National Jurist - February 2009 - (Page 18)

Dissecting health law Variety, two lawyers say, is one of the most interesting and rewarding parts of working in health law ealing with the philosophy of science and biomedical ethics is interesting to Sarah Kaput. A class in health law prompted her to study at Seton Hall University School of Law, where she graduated cum laude in 2005 with a concentration in health law. Kaput now works as a health law associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., representing health care providers, payors and manufacturers. Her work focuses on regulatory issues, fraud she said. “I had that background knowledge [and] was more efficient when I did the work.” Michael F. Smith took a different route and got a dual JD and Master’s in Public Health degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He now works in the Food and Drug Administration, Drug and Biotechnology practice group at Hogan & Hartson. Smith opted for the joint degree track after working in marketing and brand management in the pharmaceutical industry. “I decided that I might have more of A 2008 graduate, Smith enjoys the level of responsibility and interaction with partners he has at the firm. “Most of the associates I know in the health care field tend to work on a oneon-one basis with p a r t n e r s , ” h e By Ursula Furi-Perry, Esq. said. “It’s a great opportunity to find a mentoring relationship.” He assists clients with a full range of regulatory issues, including licensing agreements, clinical trial agreements, due diligence and compliance and delegating responsibility to contractors. Health law is complex and covers many different areas. One “Most of the associates challenge is figuring out when to I know in the health care stop researching, Kaput said. “The health law field in genfield tend to work on a oneeral changes all the time [and] on-one basis with partners.” there is a lot of variation by — Michael F. Smith, state,” she said. “You never know what you’re going to be doing attorney, Hogan & Hartson each day because our clients are always dealing with different things.” Still, Kaput finds variety as one of the most interesting and rewarding parts of working in health law. The field includes many different work environments and opportunities: regulatory work, transactional work, government and enforcement careers, public health law careers, intellectual property and health care litigation are just some examples. “It really becomes a fairly broad practice very quickly,” said Smith, adding that he gets exposure to many different practitioners and their work. “The biggest an opportunity to get involved with health challenge, at least initially, is building the policy and regulatory issues,” Smith said. substantive knowledge of your industry By taking health law-specific cours- specifically.” es, Smith said he gained the specialized Health law sits at the intersection of sciknowledge he needed to enter the field. ence, medicine, law, policy and regulatory “I understood that there were certain issues. While a JD and legal background scientific issues that were going to be is the necessary starting point, Smith said important to my practice,” he said, listing there’s a more important prerequisite to health policy issues and comparative health building up industry expertise — intelleclaw systems as some examples. tual curiosity. 18 THE NATIONAL JURIST February 2009 PHOTO BY BILL PETROS and abuse investigations. She assists clients with researching legal risks involved in new product development or on new business deals and proposals. She also represents clients that are being investigated by government entities. Concentrating in health law meant Kaput was well prepared for the job as a new associate. “I was able to hit the ground running,”

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of National Jurist - February 2009

National Jurist - February 2009 Contents Entertainment: Get Organized! The Firm Report: The Part-Time Lawyer News: Keeping Ethics Intact, New Law Deans, Latest Survey Findings Seattle Law Students Secure Asylum for East African Women Laptops in the Classroom Attorneys Dissect Health Law Law Students Contribute to 2008 Election Process Remembering Professors Obama and Biden Bar Exam Diaries How Well Balanced are Law Students? How to Choose a Summer Program Career Hotline Linguistic Gymnastics Disturbing the Peace

National Jurist - February 2009

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