[09/01/2009] Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman co-founder Rex Killian returns to the firm that bears his name some four decades after he began his law career. This time, rather than law, Killian will lead the firm's Governance Consulting practice and serve as Of Counsel.

"For as much as this is like coming home for Rex, his role to build Hall Render's Governance Consulting practice better reflects his work in the twenty years since leaving the firm," said William H. Thompson, the firm's managing partner. "I am very excited by the wealth of knowledge and experience Rex brings back for existing and new clients of the firm. Rex's consulting services will complement well the legal services we provide to the health care industry."

The Governance Consulting practice will serve established and new clients alike in ensuring engaged, effective and productive Boards of Directors for both for-profit and non-profit health care entities.

"We founded Hall Render some 40 years ago as a firm committed to practical solutions. 'Tell us what you want to accomplish and we'll tell you how to make it happen.'" said Rex Killian. "It is that mentality exactly that brings me back. As the demands of a hospital's governance structure increases, so do the expectations. My approach is to help boards have greater impact and thus greater value."

Killian left Hall Render in 1998 to serve as the first General Counsel of the Daughters of Charity National Health System (DCNHS) and as transaction counsel in the consolidation of DCNHS and the Sisters of St. Joseph Health System. The merger formed Ascension Health, what was then and is still today the largest Catholic health system in the United States.

When he left Ascension Health in 2007, Killian started Killian & Associates, LLC, an independent health care and governance consulting firm and partnered with 360 Advisory Group, an international health care consultancy that helps emerging health care and medical technology companies accelerate growth, efficiency and capital.

Killian earned a B.S. in Business from Indiana University in 1962 and a J.D. from University of Michigan in 1967.