Develop Your Lawyering Skills Now and Your Health Law Job Will Follow

On Friday I attended the Fourth Annual Student Health Law Conference: Taking the Health Law Career Path co-sponsored by Seton Hall Law School and the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics (ASLME).  Originally I planned to attend only the morning session — both for my own benefit as a possible health law practitioner and because I’m a research assistant at the law school’s Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy — but I found the panelists to be so engaging that I stuck around for the afternoon session and the networking reception.

Despite some recent good news concerning the job prospects for law students, especially for those in New Jersey, recent graduates and third or fourth year law students don’t need a Magic 8-Ball to tell them that compared to the hiring fests of 2005 and 2006,  the present “outlook [is] not so good.”  So what about health law jobs?  There are regular reports on how the healthcare industry has weathered the economic storm better than others (see Michael Ricciardelli’s blog posts on the continued growth of the healthcare industry here and here).  Peter Leibold, Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer of the American Health Lawyers Association, delivered a great keynote speech at the Conference emphasizing, among other things, how the field of health law is growing and, in particular, which areas of health law are flourishing.

Still, in the current clime finding a job as a health law practitioner fresh out of law school can seem like a rather daunting challenge.  But should it be?  Not so, said the panelists.

I attended five panels (out of 18) addressing the career opportunities available for those interested in “When a Medical License is at Stake,” “Health Information & Technology Practice,” “In-House Counsel: Pharmaceutical Companies,” “Government Enforcement of Health Care Fraud, and “Hospitals & Medical Groups: Compliance & Risk Management.”  The panelists represented a variety of employers, including the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, Bristol-Myers Squibb, sanofi-aventis, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, and Saint Barnabas Health Care System.  Three panelists had worked for boutique or large firms but eventually branched out on their own.

Many of the panelists relayed a mixture of humor and frankness in their discussions about the current job market and their own past experiences in job searching.  Several noted that their current job came from prior work experiences that had built upon one-another.  Others outlined networking strategies and urged students to apply for internships.  However, one piece of advice could be heard over and over again: develop your lawyering skills now and your health law job will follow.

Maybe you want to work for a law firm specializing in health law. Maybe you want to be in-house counsel for a pharmaceutical company.  Or maybe you want to work for the government.  Regardless of which career path appeals to you, a recent law school graduate may hit a wall with potential employers looking for experienced candidates.  Both in-house counsel panelists acknowledged that pharmaceutical companies tend to prefer people with a few years of work experience. So if it’s in-house pharma you really want, you’ll just have to work your way there.

So while you search for a health law job, focus on developing a solid set of skills by taking that first job — even if it isn’t in health law — and learning how to be an effective lawyer.  That way you will have a marketable set of skills at the ready when a health law job does come your way. Always working towards the goal.

If you’re a recent graduate but you haven’t found a job, it’s suggested that you try the small firms, solo or dual practitioner offices– where you’re as likely as not to have complex files and entire cases dropped in your lap– amounting to invaluable and marketable experience. Barring that, look for freelance work or volunteer your legal services with an organization.  It’s better for you to have some legal experience on your resume than none at all.  For example, the Division of Law within the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General has a Volunteer Associate Program which enables recent graduates, deferred associates, and similarly-situated attorneys to hone their skills.  Participants must commit to 20 hours per week for 3 months.  Search around the internet or contact your career services office to find other organizations and government agencies offering similar programs.

Below are some other tidbits of information I gathered from the Conference.

Make yourself an expert and then use social media to market yourself. It is never too early to start making yourself an expert in a particular area of health law.  As a health law student or as a recent graduate, you can write articles on topics covered in class and then get your name “out there” by submitting those articles to blogs and other health law news sources.  If your articles are published, make sure to maintain a portfolio that you can present to prospective employers and update your resume accordingly.  If your articles are published online, you also can create a Twitter account and then make links to those articles. If you doubt the value in that, look up in the right hand corner of this blog and see in “Places Cited” where articles from Health Reform Watch have been cited– everything from the Health Care Blog to the New York Times and Washington Post and Maggie Mahar’s Health Beat. In addition, Seton Hall Law student Jordan Cohen presently holds one of the top rated google searches in America for “Accountable Care Organization.” Not a bad accolade or writing sample to bring a prospective employer.

Intern while you’re in school. Internships are key in this economy.  Internships help you develop lawyering skills, add work experience to your resume, provide work references, and give you additional contacts for your job search.  Note: if you are interested in working for the government, focus on internships with state and local agencies as well as federal agencies.

Remember your cover letter. To get your foot in the door for an interview, pay attention to your cover letter as well as your resume.  This is especially so if your background does not exactly match the position to which you’re applying (e.g., person with public interest background applies for a hospital compliance officer position).  Your cover letter presents the best opportunity to answer any questions that might arise in a prospective interviewer’s mind.  Be sure to check for typos.

Fourth Annual Student Health Law Conference To Be Held at Seton Hall Law on October 22nd

The American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics (ASLME) and Seton Hall University School of Law will co-sponsor the Fourth Annual Student Health Law Conference: Taking the Health Law Career Path on Friday, October 22, 2010, in Newark, New Jersey.

This conference, which is attended by law students from law schools throughout the country, seeks to expose law students to the myriad career paths for attorneys in health and life sciences. The conference provides an introductory session on health law, panels on a variety of employment opportunities in health law, and a networking reception with the conference speakers. Career paths that will be represented include academia, compliance, private firms, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, drug and device companies, health insurers, and hospitals. Speakers for this year’s conference have been chosen for their health law expertise and background.

The format of the conference is a series of panels focused around a particular kind of health law career. Each panel is approximately one hour long and comprised of two to four panelists. Students will have the opportunity to explore nontraditional employment opportunities across the health law spectrum, receive support and guidance from professionals familiar with the experience needed for various careers as well as recruitment and hiring processes, and network with health law attorneys.

Interested in learning more about career paths for attorneys in health and  life sciences?  Click here for information on attending the conference.

Opportunities at the Intersection of Health Law and Public Interest (If You Seize Them)

I was given the honor of moderating a panel on Non-Profit Organizations and Health Law at the ASLME Conference at Seton Hall Law last Friday.  After listening to the panelists speak about the benefits and detriments of working in non-profit health law, I was left pondering the potential job opportunities in the field.  The speakers, Keri Logosso of Wynona’s House and Bryn Whittle of the Community Health Law Project, both discussed their journeys toward their respective careers as health lawyers.  One of the women characterized herself as a “non-practicing” attorney, whose original career goal was to become a doctor; the other said she was had never expected to be a trial advocate, but through the eventual twists and turns of her career history found herself representing low-income, disabled New Jersey residents.  Through the narratives of their personal success stories, Ms. Logosso and Ms. Whittle imparted helpful advice for the future health lawyers in the audience.

When did you know you wanted to be a health lawyer? Both of the panelists spoke of the moments in their lives when they realized that combining their passion for serving and healing others with their interest in legal issues was what they wanted from their careers.  Though this was not an epiphany they had early on, both women found that their career choices had come full circle in that each of their prior work experiences led to the eventual goal of practicing health law.  That sort of incremental realization certainly gives hope to those of us who are still unsure as to career paths.

How do I get hired in the field of non-profit health law? Both speakers addressed the characteristics of ideal candidates for jobs in the field of non-profit health law.  While those characteristics included such traditional requirements as past experience in the field, willingness to learn, and strength in knowledge of health law issues– some non-traditional factors also came up:

1.       An aspiring health lawyer needs to have the tenacity that will take him past the initial crush of being turned down from fellowship opportunities or legal work at an advocacy organization. Other opportunities will arise which will ultimately allow one to work towards the goal– but you have to remain open to them.

2.      The recent health law graduate should be willing to take not only that work that ideally interests him but any work that could potentially be of use later on in his career.  Jobs you originally think might not interest you greatly could be career changers as was the case for both of these panelists.

3.      The trained health lawyer must build connections at every step of his career.  Ms. Whittle stressed the importance of getting your name out and building contacts for when you might need references or recommendations.

4.      Finally, the health law student must be tenacious.  The best way to get a job is by making that extra call or writing that additional letter.  Also, the health law graduate should not be afraid to reach out to government leaders.  Ms. Logosso stated that students should call their local elected officials to inquire about available work.  Such techniques helped her once secure the position of Governor Corzine’s Health Policy Advisor.

5.      The health law graduate should not shy away from trying out private law opportunities.  Ms. Logosso said that in such private sector work there are often opportunities to perform high-level pro-bono work and to gain the necessary experiences to develop your strengths as a lawyer.

What’s the competition like? With all that has been happening in the field of health law, it is certainly an opportune time to be looking for a job in the field.  The health law world is experiencing change on a unparalleled level. Such changes will require regulatory, compliance, and litigation advocates in unprecedented numbers as the dust settles on pending reform legislation. Lawyers, at all levels, will help define the fine print. As we posted a few months ago, according to American Lawyer magazine, Health Law jobs are already on the rise.

Having said that, it was also said that competition in the public sector can be stiff– and one needs to prepare oneself fully in order to successfully compete.  The inspiring stories of Ms. Logosso and Ms. Whittle demonstrated, however,  that it is certainly not impossible to get a job as a public interest health lawyer, and that one may work towards the dream job over a period of time– gaining at each turn the skills and experience requisite for that job of all jobs.  It all brought to mind for me that famous quote from Warren Buffet: “I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.”

Third Annual Student Health Law Conference, Friday, October 16th at Seton Hall Law

The American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics (ASLME) and Seton Hall University School of Law will co-sponsor the Third Annual Student Health Law Conference on Friday, October 16, 2009 in Newark, New Jersey, from 8:30AM to 5:00PM.

This conference, which is attended by law students from law schools throughout the country, seeks to expose law students to the myriad career paths for attorneys in health and life sciences. The conference provides an introductory session on health law, panels on a variety of employment opportunities in health law, and a networking reception with the conference speakers. Career paths that will be represented include academia, compliance, private firms, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, drug and device companies, health insurers, and hospitals. Speakers for this year’s conference have been chosen for their health law expertise and background.

The format of the conference is a series of panels focused around a particular kind of health law career. Each panel is approximately one hour long and comprised of two to four panelists. Students will have the opportunity to explore nontraditional employment opportunities across the health law spectrum, receive support and guidance from professionals familiar with the experience needed for various careers as well as recruitment and hiring processes, and network with health law attorneys.

Click here for more information.