Many in-person networking opportunities were suspended over the past few years due to the pandemic, creating an additional challenge for law students seeking employment. Last spring, the Student Health Law Association and Center for Law, Health & Society collaborated for the Health Law Speed Networking event - a chance for students to meet health law attorneys and learn about their various positions.
For this online event, attorneys were invited to share their knowledge and expertise with law students interested in careers in health law. Up to three attorneys met with small groups of students in breakout rooms for ten minutes. Then each group rotated, so all students were able to hear from all the attorneys. More than a dozen Georgia attorneys and 50 students from Georgia State Law, University of Georgia School of Law, Emory University School of Law and Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School participated.
The event showcased the diversity of opportunities available in health law, featuring attorneys with careers in health care and life sciences regulatory, transactions and litigation practice; medical malpractice; fraud and abuse; ERISA; public health research and policy; government relations; and clinical bioethics. The attorneys represented roles at law firms, health care entities, federal and state government, non-profit member organizations, health care data and technology companies, insurance and academia.
“We are grateful to the attorneys for contributing their time. The feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive,” said Stacie Kershner (J.D. ’08), deputy director of the Center for Law, Health & Society. “The remote environment can be complicated for students to navigate when seeking jobs. Hopefully, Health Law Speed Networking provided a mechanism for introducing students the many possibilities in this broad field.”