Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Michael Hess was named one of Law360’s MVPs for Healthcare in 2025. This prestigious award recognizes the attorneys who have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing significant achievements in record-breaking deals, complex global matters and high-stakes litigation. This year, Law360 recognized only 160 attorneys from 76 firms among 35 categories. To see the full list of 2025 honorees, click here.
In a profile of Michael for the MVP series, Law360 noted his biggest accomplishment of the year as his representation of Sycamore Partners in its acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. This estimated $24 billion transaction was noted as one of Law360’s “Healthcare Deals that Shaped 2025” in a Midyear Highlight article from July 2025. In talking about the impact of the deal, Michael said, it “offers one of the best potential paths forward for independent, payor-agnostic pharmacies looking for alternatives to being acquired by large pharmacy benefit managers.” Read more about that deal here.
When asked why he is a healthcare attorney, Michael said he enjoys acting as a business partner to clients, “Every aspect of what we do in healthcare has a regulatory overlay, which makes being a healthcare attorney really valuable in understanding how a business runs. Every time the business is trying to address a problem, there’s a regulatory overlay that goes with it — and this is why I love my job. As an attorney, I get to be at the table as a business partner to help solve the business’s problems and not just the guy brought in at the last minute to fix something that went wrong.”
Michael’s advice to young attorneys is to focus on building relationships and learn the industry in which you practice. “That relationship that you build when you’re 32 and the person on the other side of the table is 32 — that relationship 10 years from now will become the project you’re working on 10 years from now.” He added, “Law is not an esoteric theoretical art. It is helping businesspeople run their business, and you have to understand what they’re trying to accomplish and how the advice you give fits into what they’re doing.”
The full profile, “MVP: Bass Berry’s Michael Hess,” was published by Law360 on November 12 and is available online. To read more about Michael’s practice, view his bio.