The Center City Philadelphia campus of Hahnemann Hospital. Photo: Pinoy916/Wikimedia Commons

The plan to shutter Hahnemann University Hospital in Center City Philadelphia has sparked legal clashes in state and federal courts, with well-known Philadelphia-rooted firms doing much of the legal wrangling.

Officials from American Academic Health System, which owns Hahnemann and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, have announced plans to close the facility in early September. The hospital is a major employer in the region and also a mainstay for Philadelphians seeking medical attention, so the news left city officials and labor leaders scrambling for ways to keep the facility—or at least key parts of it—up and running.

The news has also sparked protests from patients and staff, and even presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, has weighed in on the dispute.

But as events continue to play out across the region, proceedings inside the courtroom have begun to heat up.

In late June, Drexel University sued American Academic Health System in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, contending that the closure would violate the agreement Drexel entered into nearly two decades ago creating an affiliation between Hahnemann and the Drexel University College of Medicine. And then just a few days later, Hahnemann filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Dockets in both cases have grown exponentially over the past few weeks, with firms from across the region entering the fray on behalf of the parties.

In the state court action, Drexel University has turned to Cozen O'Connor's Stephen Cozen and F. Warren Jacoby. As leaders in the closely watched fight to recover a $50 million license fee for the once-proposed Foxwoods Casino, the lawyers are no stranger to handling cases involving big-budget bankruptcies.

Jacoby did not return a message seeking comment Thursday afternoon.

A team of lawyers from the Philadelphia Law Department, led by City Solicitor Marcel Pratt, scored an early victory last week when a Philadelphia judge hit the troubled medical center with a preliminary injunction barring the hospital from “closing, ceasing operations, or in any way further reducing or disrupting services at the emergency department.” Although a portion of that case was stayed pending the outcome of the bankruptcy proceedings, Judge Nina Wright Padilla, who entered the order on the docket July 8, said that given the “connection with the city's exercise of its police and regulatory powers” the court had the power to enter the preliminary injunction.

American Academic Health System has hired attorneys Lawrence McMichael of Dilworth Paxson and Gary Samms of Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel to defend it against Drexel.

Samms, who is well-known for defending health care institutions in high-profile medical malpractice actions, said some of the firm's prior work led them to represent American Academic Health System in the state action.

“We've had some prior dealings handling litigation for Hahnemann,” Samms said. “They were confident we could defend this and assist them with all the issues.”

McMichael said his firm had not worked with American Academic Health System until they were engaged in the action in April.

“My understanding is that our client, American Academic Health System, was looking for counsel and had asked around,” McMichael said. “They said they heard from a number of people Dilworth was a top for the bankruptcy and related work.”

McMichael is involved in both the state action and the bankruptcy proceedings in federal court.

Hahnemann filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy June 30, and on Tuesday the company entered a proposal to sell assets of its residents program. More than 60 lawyers have also entered appearances in the bankruptcy matter.

A team of attorneys from Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr is representing the debtor in the case, Center City Healthcare doing business as Hahnemann University Hospital. According to the docket, attorney Adam Isenberg is leading that team. The team at Dilworth Paxson is also representing American Academic Health Systems as an interested party, with McMichael leading that team as well.

Attorneys from Ballard Spahr are representing Drexel University as a creditor in the bankruptcy action, and a team from Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis is listed as representing the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Attorneys Pamela Thurmond and Megan Harper of the Philadelphia Law Department are also representing the city in the bankruptcy proceedings.