Looking for a career in Health Law? An expert panel review
By Adelaide Earl-Kinley
On October 21st, the Health Law Student’s Association welcomed Marjorie Hickey, QC, Nancy MacCready-Williams, and Jen Feron to the Schulich School of Law to share their insights on careers in health law. Each of the panel members occupies a unique role within the field of health law. They offered their knowledge on what areas expertise could lead to a career in health law and new developments in the field, as well as some refreshingly practical career advice.
The Panelists
Marjorie is a partner at McInnes Cooper whose practice focuses on regulatory and liability issues for professionals. In this role, she appears before all levels of court in Nova Scotia and before administrative tribunals.
Nancy is the CEO of Doctors Nova Scotia, which represents over 35,000 physician members. She has held this role since 2011.
Jen is General Counsel at the IWK Health Centre. Before joining the IWK, Jen was an in-house legal counsel for an energy company and in private practice.
Health Law Careers Draw on Multiple Areas of Expertise
As part of the discussion, panel members tackled the question of what distinguishes the health law field from other fields of law or health care. Broadly speaking, the answer revolved around the many types of legal knowledge health law incorporates. A few of these areas of expertise are not what one might initially connect to a career in health law.
Nancy commented that work that touches the healthcare system presents many opportunities for practice in administrative law as well as personal injury law. In speaking on developments in health law, Marjorie and Nancy both noted that the interface of technology and the law presents opportunities in areas such as privacy law and health service delivery law. They also noted that these opportunities could grow in relation to newer developments like telemedicine and electronic medical records. Nancy commented that people with experience in managing healthcare data could be a valuable asset for those looking for opportunities in health law.
For those interested in issues pertaining to the interaction of health care related technology and the law, Annelise Harnanan offers an excellent overview of the legal framework and emerging challenges related to electronic health records in Canada: https://mjlh.mcgill.ca/2019/02/15/electronic-health-records-a-glimpse-into-the-legal-framework/.
A Career in Health Law is Often a Career in Health Policy
All three panelists mentioned that their respective roles bring them into engagement with health policy on a regular basis. Jen spoke to how joining a healthcare organization was in fact motivated by her desire to deal with issues before they arose, an option that she felt she was missing in private practice. At the IWK, she has been involved in developing policies on such issues as consent for mature minors, disclosure of professional wrongdoing, and hospital care for prisoners.
If you’re interested in health law as it relates to prisoners, Adelina Iftene, a professor in criminal law and prison law at our own Schulich School of Law, has very recently launched her book Punished for Aging: Vulnerabilities, Rights and Access to Justice in Canadian Penitentiaries (University of Toronto Press, 2019). Here she presents the results of her in-depth research on aging inmates within the Canadian prison system, and discusses justice issues arising from a lack of access to health care for inmate populations.
For a quick read on pertinent issues relating to aging prisoners, see her post in Policy Options: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/august-2019/hard-time-gets-unduly-hard-for-aging-prisoners/.
Comparing Private and Public Health Law Practices
On the topic of private versus government practice, the panelists offered further practical insights. Marjorie and Jen both spoke on the greater opportunities for career development in private practice, and harnessing that wealth of resources. On the pros of working for the government, Nancy mentioned the possibility of forming ongoing relationships through external partnerships and between departments, which she said she prefers to the revolving door of clients in private practice. Marjorie noted that the pensions provided in government positions should definitely not be overlooked.
Practical Advice for Students Interested in Health Law Careers
Formal questions closed with asking the panel members what one piece of practical career advice they’d give. Marjorie emphasized the importance of building meaningful relationships starting in school. Jen suggested pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone to expose yourself to things that you may find interest you, and to recognize that you can often lean on colleagues to fill in knowledge gaps. Nancy offered that it’s important to find a culture that fits with your values, and to remember that you don’t have to practice law traditionally if it’s not appealing to you—there are many opportunities to apply the skills you’ve learned in law school elsewhere.
If you’d like to read further into pursuing a career in health law, Lisa Feldstein, a health lawyer with a family health law focus, provides a helpful road map: https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/general/how-to-break-into-the-field-of-health-law/269528. Also, stay up to date with Dalhousie’s own Health Law Matters blog to see current issues and trends in the exciting and evolving area of health law.
