Pictured Above: Sumaya M. Noush, Amy Michelau, Fred A. Smith, Limo T. Cherian, Scott C. Bentivenga and Eric Chung at Health Law Career Panel
Hello, again! It has been a while since my last post – I don’t know how November has already flown by and it’s nearly time for finals! I have certainly been keeping busy with studying, reading, going to class, and studying some more. Luckily at Loyola, there are 1L tutors for each class that offer outline checkpoints (we can submit our class outlines and they’ll make sure we aren’t missing anything important). Thank goodness for them, or else I wouldn’t feel nearly as prepared as I do for what’s ahead.
Despite all of the work, though, I’ve been finding time to attend some of the really awesome Health Law events that have been going on lately. A couple weeks ago there was a discussion on the ethical considerations of organ donation and organ transplant. We watched clips from the films My Sister’s Keeper and Never Let Me go, then a discussion was led by Professors Nadia Sawicki and Jennifer Parks. One of the coolest parts, I thought, was that Professor Sawicki teaches health law at the law school, and Professor Parks teaches the philosophy of biomedical ethics at the undergraduate school. We were able to get both the legal and philosophical perspectives of organ donation and I think they each posed some really thought-provoking questions. The event was open to everyone, not just Health Law Society students, and there was even pizza served! It was definitely the best two hours of my day. A member of the Health Law Society said there would be one or two more bioethics film series events in the Spring semester and I’m really looking forward to it!
The next event I went to was a week later – a career panel hosted by three Chicago attorneys from various health law firms. We heard from Fred Smith of Sedgwick Law, Scott Bentivenga of Lewis Brisboise Bisgaard & Smith LLP, and Limo T. Cherian of Hogan Marren, Ltd.
Mr. Smith represents healthcare entities, corporations, partnerships and professionals in a wide variety of matters such as healthcare disputes, medical device claims, medical negligence, professional liability, class actions and products liability. He also counsels various clients on insurance coverage disputes, including contract interpretation issues, environmental losses, reinsurance, professional liability and bad faith law.
Mr. Bentivenga is a trial lawyer with twenty five years of trial experience representing doctors, hospitals, dentists, transportation/delivery companies, construction companies, product manufacturers, property owners, and attorneys in personal injury and property damage cases. Throughout his career, Mr. Bentivenga has tried more than 30 cases to verdict. He handles legal malpractice, medical malpractice, dental malpractice, transportation/trucking/auto, construction accident, premises liability, products liability, fire damage and injury, and security guard liability.
Ms. Cherian is a skilled litigator with extensive experience in civil and commercial litigation. She joined Hogan Marren in 2005 has worked with the firm’s health care clients both in litigation and advisory matters. She has represented physicians and physician groups, managed services organizations, and hospitals as well as other corporate and governmental clients.
Mr. Smith and Mr. Bentivenga both went to law school in Chicago (Chicago-Kent and Loyola, respectively) and Ms. Cherian graduated from Georgetown University Law. They each gave their perspectives on the job market, what they did during their 1L summers (two of them traveled), and how their jobs have changed over the years, among others. All three of them were incredibly happy at their jobs and looked forward to their work every day. They addressed the fears we all have of a tough job market and potentially having an unfulfilling career with stories of their own successes and their journeys getting there. Given the opportunities in Chicago, their journeys do not seem unattainable. I do not think I can accurately describe how refreshing and inspiring it was to hear them talk about their jobs in such a positive light – especially given the fact they all work in fields in which I want to work, too. Ms. Cherian even said that she never buys a lottery ticket like her coworkers do, because even if she won she would still show up to work the next day!
The last health law event of the week was the Eighth Annual Symposium on Access to Health Care. This year’s theme was “The Crossroads of Health Law – The Evolution of Insurance Coverage.” Professors were brought in from around the country to discuss themes of the changing posture of regulators overseeing health insurance offerings, how initiatives in cost control and benefit design are impacting provider and beneficiary obligations, the increased role of private insurers in public programs, the emerging structural components of coverage from the ACO to co-ops, and current status of healthcare marketplaces and their future evolution. I had originally planned on attending the full day-long event, but unfortunately one of my torts classes got rescheduled for that morning, so I missed the first half! It was still incredibly informative, and another great exposure to the art of networking.
The event schedule has slowed down a bit recently due to the upcoming exams. I’m looking forward to a much-needed mental break, but I’ll be back to report on my first experience with taking (and surviving!) law school finals.
Interested in learning more about Health Law at Loyola? Check out this recording from an online information sessions we held in November.
Kelly Kearney is a 1L at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She is blogging about the journey of her first year of law school. To search all posts written by her click here or search the Kelly K category on the right hand side. Questions for Kelly? Email law-admissions@luc.edu with the subject “Ask Kelly” and she will make sure to answer them.