Biehl, Michael (Melvin) 1951-

views updated

BIEHL, Michael (Melvin) 1951-

PERSONAL: Born February 24, 1951, in Milwaukee, WI; son of Melvin Biehl (a businessman) and Frieda (Krieg) Davis (in public relations); married Cathleen Shaughnessy, July 26, 1986; children: Michael S. Education: Harvard College, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1973; Harvard Law School, J.D. (cum laude), 1976. Religion: Unitarian.

ADDRESSES: Home—908 Scherer Way, Osprey, FL 34229. Offıce—Foley & Lardner, 777 East Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53092; fax: 414-297-4900. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Attorney, writer, and musician. Admitted to the Bar of the State of Wisconsin, 1976; Foley & Lardner, Milwaukee, WI, attorney, 1976—, partner, 1984—; Republic of Georgia, election monitor, 1990; Marquette University, Milwaukee, adjunct professor, 2001—. Professional blues musician (keyboard), 1985-98. Colorlines Foundation for Arts and Culture, Inc., director; Aurora Behavioral Health Services, board member, 1996—; Aurora Psychiatric Hospital, chairman of the board, 1999—.

MEMBER: American Health Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, State Bar of Wisconsin, Mystery Writers of America.

WRITINGS:

(With wife, Cathleen S. Biehl) The Medical Staff:Legal Issues, National Health Lawyers Association (Washington, DC), 1990.

Doctored Evidence: A Suspense Novel, Bridge Works (Bridgehampton, NY), 2002.

Lawyered to Death, Bridge Works (Bridgehampton, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Michael Biehl is a partner in the largest law firm in the country that specializes in health matters. In his practice, he advises client hospitals on a wide range of issues, including patients' rights, bioethics, contracts, staff management, administration, and the establishment and administration of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs). Biehl is also a musician who played keyboard with blues bands in the Milwaukee area for many years. In 2002 he wrote his first mystery novel, Doctored Evidence, called "an engrossing, nicely paced tale, with credible and engaging characters" by a Publishers Weekly reviewer who added that "this harrowing exposé of medical fraud will chill as well as infuriate." Biehl's characters benefit from his own experience. The protagonist, Karen Hayes, is an attorney, and her husband, Jake, is a professional musician.

The crime takes place in Shoreview Memorial in Jefferson, Illinois, when Larry Conkel, the hospital's chief financial officer, dies after a catheter explodes in his chest during a routine biopsy performed just before he planned to expose hospital fraud. Before he dies, Conkel gives a note to a nurse, who passes it on to Karen. She hunts down the incriminating records, and evidence is uncovered that suggests that there was tampering during Conkel's procedure. Karen has a list of suspects that includes the widow, a secretary, an administrator, and a surgeon, as well as a number of clues to follow. Booklist reviewer Jenny McLarin described Karen's character as "appealing" and the plot as "suspenseful," and called Doctored Evidence a "promising debut novel."