Edward A. Cienki

Edward A. Cienki, R.Ph., MBA, Esq. provides health care organizations with strategic counsel on complex regulatory, compliance, and transactional matters, leveraging more than 45 years legal, executive, and clinical/ healthcare operations experience throughout the continuum of the healthcare industry. He is a member of the firm’s Health Care Practice Group focusing on Cannabis Law, Corporate and Business Law, Corporate Restructuring and Bankruptcy Law, Insurance Law, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance, and White Collar Defense.

Ed advises clients ranging from solo provider practices to multi-hospital healthcare systems, including long-term care facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, diagnostic imaging centers and urgent care centers as well as manufacturers and distributors of medical devices, healthcare products and pharmaceuticals on various legal, regulatory, and operational matters including food and drug laws.  

Furthermore, he assists health care providers across diverse sectors such as AI, cannabis, and behavioral health, while providing comprehensive services for private equity funding, navigating the New Jersey Department of Health certificate of need process, and securing procurement of other regulatory approvals for hospital ownership transfers and transitioning from non-profit to for-profit status.

Ed also brings substantial transactional experience, including structuring, negotiating, and integrating healthcare business arrangements and service platforms, with experience supporting growth initiatives that require coordinated legal, operational, and financial planning. His background includes building and leading accredited multi-state healthcare service operations and working closely with attorneys and accountants on due diligence, contracting, and post-closing integration. Ed also helps clients navigate state and federal investigations related to risk management, privacy and compliance program design and implementation, and accreditation readiness.

Throughout his career, he has served in senior leadership roles at New Jersey hospitals as President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Legal Counsel/General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer.  In those roles, he has led the development and licensure of new service lines, managed state and federal surveys, addressed accreditation matters, and has appeared before regulators such as  the New Jersey State Health Planning Board, the New Jersey Department of Health, the various professional boards of health care providers, the Office of Inspector General for the US Department of Health and Human Services, the US Department of Justice and Congressional Committees. He also educated regulators and legislators, and when necessary, negotiated and implemented government settlements and corporate integrity agreements between the state and/or federal government agencies with healthcare providers. Ed successfully represented parties who were targets of various United States Congressional and US Department of Justice investigations, including prescription drug prices, and price gouging by health care providers during the Coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to having earned his Juris Doctor, Ed holds an MBA in Health and Medical Services Administration, and a B.S. in Pharmacy, remaining a Registered Pharmacist. He has also served as a guest lecturer in healthcare transactional and regulatory law at Rutgers University School of Law-Camden and is an active member in the New Jersey State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Health Care Compliance Association and the American Health Law Association and has held faculty appointments at the prestigious Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science.

New Jersey State Bar Association

American Bar Association

• Member, Business Law Section
• Member, Health Law Section

American Health Law Association

Health Care Compliance Association

Volunteer Services

As an FCC licensed General Class Operator, Ed assists FCC licensed amateur radio service operators, known as HAM's with station licensing matters as a volunteer counsel to:

• The American Radio Relay League (ARRL); and 
• The South Jersey Radio Association (SJRA).

New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2013

New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2012

Please see Honor and Award Methodology. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.