Barry S. Landsberg

Barry S. Landsberg has a track record of victories before the California Supreme Court and the California Court of Appeal.

One of his recent major cases was defending Dignity Health's St. Mary Medical Center against a legal action brought by the hospital's medical staff. Medical Staff of St. Mary Medical Center v. Dignity Health, St. Mary Medical Center. The medical staff alleged that the hospital violated its rights by terminating exclusive services contracts and usurping their self-governance. The court ruled in favor of Dignity Health, denying the medical staff's claims. The Court of Appeal later affirmed the judgment, and the medical staff declined to seek Supreme Court review, resulting in a substantial victory for Dignity Health.

Landsberg also represented Dignity Health in Minton v. Dignity Health, a high-profile case with significant implications for religiously affiliated hospitals' First Amendment protections. The plaintiff alleged that Dignity Health violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act by refusing to provide an elective hysterectomy as part of the plaintiff's gender transition. The trial court dismissed the lawsuit and after a series of appeals and a denial of certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court, the case was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff.

"The cases against our faith-based hospital system clients were especially challenging because many do not understand and appreciate the doctrinal limits imposed on such hospitals that foreclose them from violating their faith when declining to provide certain services," Landsberg said. "These cases required patience and perseverance in educating courts on the constitutional religious freedoms of our clients against the emotional claims of plaintiffs and advocacy groups hoping courts would overlook the hospitals' constitutional rights."

"Cases against faith-based hospital systems will continue to proliferate, pitting the hospitals' constitutional rights of free exercise of religion against claims by advocacy groups seeking to establish unfettered access to all manner of reproductive patient care, including elective sterilization, gender transition surgery and other procedures for transgender patients," he continued. "Pending proposed federal regulations regarding transgender health care will also be featured in such cases."

In addition to his legal work, Landsberg actively participates in professional organizations and serves on the education committee of the California Society for Healthcare Attorneys. He has received numerous accolades for his work and is widely recognized as a leading litigator in health care law.