Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Hogan Lovells regulatory partner Yarmela Pavlovic has jumped to Manatt, Phelps & Phillip in San Francisco.

Pavlovic's practice focuses on digital health care, and she advises medical device, digital therapeutics, diagnostics and life sciences companies on FDA oversight. She will work within Manatt's digital and technology group led by Lisa Suennen, who left her role as managing director of GE Ventures' Healthcare Fund last year, as well as the firm's health practice.

"We are continuing to grow our leading platform in the digital health space, and Yarmela's arrival allows us to double down on our already strong offering," Suennen said in a statement.

Pavlovic worked at Hogan Lovells for nearly 14 years before jumping to Manatt. Earlier in her career, she worked at Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia defending medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies.

Pavlovic said that Manatt's unique structure of merging advising with a traditional law practice made it a perfect fit for her practice. Half of the professionals in the health care practice are attorneys, while the other half are consultants.

Although she does a fair amount of traditional deals and transaction work, Pavlovic said a key part of her practice includes technical consulting like advising her clients on what kind of clinical study would prove their product's efficacy to the FDA.

"I was really intrigued by the model that Manatt has developed," Pavlovic said. "Having a place where that mixture of work belongs was a really enticing thing for me."

Manatt has recently brought in several big law names and has looked to expand its health care practice. In October, Manatt picked up Charles Weir, a 16-year McDermott Will & Emery ligation veteran. In June, Holland & Knight cybersecurity partner Scott Lashway jumped to Manatt's newly minted Boston office, and health care partner Meghan McNamara joined the firm's Albany, New York, outpost.

The digital health industry has grown rapidly in the past few years as investors, once hesitant to invest in digital products regulated by the FDA, have realized that the regulated products offer a greater opportunity to affect the health care industry, Pavlovic said.

"In the early days it was a fledgling industry where we weren't sure where it was going to go," she said. "Now we're really starting to see the industry mature and become a player in the healthcare space."

A Hogan Lovells spokesperson said "we would like to thank Yarmela for her contribution to the firm and wish her well in her new role."

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