Jean Marie R. Pechette is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm’s Chicago office. Jean focuses her practice on information technology, intellectual property and data privacy matters, with a concentration on the health care industry.
Jean has represented and counseled public and privately held companies in various industries, including information technology and health care (such as healthcare providers and health systems as well as providers of medical devices, electronic medical records and other clinical information systems). She has provided advice on structuring and negotiating complex commercial transactions, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, technology transfer, software and content development, licensing, and distribution and hosting agreements (including Software as a Service (“SaaS”) and cloud computing), deployment of electronic health records, revenue cycle and claims processing solutions, health information exchanges, and data warehouses; intellectual property issues related to data mining, transformation and creation of electronic databases, and has counseled on data privacy and security, HIPAA, the HITECH Act and regulatory compliance issues unique to the health care industry.
Jean has more than 20 years of experience in private practice and six years of experience serving as general counsel for several of GE Healthcare’s emerging high-growth information technology and imaging archiving business units. She played an integral role in the growth of the imaging and IT business from a start-up venture (under $50 million) to an almost $2 billion business. She received several Management Awards including for “Leadership in Helping Drive Tremendous Growth for GEMS IT” and for her “Outstanding Work on the UK LSP Project”. She was the lead lawyer for the international team that negotiated the long term agreement valued at £110M with Fujitsu Services LTD, the local service provider (LSP), to supply PACS (“picture archiving and communication system”) technology for 72 hospitals run by 42 NHS (the “National Health Service”) hospital trusts across the South of England for the NHS under the National Programme for IT. At the time, the transaction was lauded as the single largest PACS deal ever signed in the UK, and the largest signed by GE globally. She has partnered with cross-functional and business development teams in evaluating potential targets, conducting due diligence, and structuring and negotiating acquisitions. She has also led integration projects, including developing and implementing regulatory compliance policies and processes, privacy and security protection programs, new “go to market” contract templates and processes, and intellectual property protection strategies and programs for acquired entities.
Jean has structured, negotiated and closed more than 200 acquisition, licensing, distribution, development and strategic alliance transactions worldwide.
Jean is admitted to practice in Illinois and Indiana. She is a council member and the chair of the Healthcare Technology Committee, and a member of the Finance Committee for the Section of Science and Technology Law of the American Bar Association. She is also an honorary member of the board of directors of the Asian American Bar Association of Chicago and clerked for Judge Patrick D. Sullivan of the Indiana Court of Appeals early in her career.
Representative Experience
- Collaborate frequently with the corporate and private equity practice groups in advising on intellectual property, information technology, and data privacy and security issues in numerous M&A transactions and transactions for portfolio companies, with particular focus on health industry matters and clients.
- Advise a broad range of companies in reviewing privacy and security issues arising from their e-commerce initiatives; developing web site privacy policies and terms of use, including for use by retail pharmacies and diagnostic laboratories; assisting with risk assessment and audit of privacy and security policies and implementation of implementing new or revised policies and procedures to address emerging growth areas; structuring and negotiating ASP, SaaS (“Software as a Service”), or cloud computing agreements involving highly sensitive data. The clients include: 1) a private beverage company; 2) Fortune 20 healthcare company; 3) Fortune 1000 pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical device manufacturer; 4) public global specialist IT services and solution provider; 5) subsidiary of publicly-held global leader in insurance and asset management, serving clients in over 50 countries; 6) start-up offering innovative video conferencing services; 7) a leading health IT solutions provider with leading imaging, revenue cycle and electronic health record products; 8) private software development company that provides consulting, integration, technology and support solutions and services to federal agencies; and 9) an internet retail information and services provider.
- Represented a public diversified industrial company with operations in more than 30 countries in its implementation of global instance of its ERP system.
- Represent a private beverage spin-off from a large public company with global operations in its long term IT outsourcing/private cloud transactions.
- Represented a privately held-company specializing in providing information technology solutions, financial system solutions and accounting services for government agencies in its cloud computing transaction.
- Represented a U.S. based company with global operations engaged in providing renewable energy technology and services in structuring and negotiating technology licensing and services agreements with international customers, including in Korea and in P.R.C.
- Represented a large India-based conglomeration with revenues of over $60B comprised of over 90 operating companies in more than 80 countries in its negotiations with one of the world's largest aerospace company in connection with supply subcontracts relating to master contracts with the US government.
- Represented several healthcare providers, health systems and physician practice groups in negotiating software licensing, implementation and/or development agreements, including for deployment of electronic health records, revenue cycle solutions, and claims processing solutions.
- Represented an industry leader in clinical information systems and health care revenue management with negotiating exclusive reseller, development, license and services agreements involving certain clinical management and electronic medical records systems to be provided to government-funded users in Canada using a third-party hosted ASP portal
- Represented a publicly traded international medical devices company in developing and designing an enterprise contract management and compliance system for use in its global operations
- Represented one of the world’s largest suppliers of advanced blood technologies in structuring and negotiating its agreements with vendors to license, develop, customize, implement, host and support various mission-critical software applications
- Represented GE Healthcare in negotiating numerous distribution, reselling, sublicensing, hosting, and joint technology or content development agreements with major hardware and software vendors or health care institutions
- Represented leading consumer credit reporting agency in customizing contract templates for emerging growth health care IT business
- Represented a business unit of a publicly held company that is a global leader in the manufacture and service of pace-setting excavating and drilling machines in negotiating an enterprise level long-term master software license and support agreement and a master services agreement involving the design, licensing, development, implementation and support of strategic mission-critical software systems
- Represented a leading green technology provider to the environmental markets of water and soil remediation in negotiating an exclusive patent license agreement involving encapsulation technologies
- Represented a start-up technology incubator in negotiating and structuring a joint collaboration agreement, including patent and intellectual property licensing, with a major medical device vendor
- Represented a start-up health care information provider in connection with updating business associate agreements with covered entities and lower tier contractors, privacy and security protection policies, and procedures and compliance training programs to comply with the HITECH Act
- Represented a start-up health care information provider in connection with analyzing intellectual property ownership and potential infringement issues and implementing clean room policies and procedures for the development of a new health risk assessment platform
- Advised a leading provider of high-performance document management solutions and services in evaluating its proposed use of certain open source software in its software development and developed a compliance program to maintain ownership and protection of the company’s intellectual property rights while utilizing open source.
- Represented an internet retail information and services provider in connection with intellectual property protection and enforcement, creating data privacy and security policies, user terms and conditions, and linking agreements, and in negotiating web and content design, development, licensing and hosting agreements
Education
- Indiana University School of Law, J.D., 1980
- Indiana University, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1977
Languages Spoken
- English
- French
