Healthcare law is an incredibly diverse area of practice which does not focus on a singular type of legal work. Attorneys in this field focus on the health industry in general, but the types of work available vary widely. Some lawyers counsel health care entities on a range of transactional and regulatory matters, including mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. Others handle any litigation-related matters that arise for their health care industry clients. Some lawyers focus on compliance issues, ensuring clients are adhering to regulations and laws and conducting internal investigations for clients, while others work on the government side, enforcing regulations. This area is an exciting one because it is constantly evolving and changing, especially when it comes to digital health. Lawyers focusing on digital health may work on IP-related matters, privacy and data security, regulatory issues, policy research, and more. On the nonprofit side, lawyers may work for an organization that promotes public health, access to health care, advocacy for a specific health issue, etc. Clients in the health law arena range from hospitals and medical centers to insurance companies and pharmaceutical entities to laboratories and private equity funds—plus many more.
- Administrative Law
- Antitrust
- Bioethics
- Civil Procedure
- Corporations
- Cybersecurity
- Disability Law
- Evidence
- Food and Drug Law
- Health Care Fraud and Abuse
- Health Care Transactions
- Health Law
- Intellectual Property
- Mental Health Law
- Transactional courses relating to M&A, Financing, Negotiations, etc.
- Attorney for government agency/department focused on health care (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, DOJ, FDA, National Institutes of Health, etc.)
- In-house lawyer for health-care-related entity (e.g. hospitals, medical technology companies, pharmaceutical companies, etc.)
- IP lawyer focused on digital health technology development
- Law firm practice
- Nonprofit lawyer focused on advancing public health or working on a specific health issue
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
Jayda: My practice focuses on advising digital health platforms and clients creating innovative care delivery models as they engage in state expansion efforts and compliance with the myriad of laws, regulations, and guidance that impact their platforms and patient care offerings.
Travis: I am a corporate transactions lawyer within the healthcare industry. My practice goes beyond working with clients to buy or sell companies. Our clients demand lawyers who are creative thinkers and who can help them navigate the ever-changing regulatory landscape of the healthcare industry. I often work with leading nonprofit health systems and investor-backed organizations early in the development of their business strategies and then on the implementation of those strategies through mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. I have worked with academic medical centers to understand how they may partner with community hospitals to make oncology and other specialized services available to patients in remote areas. I have also advised community hospitals in affiliating with medical schools to become teaching institutions that train the next generation of providers.
What types of clients do you represent?
Jayda: I represent a range of clients including healthcare startups that are new to the digital health and innovative care space and established Fortune 100 companies that are exploring health offerings. Most of the clients I work with are based within the United States and working within U.S. healthcare laws.
Travis: My clients represent the full spectrum of nonprofit and investor-backed healthcare organizations. I work with community hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, clinical research organizations, physician practices, and other providers. Each type of client brings a different perspective and culture to the work, which makes every deal unique.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
Jayda: I assist digital health platforms and professionals in meeting state and federal legal requirements as they intersect with their business models. This can range from navigating corporate practice laws and creating state expansion work plans to addressing various state laws surrounding the practice of telemedicine. Additionally, much of my work involves assisting clients in understanding and implementing protocols related to professional requirements such as physician collaboration and supervision requirements, state licensure requirements, prescribing requirements, and state board professional standards. I also support health transactions that involve digital health platforms.
Travis: I work on strategic corporate transactions. I represent health systems in buying or selling hospitals, physician practices, or other providers. I also counsel nonprofit healthcare organizations on corporate governance issues and the federal income tax implications of their activities. One recent transaction utilized both skill sets. Our client was a community-based nonprofit organization that owned a 50% interest in a hospital. The client desired to sell its interest in the hospital and use the sale proceeds to establish a community health foundation. This project was a great representation of the substantive legal work we do and demonstrated the value of our work to the community. The client recently announced that it would make more than $100 million from this transaction available to the community through grants to address rural health needs.
How did you choose this practice area?
Jayda: Prior to law school, I worked in an administrative role for a pediatric company, which allowed me to become familiar with HIPAA and the healthcare space early in my career. In law school, I interned at a telehealth startup based in Seattle and eventually began my legal career there as associate general counsel. When I joined McDermott, I knew I wanted to continue in this practice area and build my experience and knowledge in counseling healthcare clients.
Travis: I chose healthcare law because I really wanted my practice to help people. I grew up knowing how vital it is for a community to have access to affordable healthcare services. My hometown is Shattuck, a small town in northwest Oklahoma with a population of about 1,200. Unlike many rural communities today, Shattuck still has a small hospital—Newman Memorial Hospital—that serves the community’s health needs. Growing up in Shattuck gave me an ingrained understanding of how important hospitals like Newman Memorial are to the health and economic vitality of communities. I like to think my practice helps me ensure that these organizations remain viable in an increasingly difficult regulatory and financial environment.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
Jayda: My typical day usually involves a mix of internal and client meetings and drafting various client deliverables. On any given day, I may be conducting research or reviewing a research project and emailing clients about ongoing matters or questions they have on existing work. Supervising junior associates and paralegals in ongoing work efforts is also a common part of my typical day.
Travis: My to-do list typically involves drafting or reviewing asset purchase agreements, membership substitution agreements, professional services agreements, or other key transactional documents. I also regularly meet with clients to discuss deal points or terms that need to be negotiated with the other parties to these agreements and strategize what business goals we want to achieve in the agreement and how best to achieve them. This requires critical thinking about the position that we are taking in these negotiations and about how the other parties may respond. Finally, I try to spend time each day reading about new healthcare regulatory developments or transactions in the industry. This practice helps me anticipate our clients’ needs.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
Jayda: I would recommend that someone interested in this practice area, particularly in digital health and innovative care delivery model counseling, familiarize themselves with technology companies and the operational aspects of those businesses (e.g., understanding mobile health platforms and website-based platforms). General industry knowledge of companies in this space is really helpful to serve as a comparison point and also to understand the look and feel of these platforms, from a patient, provider, and developer standpoint.
Travis: I would encourage anyone who is interested in a corporate practice to take an Accounting for Lawyers class, particularly if you do not have an undergraduate background in business or finance. Key decision-makers at our clients speak in financial terms. Having early familiarity with key financial concepts will give you an advantage over those who must learn these terms on the job. I would also encourage students interested in heavily regulated practices such as healthcare to take administrative law courses. Understanding the regulations that shape the industry and the processes government agencies go through to issue those regulations can set you apart in developing a practice. In addition to these substantive areas, courses in negotiating or participating in mock negotiations can provide practical experience in successfully navigating a corporate transaction from letter of intent to definitive agreement and help you see how much of the art in becoming a successful lawyer occurs beyond the classroom. Being a skilled negotiator depends on how well you think on your feet and what people skills you develop.
What is the most challenging aspect of practicing in this area?
Jayda: The most challenging aspect of practicing in this area is that the laws are always evolving, so there is always something happening or something new to dig into. Additionally, even with the evolution of digital health and innovative care models, many laws and regulations have not caught up with the technologies that many of our clients’ platforms use today. This results in a substantial ambiguity, which we help our clients navigate as they further assess their operations.
What do you like best about your practice area?
Travis: The best part about being a transactional healthcare lawyer is seeing the impact of my work in communities. My career has afforded me the opportunity to see how the profession can positively impact people. I’ve worked with clients to save local hospitals from closure, to bring needed healthcare services to a community, and to develop programs that train future healthcare providers. Our work allows us to feel good about what we do and why we do it.
What are some typical tasks that a junior lawyer would perform in this practice area?
Jayda: Junior lawyers perform a number of tasks to support this practice area. They are instrumental in assisting with research projects, conducting due diligence related to transactions, tracking and analyzing new legislation or proposed rulemaking, writing on any of these topics, and performing outreach to state regulators on nuances in laws and regulations.
How do you see this practice area evolving in the future?
Travis: Healthcare is only going to become more competitive, diversified, and complex as new market entrants (such as big-box retailers and technology companies) invest in the delivery of healthcare services. These competitive pressures—occurring against a backdrop of increased regulatory and reimbursement scrutiny—are going to result in greater transaction volume and more complex corporate transactions.
Jayda Greco works at the intersection of healthcare regulatory, privacy, compliance, product counseling, and marketing law, with particular emphasis on devising creative and practical legal solutions for digital health initiatives to meet business objectives. As in-house counsel for a national virtual care company, Jayda advised cross-functional groups on the creation and implementation of new features and functionality across platforms and on the risks and liabilities of proposed commercial models and transactions. She has a keen understanding of the FTC Act, trademark, copyright, and state consumer protection and marketing laws related to medical services and pharmaceuticals. She provides guidance and training on key issues to help clients maximize marketing success while remaining in compliance with complex healthcare and life sciences marketing and advertising regulations.
Travis Jackson works with leading hospitals, health systems, and academic medical centers on complex and innovative mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Through his counsel, Travis’s healthcare clients enhance operational efficiencies, improve care delivery, and strengthen relationships in a compliance-driven and cost-effective manner. Travis develops, negotiates, and implements transactions that streamline physician integration, increase brand recognition, and expand care offerings. He has a deep understanding of federal healthcare reform, transaction trends, the federal 340B Program, and healthcare corporate governance matters.
Travis is also a valuable partner to nonprofit healthcare providers navigating the complex state and federal requirements that govern their businesses, helping to structure relationships that comply with IRS rules; establish financial assistance, billing, collection, and other policies; and respond to audits and investigations, all while effectively managing enforcement risk.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
The Health Care & Life Sciences practice at Jones Day is a multidisciplinary team of lawyers who represent clients across the entire healthcare and life sciences spectrum, from hospital systems and academic medical centers to provider organizations, healthcare investors, and emerging companies, along with leading and startup pharma, biotech, medical device, digital health, and food and cosmetics companies in matters ranging from litigation, transactional, compliance, and regulatory. Our firm’s approach to the health sector—with an integrated global health industry team of more than 300 lawyers—affords us the opportunity to work with colleagues in other practices to best serve the firm’s health industry clients.
What types of clients do you represent?
We represent clients across the industry—from traditional healthcare provider organizations (hospitals, academic medical centers, post-acute care facilities, skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, senior care facilities, physician groups, urgent care and ambulatory surgery centers, and telehealth/telemedicine organizations), to emerging technology and digital health enterprises, healthcare investors (PE/VC funds), manufacturers and developers of healthcare products (pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, food/dietary supplements, cosmetics, tobacco products), and outsourced vendors (contract research organizations, contract manufacturers).
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
Heather: My practice focuses on government enforcement—investigations and litigation involving the False Claims Act at the federal and state levels. Given the matters I work on, my practice also involves regulatory and compliance counseling. I am able to see both sides of the coin, so to speak—areas that the government is focused on, but also best practices and business solutions for addressing issues in a compliant manner.
How did you choose this practice area?
Laura: One of the things that drew me to Jones Day in the first place is the firm’s New Lawyers Group—a program that offers first-year lawyers exposure to a variety of practices and lawyers across the firm before officially joining a particular practice group. I knew that I was interested in joining a practice that allowed me to work with complex statutes and regulations, interact with regulators, and work on both litigation and transactional matters, and I tried projects in several different regulatory focused practices during my first year. My very first assignment, though, was a healthcare matter that involved interpreting state regulations in the context of remote optical health services, and I was immediately hooked. I worked directly with a partner who is an expert in the telehealth space and got to research recently enacted state regulations, interact with state regulators regarding the interpretation of the regulations, and participate in the client call to deliver our guidance. I loved it!
What is a typical day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
Laura: One thing that I enjoy about this practice is that every day looks a little bit different. Nearly every day involves some sort of legal research, typically looking at federal or state statutes and regulations and related agency guidance to advise clients on questions that often do not have a clear-cut answer. I also do a good amount of drafting, whether it’s a formal memo containing a regulatory analysis, helping clients draft documents to set up appropriate corporate and regulatory-oriented structures for their healthcare arrangements, or drafting and advising on commercial agreements. No matter what I am working on, it usually involves close collaboration and communication with clients and with others at the firm. I am frequently collaborating with Health Care and Life Sciences lawyers in other offices (we have a presence in nearly every U.S. office, as well as globally) and with lawyers in other practice groups. Jones Day’s commitment to client service means that we bring in the right lawyers with the right experience to deliver the best work product for our clients, regardless of practice designation or office location. This is great for associates, who get the chance to work with a lot of different people and see how a big project comes together.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
Heather: While a background in healthcare is always helpful, it is certainly not required. Given the multidisciplinary nature of our practice, we look for associates with a wide set of skills and experience. As far as classes, we would definitely recommend taking Administrative Law, where possible, because understanding how federal agencies like the Department of Health & Human Services operate is a critical component of our practice. Drafting, negotiations and mediation, and trial advocacy skills are all areas that would be beneficial.
What is the most challenging aspect of practicing in this area?
Heather: I think one of the most challenging aspects of this practice is also one of the best—this is a fast-paced industry driven by science, innovation, and an incredibly complex legal framework that is itself evolving at a rapid pace. The firm’s approach to client service allows us to access knowledge and expertise that keeps pace with the industry.
What do you like best about your practice area?
Laura: I like that the practice is constantly evolving. I learn something new with every project—there is always a new regulation or guidance document to catch up on! This also creates an opportunity for junior associates to become subject matter experts on new policy developments. In my case, I was able to work on telehealth projects at the very beginning of my career, pre-COVID, and developed a deep understanding of the digital health regulatory landscape that was very helpful when the adoption of remote services exploded during COVID. I also really enjoy working with our clients, most of whom are focused on better serving patients and improving health outcomes. To be able to help them with this work, in some small way, is very meaningful. And being at Jones Day, of course, means we get to work with clients who are the best at what they do. The projects we work on are often complex and cutting-edge and require a team-oriented approach; nowhere does a team come together better to face challenges than at Jones Day.
What are some typical tasks that a junior lawyer would perform in this practice area?
Laura: Junior lawyers are involved in all aspects of the projects we work on, working alongside and with the guidance of partner and senior associate mentors. Typical tasks include conducting legal and regulatory research, communicating with clients and regulators, drafting pleadings and motions, drafting regulatory submissions, drafting and revising transactional documents, reviewing documents (due diligence or discovery), and participating in witness interviews. My personal favorite task is conducting deep regulatory research and trying to distill that into practical guidance for our clients.
How do you see this practice area evolving in the future?
Heather: The clear trend in the health sector is toward collaboration of participants across the industry. And while the pandemic accelerated this trend, it was in fact emerging before the health crisis. There are a number of factors causing this, including: globalization of healthcare, innovation and new technologies, new entrants and new roles for health industry participants, consumer-driven healthcare, and pressures on pricing and demand for transparency. As the industry evolves, so too must our legal practice and the way we approach the clients we serve. This is where Jones Day excels thanks to an international footprint, cross-practice collaboration, and client-oriented culture. This allows us to deliver not only on a specific matter, but also to appreciate other factors that may impact the client.
Heather O'Shea is a co-leader of the firm's Health Care & Life Sciences practice. For more than 20 years, she has represented clients in federal and state government investigations and litigation involving fraud and abuse enforcement, including the False Claims Act (FCA), the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), Stark Law, and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Heather represents clients on regulatory and compliance matters involving Medicare and Medicaid, fraud and abuse laws, reimbursement regulations, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (Open Payments), clinical research compliance, and U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. She has extensive experience conducting internal investigations, handling voluntary disclosures, and counseling clients on refunds to Medicare. Heather also has significant experience advising clients on compliance program development and implementation, and conducting assessments of existing compliance programs.
Laura Koman represents healthcare and life sciences companies on complex regulatory and compliance matters in emerging areas. Laura advises large healthcare systems and national provider organizations on unique legal, regulatory, and reimbursement structures impacting the remote delivery of healthcare services and multijurisdictional digital health strategy. Laura also represents global life sciences organizations on the contractual, regulatory, and ethical issues associated with clinical research, including those related to decentralized clinical trials and clinical trial diversity initiatives.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
Greg: I consider myself a full-service healthcare operationalist, meaning I advise clients across the industry on how to perform in a complex regulatory world. This may include advising on transactions, providing billing and coding guidance, counseling on licensing and enrollment requirements, and addressing myriad compliance and business concerns. My practice also has deep focus on the clinical and diagnostic laboratory industry, delivery of proton therapy, and advising on health equity and non-discrimination. I also present and write about these matters to lawyers and business owners alike.
Sumaya: My focused representation of hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, and other healthcare providers in complex corporate transactions, combined with my deep knowledge of the healthcare regulatory environment, allows me to provide clients with comprehensive and practical advice regarding their operations, corporate compliance, governance, and business strategies. In addition to my client advisement, I speak and write on emerging regulatory and corporate matters.
What types of clients do you represent?
Greg: My practice engages with healthcare organizations across the industry and companies that interact with the delivery of healthcare in some way. This includes traditional hospitals and healthcare providers but also laboratories, clinical research organizations, biotech and digital health disruptors, accreditation organizations, pharmaceutical companies, health plans, and others. Healthcare truly is everywhere.
Sumaya: I advise hospitals and healthcare systems on strategic transactions and regulatory matters. Currently, I am working on a high-profile, cross-market transaction on behalf of a health system client that will be acquired by an integrated healthcare delivery system. The parties’ estimated combined revenue at closing will be $102.3 billion—about five times greater than the next highest combined revenue of a health system merger in 2023.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
Greg: The McDermott Healthcare Department prides itself on a deep and broad array of subject matter experts that can serve a wide variety of healthcare industry clients. If it has to do with healthcare—we have got it covered. This has afforded both Sumaya and me the opportunity to work on front-page transactions and extremely complex regulatory questions every day.
How did you choose this practice area?
Greg: During public health graduate school, I had a work study job at the Centers for Disease Control that turned into a full-time microbiologist position focusing on antimicrobial-resistant healthcare infections. When the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, I had been debating a Ph.D. and decided the ACA gave me an opportunity to transition industries without disregarding my prior experience.
Sumaya’s interest in healthcare stems from her background in medical ethics and health policy, where her scholarship focused on reducing disparities in healthcare and assuring equitable access to care.
For both of us, the aspirational nature of the ACA to improve health access, affordability, and outcomes has motivated and undergirded our practices. Despite having different practice types, we each advise clients to this day on the multitude of industry changes that were born out of the ACA and the challenges that come with the economics of shifting from volume to value-based care.
What is a typical day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
Sumaya: While there is no typical day, we have become accustomed to learning something new every day! Being an effective healthcare lawyer requires that we stay apprised of legal and regulatory developments affecting the healthcare industry and as we support our clients through challenges and opportunities. We each also spend considerable time mentoring more junior lawyers and supporting the firm in its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Greg: Sumaya said it well: a typical day is predictably unpredictable.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
Greg: Of course, law students should take healthcare-specific courses if they are offered, but the most valuable courses I took were Administrative Law and Advanced Legal Research. The U.S. healthcare system is heavily regulated, with guidance more likely found in agency materials than case law. Understanding how regulations are promulgated (and where to find them) is integral to staying up to date. I also cannot underemphasize the importance of “speaking healthcare” for anyone wishing to enter this discipline, which can be accomplished by reading industry blogs and listservs, writing on emerging regulatory developments, participating in bar associations, and generally being curious.
Sumaya: I encourage any form of experiential learning that simulates client service. Client clinics and models of legal practice, like mock negotiations, board presentations, and trials are all invaluable experiences, regardless of subject matter area. I also encourage networking early and often with healthcare legal practitioners. One of the easiest ways to do so is by getting involved with local and national healthcare bar organizations. I started as a student member of the Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys and worked my way up to being a member of its Board of Directors.
What is the most challenging aspect of practicing in this area?
Healthcare represents at least one-fifth of the U.S. economy, with everyone consuming healthcare services at some point in their lives. But the ever-changing regulatory landscape makes health law an often confusing morass to navigate. The confusion creates an equally challenging and rewarding specialty practice area with clients rarely turning to us because they have an easy question. Health lawyers are lifelong learners and anyone—junior or senior—can add value by studying the newest laws and regulations and explaining clearly and succinctly how those change how our clients can or should do business.
What is unique about your practice area at your firm?
Our attorneys are thought leaders across the industry, with many of the members of the Healthcare Practice Group serving in leadership positions at the firm and in local, state, and national organizations, and we are beyond fortunate to have a phenomenal team of staff professionals who drive business development strategies, expand client relationships, and increase brand recognition. This team effort to strive to be #alwaysbetter has resulted in a sterling reputation with clients and McDermott being named as Vault’s #1 Healthcare firm for seven consecutive years while accumulating numerous other best-in-class rankings.
How do you see this practice area evolving in the future?
Healthcare is both cyclical and unpredictable. In many ways, we expect a “back to the future” in how providers and payors align themselves (i.e., greater coordination and alignment between those who provide care and those who pay for care). In other respects, the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant discordance in how healthcare is received by many Americans. We anticipate that the industry will continue to explore how digital health and artificial intelligence can make healthcare more convenient, equitable, accurate, and affordable, and the complex regulatory and reimbursement frameworks of these emerging areas will keep healthcare lawyers in high demand.
What kinds of experience can summer associates gain at this practice area at your firm?
Summer associates in the Healthcare Department can expect to sample a variety of corporate and regulatory matters which will continue upon their return as junior associates. Summer associates are expected to engage on real client matters and will be exposed to key health laws and regulations, see how supervising lawyers advise clients in digestible and pragmatic ways, and provide meaningful support by researching emerging areas of health law. On the corporate side, summer associates and junior healthcare lawyers can expect to prepare or revise corporate governance documents and board resolutions and complete legal, operational, and financial due diligence. On the regulatory side, summer associates and junior healthcare lawyers can expect to research state and federal healthcare laws, update licenses/permit registrations, and draft or edit clients’ policies and procedures to address areas of detected noncompliance or operational deficiencies.
Gregory Fosheim (he/him) provides counsel on a wide array of corporate, transactional, and regulatory compliance matters across the healthcare and life sciences industry. Drawing on his extensive laboratory and public health background and insight, he regularly advises on the regulatory oversight and reimbursement of clinical and diagnostic laboratory services, anatomic pathology testing, clinical research, and assisted reproductive technology and represents hospitals, health systems, and physician practice management companies in all aspects of transactional and operational matters, particularly those with regulatory, licensing, accreditation, and policy considerations.
Greg uses his public health background to write, speak, and advise on quality, access, and equity in the provision of healthcare services and serves as co-chair of McDermott’s LGBTQ+ Affinity Group.
Sumaya M. Noush (she/her) counsels multistate hospitals and health systems, specialty hospitals, academic medical centers, and other healthcare organizations on strategic and operational matters, including mergers, asset and membership/stock transactions, joint ventures, hospital and physician affiliations, disaffiliations, dissolutions, divestitures, management of ownership transitions, entity structure formation and governance, medical staff bylaws, credentialing, peer review, and privileging as well as survey, certification, and accreditation matters.
Sumaya closely partners alongside clients as they explore strategies for the future health of their communities, their missions, and their business goals, advising them through the challenges of daily operations and recent regulatory developments.
Sumaya is committed to improving the diversity of the profession as an Associate Board Director to the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms and an alumna of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity institution.
