Solo health care attorneys form referral network. (Nanci Danison, Judi Hatcher, Tony Merry and Robert Morris)

When health care attorney Nanci Danison left the Columbus firm Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease this fall to launch her own practice, she turned her attention to two contradictory trends: As health care becomes increasingly complex, medical providers and insurers need legal advice now more than ever.

But as cost containment increasingly dominates the industry, now is the time practitioners can least afford the hefty fees of large, high-profile firms.

Danison's answer to the contradiction? Seek out other solo health care attorneys and form a referral network that offers big-firm expertise at small-firm prices.

"In the past, companies might not look at somebody …