Allyson Avila is a partner in the New York office of Lewis Brisbois and a member of the Healthcare and General Liability Practices. She maintains a diverse practice in which she counsels and defends private, institutional, and municipal clients in medical malpractice and nursing home litigation, as well as employment, premises liability and contract matters. With over 20 years of litigation and trial experience, Ms. Avila has secured more than a dozen defense verdicts in New York courts. She regularly handles high-exposure matters successfully, making her a “go-to” attorney for organizations involved in consequential litigation.

Ms. Avila is one of only a few attorneys who specialize in the medical spa industry and aesthetic medical environment. She has over 12 years of experience working with medical practices, global companies and medical aesthetic spas from start up to expansion within the 50 States and nationally.  

Since regulations in the aesthetic industry vary considerably among each state, Ms. Avila counsels clients on the particular regulations for their state. She has conducted extensive research in the area of state regulatory schemes, represented clients before medical boards, and created guidelines to assist medical spa owners to understand the regulations in the state in which they are seeking to do business. Ms. Avila keeps her clients apprised of all recent developments in the industry to provide current, up-to-date information, and she regularly conducts webinars and speaks at global aesthetic conferences relating to industry-specific matters. 

Ms. Avila’s practice includes the following areas: 

• Create and file incorporation documents, shareholder agreements and operating agreements; 
• Create spa manual, protocols and consent forms; 
• Prepare OSHA related protocols; 
• Prepare management services agreements; 
• Review and negotiate contracts for the sale/purchase of a practice; 
• Review and negotiate contracts with vendors;
• Review and negotiate lease agreements;
• Prepare and negotiate employment and independent contractor agreements;
• Defend unemployment/wrongful termination claims; 
• Defend physician’s and allied health care professionals in grievance hearings; 
• Conduct compliance audits;
• Create state specific employee handbooks;
• Create social media policies;
• Create consent forms and intake forms to ensure they are legally sufficient;
• Set-up IV/Wellness Centers;
• Register trademarks;
• Defend against trademark infringement claims;
• Defend general liability claims (slip and fall accidents, etc.); 
• Defend malpractice claims;
• Provide guidance on general counsel matters; 
• Defend claims of breach of contract for equipment finance agreements; 
• Defend false claims listed on social media sites;
• Review websites for ADA and FTC compliance; 
• Review and provide guidance on FDA restricted products;
• Defend clients in landlord/tenant actions related to their medical practice; and 
• Provide guidance on telehealth regulations across the 50 States. 

In addition to the above, Ms. Avila has significant trial experience, and some recent notable defense verdicts are included below.

• Defense verdict after a four-week jury trial in a New York Labor Law Case.
• Defense verdict in two-week trial in Bronx County New York.
• Defense verdict in favor of physician and his practice in plaintiff slip and fall.
• Defense verdict in favor of orthodontist in malpractice and product liability claim filed by a post polio patient that claimed injury due to faulty prosthetic device.
• Defense verdict in favor of hospital on a malpractice and false imprisonment claim. 
• Defense verdict in action against nursing home for malpractice. 
• Defense verdict in negligence/premises liability case.
• Defense verdict in toxic tort claim against sports club. 
• Defense verdict in motor vehicle accident filed against hospital and hospital’s driver.
• Defense verdict in negligence/premises liability case against nail salon. 
• Defense verdict in favor of sports club in a negligent maintenance of gym action. 
• Defense verdict in favor of sports club in a negligent maintenance of gym action where the plaintiff claimed defect with equipment. 
• Defense verdict in favor of land developer after liability had already been established under NYS Labor Law.

Publications

Professional Presentations

• Presenter, Ted Talk: These Times They Are A Changin’: The Intersection of Law & Politics, GRSM Legal Education Conference, New York and Hartford, May 2018.

Admissions

• State Bar Admissions
  • New York
• United States District Courts
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • United States District Court for the Western District of New York

Education

Pace University School of Law

Juris doctor, cum laude, 2001

City College of New York

Master of Arts, 1997

St. Thomas Aquinas College

Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, 1994