Asher Friend, a partner in the Corporate Practice Group and a member of the firm's M&A and private equity teams, led a team of Jones Walker attorneys, including Brett Beter and Katie Herbert, in representing The Focus Group in the company's merger with Health Management Associates (HMA), an independent, national research and consulting firm specializing in publicly funded healthcare and human services policy, programs, financing, and evaluation. The Focus Group, a New Orleans-based healthcare consulting firm assisting healthcare clients navigate the intersection of healthcare policy, payment, and delivery by devising and implementing strategies that create change and fuel growth, will continue to operate as The Focus Group, an HMA Company. The merger closed on September 30, 2022.