Our Team

Ken Merlino

Strategy, Research, Privacy & Regulatory

Ken leads Useful Group’s Strategy, Research, Privacy, and Regulatory practices, specializing in managing engagements with private equity clients that operate in complex, highly regulated industries.
Ken has more than 25 years of legal and regulatory experience, including defense in healthcare licensing and credentialing actions, FDA 483 defense, medical malpractice, and revenue cycle litigation and compliance. Ken is experienced in pharmaceutical litigation, including Knoll, BASF, and Abbott; he has also represented major health systems including Advocate Health and Hospitals, Presence Health, and Edwards Hospital. His experience includes HIPAA, state, federal, and international regulations, as well as OCR and FTC healthcare marketing regulatory framework and enforcement actions.
In addition, Ken oversees the agency’s marketing research and investigations practice, including market research, and competitive analysis. He holds a B.S. in Marketing from Northern Illinois University and a J.D. from The John Marshall Law School. Ken is based in the Chicago area.