Chair’s Column: Let Me Tell You a Story

Let me tell you a story about a third-year associate showing up at a Health Law Section event for the first time. I had decided within the previous year that I wanted to focus on practicing health law (not yet fully understanding the breadth of what that could mean), but no one else in my firm focused on health law. While the senior attorney who grew into my mentor brought me along to a conference run by another organization, that experience felt somewhat intimidating.

With that backdrop, I followed the next recommendation to attend the Emerging Issues in Health Law Conference (I learned very quickly once I got there to just call it EMI) for the first time. As soon as I stepped foot into the conference, the atmosphere was completely different. Everyone was chatting and looking to make a new connection. I also quickly found a group of other associates who were at similar stages in their careers. That group of associates stuck together, thick as thieves, for the rest of EMI, which involved staying out later and later each successive night while still diligently attending the conference.

Meeting new folks and forging connections did not stop with other associates. The ability to talk with anyone extended to the top of senior leadership, which made one of the biggest impacts. I distinctly remember walking back into the hotel (at a fairly late hour) the night the formal programming ended, only to meet two of the Section’s famous Davids. Both Davids quickly grabbed the small pack of associates and sat down with us to find out what we thought about the conference and genuinely engaged with us.

Fast forward another couple of months, and I happened to see David Johnson (one of the Davids) again as he was about to start his chair year. After bonding over a shared love of the Boston Red Sox, the next thing David said was he would put me on one of the Section’s committees. That conversation turned into spending the next five or six years on that committee while finding ways to get involved in many other areas of the Section as well. The Section was a place of looking for the raised hand and then throwing things at that hand without stopping (in a good way).

The conversations and connections I had at my first EMI revealed the heart of the Section to me right from the start: The ready opportunity to create not just professional connections, but real friendships. I have often called people from the Section not because I have a question, but because I want to catch up and see how they are doing.

The personal connections are certainly rewarding, but that is not to downplay what can happen professionally. As I mentioned at the start of my story, I began my practice at a law firm that did not have an existing health law practice. Those in the field well know how scary of an experience that could be. However, I was able to temper my fears by calling a wide variety of very generous colleagues from the Section. The conversations and support helped, though the fear never went away completely, and I don’t want it to. I still remember sage advice I received at that first EMI about handling a Stark Law issue: The day you feel comfortable enough to answer without checking the regulations and interpretations is the day you should stop practicing, because the area is so nuanced and complex.

With all of that in mind, the Section has always been a warm, welcoming, and inviting community that seeks to bring new folks into the fold. We in the Section are not interested in creating an exclusive or insular club. In fact, we push for the exact opposite. Leaders across all of our committees constantly look to draw new people into the Section and find ways for involvement to occur both easily and naturally.

The community of the Section cannot continue if we do not spread the message about who the Section is and what it stands for. One of the most powerful ways for all of us to help on that front is storytelling.

Think about the last conference you went to and the hopefully not, but likely, cut-and-dry boring presentation you heard that potentially droned on without much break. Now contrast that to the conversations you have with your friends where you might have talked about what happened on a recent trip or told about another event that happened to you. Which presentation was more memorable? I will hazard the guess that it was the conversation with your friends. That is not just because it was with your friends, but because a visual image was likely painted for you, rather than just reading slides or talking about regulations with no solid context behind them. The memorable part was the story that helped you see what was happening and draw a personal connection.

All of us can help to do the same when talking about the Section and establishing the next generation of Section members. It is an easy way for each of us to give back and play a role in our sustainability.

I am challenging all of our leaders to integrate stories into their work with the Section this year. Not only will it help explain what you are trying to do more easily, but it will make it more fun and relatable. I will personally keep that goal going by highlighting the story of a leader each month throughout the rest of this bar year. Be sure to keep coming back and see if you can spot any common threads.