Student Conference on Health Law Careers Planned

In response to the overwhelming success of last year’s first health law student conference, the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics (ASLME) will sponsor the second annual conference for law students Oct. 17.

Titled “Taking the Health Law Career Path: Student Conference,” the conference will be held in Pitt’s Barco Law Building beginning at 8 a.m.

The event is open to law students from across the country and is aimed at those interested in pursuing careers in health law in settings other than large law firms. This year’s conference will host more than 50 organizations.

Donna Gerson, career consultant and author of Choosing Small, Choosing Smart: Job Search Strategies for Lawyers in the Small Firm Market (National Association for Law Placement, 2001), will be the featured speaker.

Director of Career Planning and Placement in Pitt’s law school from 1994 to 2001, Gerson now works as a freelance writer and contributing editor to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Student Lawyer magazine. A lawyer, Gerson has practiced in both midsized and small law firms. She serves as a pro bono attorney for the Neighborhood Legal Services Association. She is a member of the ABA, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and the Allegheny County Bar Association.

The conference will include 75 panelists discussing careers for lawyers in academia; nonprofit organizations; federal, state, and local government; management consulting; corporate management; insurance and pharmaceutical companies; and hospitals. In addition, presenters will address such topics as starting a law firm, telecommuting, and balancing life and work.
For more information, contact Alan Meisel, Pitt professor of law and the Dickie, McCamey and Chilcote Professor of Bioethics, at 412-648-1384, or Ben Moulton, executive director of ASLME, at 617-262-4990. Additional information is available from www.law.pitt.edu/events/1008/2nd-annual-student-health-law-conference.