special society representation, long-term care, home health, senior living, other ancillary services, and, in 1992, the country’s leading drug pricing practice.
At the same time, both lateral additions and internal growth propelled the education group into a national leader in that practice area with strength in the field of for-profit higher education.
The strategic vision expanded again in 2014 with the addition of seasoned tribal practice attorneys Brian Gunn, Paul Moorehead, and Kevin Wadzinski. While not limited to health or education, this expansion was perfectly in-line with the original Powers vision: a Washington firm with a national practice focused largely on federal government problems and opportunities.
As modified over four decades, the founders’ original vision proved successful POWERS remains a Washington firm with a national reputation and impact. The firm has represented clients in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico., and several foreign countries. Many of the firm’s long-time clients operate nationally and some internationally. We have many skilled professionals, all in specialties with a national reach, and supported by a talented and loyal administrative staff, several of whom have been with the firm from near its inception.
While the strategic vision of the firm may have evolved, the mission of Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville has been steadfast: to ensure the highest level of professional service to each and every client while maintaining a personal, rather than institutional, approach. The professionals at POWERS view themselves as part of the client’s team, working together to solve problems and create opportunities, often in unique and creative ways. Staying true to this mission has helped us forge deep and meaningful connections – with our clients, with one another, and within our communities. Illustrative of this success are the clients who have been with us for decades, in some cases for the full life of the firm.
Our profound gratitude goes to our clients for choosing POWERS to provide you with the power to navigate legal and government relations complexities. We look forward to continuing to work with you for decades to come.