Career Guide for the Future Healthcare Attorney

Abstract

I have two objectives in this Article. First, I will outline the wide range of career paths available to you as a health lawyer. Second, I will describe the experience and credentials that you should acquire to make yourself a competitive candidate for these jobs.

The plethora of health law career opportunities can be roughly grouped into twelve categories. As an entry-level lawyer, you could (1) clerk for a judge or (2) complete a health policy fellowship. As an attorney, you could do either (3) litigation or (4) transactional work for healthcare clients. Or you could practice in the particularly fast-growing areas of (5) public health law or (6) elder law.

But I hasten to add that not all health law jobs involve working as an attorney or lawyer. Law school is excellent training for legal non-attorney careers in: (7) compliance, (8) regulatory affairs, (9) risk management, (10) clinical ethics consultation, (11) legal nurse consulting, and (12) dispute resolution. Most of the strategies for success for aspiring health lawyers are the same are those for any other law student. I have taken the liberty to customize these strategies for the future healthcare attorney. I have grouped my law school strategies for success into five categories: (1) work experience, (2) moot courts, (3) writing, (4) networking, and (5) coursework.

Keywords: Career, health lawyer, employment, legal job, healthcare, elder law, risk management, dispute resolution, public health law

JEL Classification: K32, I1, I18