Holland & Knight attorneys won the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging Miami's Nicklaus Children's Hospital tried to illegally “build a hospital empire” by ”proceeding over the rubble of independent physician practice groups.”

U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro issued a summary judgment order Monday tossing the case, which was filed by pediatric kidney specialists alleging the hospital improperly attempted to absorb their practice group by conspiring with one of the group's doctors.

The decision is a victory for attorneys in Holland & Knight's Jacksonville and Tallahassee offices: partners Jerome Hoffman, Donny MacKenzie, Kevin Cox and Mia McKown and associates Laura Renstrom, Tiffany Roddenberry and Michael Gropper.

The complaint alleged the hospital worked with Dr. Felix Ramirez-Seijas to eliminate the Pediatric Nephrology Associates of South Florida partnership, which practiced at the hospital, because its two other doctors refused to join the in-house physician practice group.

Dr. Anselmo Cepero and Dr. Ana Paredes alleged the defendants carried out the conspiracy by evicting them from their offices at the hospital, terminating teaching agreements and posting a misleading job ad that counted the partnership's patients as the hospital's.

The judge focused on the false-advertising allegation brought under the Lanham Act, as it was the only federal law claim in the case, and she declined to exercise jurisdiction over the state law claims. Ungaro ruled the plaintiffs did not meet Lanham Act requirements by failing to prove the job ad deceived or could deceive consumers, and that the alleged deception affected purchasing decisions.

“What little relevant evidence there is shows that no patient would have seen the job post,” Ungaro wrote. “Dr. Paredes testified that patients would not have seen the post. Additionally, PNASF could not identify any potential referral source that was misled by the post.”

The partnership also could not identify any referral sources who stopped sending them patients because of the job ad, the judge ruled.

“We view the order as neutral on the merits of the case,” said plaintiffs attorney Kevin Kaplan of Coffey Burlington in Miami. “The gist of the order is that the doctors must prove their case in state court as opposed to federal court, and we look forward to that.”

Antitrust allegations were withdrawn earlier in the lawsuit.