Interest Group Leadership Positions Available to Young Lawyers

The ABA Health Law Section is seeking volunteers to serve as Interest Group (IG) leaders. Take this opportunity to work hand-in-hand with health law attorneys from every sector of the healthcare industry and at every level of their careers. As an interest group leader, you will have a unique opportunity to voice the perspectives of your peers and make those important connections that will follow you throughout your career.

To apply, please review the following positions and descriptions.  Once you have decided upon  your first, second, and third IG choices, please continue to the application form at the end of this page.  Your application should be accompanied by your Letter of Intent.  You will be advised as to the status of your application as soon as possible.

Interest Group Positions Available for Young Lawyers

Young Lawyer Representative: You will work directly with your IG Chair and assist him/her with substantive projects and initiatives. Among your responsibilities, you will serve on your IG’s leadership team as the voice of young lawyers so your IG addresses the needs and learning objectives of young lawyers during IG programming and initiatives. Your perspectives will be valuable to your leadership team as you brainstorm topics and discuss basic administrative matters necessary when considering the direction of your IG or planning and organizing a webinar or IG session during a Section in-person conference.  In addition, you may be invited to assist one of your IG Vice-Chairs in writing an article for one of the Section’s periodicals or to provide a small tid-bit for HLbytes, the Section’s weekly digest. As part of your IG’s leadership, you will be asked to be an active participant in your IG’s monthly leadership conference calls where you may be asked to provide short periodic reports from the young lawyers front and possibly prepare and circulate meeting minutes.

Web and Technology Representatives: You will work directly with your IG’s Communications Vice Chair and Health Law Section staff. As your IG’s Web and Tech Representative, you will play an active role in coordinating the content for communication to your IG members on the Section’s website and postings to social media (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn). As part of the IG leadership, you will be invited to participate on your IG’s monthly leadership conference calls.

Interest Groups Seeking Young Lawyer Volunteers

ADR & Conflict Management in Healthcare
Positions Available: Young Lawyer Representative and Web/Social Media Representative
This Interest Group Task Force serves as a resource for sharing best practices and content expertise with Health Law Section members where there is interest in developing conflict competency in healthcare settings.

Business & Transactions Interest Group
Opening: Young Lawyer Representative
Focuses on the law and its application to the broad scope of transactions and business operations in the healthcare industry. It provides opportunities for its members to network with one another, participate in educational activities, and review and comment on legislative and regulatory developments. In particular, this IG focuses on mergers, acquisitions and affiliations, integrated health systems, technology (electronic and bio-medical), contractual and joint venture business relationships and federal and state regulatory compliance. This IG also coordinates Section activities by following the inter-relationship of developments affecting healthcare transactions and businesses in areas such as securities law, antitrust law, tax law, intellectual property law and accounting.

Cancer Advocacy
Positions Available: Young Lawyer Representative and Web/Social Media Representative
The Cancer Advocacy Interest Group is the Health Law Section’s pro bono project designed to lead and implement educational programs that protect the legal rights of cancer patients and their families. With a focus on advocacy training for attorneys interested in assisting patients who need legal advice related to their diagnosis and treatment

eHealth, Privacy & Security Interest Group
Positions Available: Young Lawyer Representative and Web/Social Media Representative
Focuses on cutting edge issues in health care technology and privacy. Substantive topics of interest to members include health information privacy and security, electronic communications, electronic transactions and telehealth. It seeks to encourage discussion and debate on emerging legal issues in these areas.

Healthcare Facility Operations Interest Group
Positions Available: Young Lawyer Representative and Web/Social Media Representative
Focuses on the laws, regulations, and policies governing the operations of hospitals and other healthcare facilities. It focuses on areas of the law and regulations included within Medicare, Medicaid, EMTALA, state and local licensure laws and regulations, and standards of national organizations such as the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and the National Committee on Quality Assurance.

Healthcare Fraud & Compliance Interest Group
Position Available: Young Lawyer Representative
Addresses topical, cutting edge issues focused on fraud and abuse prevention, investigations and prosecutions, including but not limited to compliance issues, emerging managed care issues, kickback and Stark Law issues, institutional and non-institutional physician issues, ethical issues, false claims issues, quality of care issues, and private sector enforcement initiatives.

Healthcare Litigation & Risk Management Interest Group
Position Available: Web/Social Media Representative
Broadly focuses on real-world, healthcare-related litigation, investigations, and the continuum of liability control. The wide variety of healthcare-related litigation and investigatory matters addressed by this IG includes administrative, civil and criminal cases. On the risk management side, the Interest Group focuses on best practices to reduce the risk of policy, regulatory or legal violations, as well as best practices to address potential and or actual violations.

Life Sciences Interest Group
Position Available: Web/Social Media Representative
Focuses on the wide spectrum of regulation affecting the life science industry, including medical research, drug and device development, product lifecycle issues, clinical outcomes and ethics. It broadly serves members advising or interested in pharmaceutical, medical device and clinical research organizations and academic medical centers. This IG offers educational programs and publications. It serves as a resource to the Health Law Section and its members regarding developments broadly affecting the regulation of participants in the life science industry.

Nursing and Allied Healthcare Professionals
Positions Available: Young Lawyer Representative and Web/Social Media Representative
This Interest Group Task Force focuses on matters of interest to members who represent nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists, paramedics, and related business entities such as home health agencies and ambulance services.

Payment & Reimbursement Interest Group
Position Available: Web/Social Media Representative
Follows trends, changes and practices in reimbursement, billing and collection under Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal and state health care programs. It tracks major development relating to reimbursement and payment policies of other third-party payors including commercial insurers and self-insured entities.

Post-Acute Care Continuum (PACC)
Positions Available: Young Lawyer Representative and Web/Social Media Representative
Focuses on the many legal issues raised within the post-acute care continuum setting skilled nursing facilities; home health agencies; assisted living facilities; dementia and brain injury units; continuing care retirement communities; home and community based services; rehabilitation and restorative therapy; out-patient services, pharmacy, hospice, and more.

Public Health & Policy Interest Group
Position Available: Young Lawyer Representative
Provides leadership to the ABA Health Law Section, and the ABA at large, in the area of public health and policy matters. Its members monitor developments on matters as diverse as control of disease and other public health threats outside of institutional settings, balancing privacy and other civil rights against public health considerations, and education of the public concerning public health and policy issues. This IG is involved in the interaction of state and local bar associations with local public health officials to promote public health and policy initiatives. It provides a forum for members with differing educational backgrounds to focus on public health and policy issues and initiatives. It coordinates activities with other IGs as well as with external ABA organizations, such as the federal Centers for Disease.

Application and Contacts

To apply for one of the representative positions described above, click here for the electronic application form or cut-and-paste the following link into your browser: https://americanbar.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0pnGBx0RRe2Htzv

Should you have any questions, please contact

• Alyssa Ewing, Program Associate   at [email protected] 

Thank you.  We look forward to the possibility of welcoming you to our IG leadership.