Am Law’s Litigation Daily once again singled out McGuireWoods for its work to preserve vital healthcare funding for 21 autistic children and their families in North Carolina. The publication acknowledged the McGuireWoods team in its Dec. 12, 2025, “Litigators of the Week” column after the firm’s lawsuit prompted Gov. Josh Stein to direct the state’s Department of Health and Human Services to restore Medicaid benefits paid for autism care services.
On behalf of the children and their families, McGuireWoods challenged a 10% cut in North Carolina’s Medicaid reimbursement rates for applied behavior analysis therapy, arguing that the cuts are unconstitutional and discriminatory. The state’s Department of Health and Human Services imposed the cuts because of a state budget impasse.
A Wake County Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction on Nov. 10, 2025, halting the funding cuts. Gov. Stein announced Dec. 10, 2025, that his administration will restore reimbursement rates to their previous levels, explaining that recent court orders made the cuts untenable.
The McGuireWoods legal team includes Raleigh partners Michael F. Easley Jr., Mark Anderson, Jonathan Y. Ellis and Ryan Park, and associates H. Brent McKnight Jr. and Hannah K. Caison.
McGuireWoods assembled a top-tier litigation team to advocate for the children and their families. Easley served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina before rejoining McGuireWoods in March 2025. Ellis, co-leader of the firm’s Appeals & Issues Practice Group, is a former Assistant to the Solicitor General in the Department of Justice and former law clerk to Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts Jr. Park served as North Carolina’s Solicitor General and was a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justices David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Anderson, who leads the firm’s national trials team, has been inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates.
McGuireWoods is a leader in healthcare litigation and enforcement, handling disputes in state and federal courts, regulatory agencies, and mediations and arbitrations nationwide. The team includes attorneys from the firm’s nationally recognized Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Practice Group and its Chambers-ranked healthcare practices.