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Program on Law and Government

Summer Session
Health Law and Policy Institute

June 16-20, 2008


American University Washington College of Law (WCL) announces the first Annual Health Law and Policy Institute, providing JD and LL.M. students and practitioners, with an opportunity for intensive training in various aspects of health law and policy over a one-week period.

The Summer Session offers a broad range of custom-developed courses taught by leading practitioners from private practice businesses, health care organizations, government and non-governmental organizations, specifically for an intensive learning format.

The courses are designed to enhance the preparation of legal professionals for practicing health care law, and focus on both theoretical and practical aspects of health law and policy.

Networking Opportunities: For students, the Summer Session at the Health Law and Policy Institute can complement a summer internship or externship in exciting Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, where opportunities for an enriched health care law-related experience abound. Both day and night courses are available. Students can choose among several 1 credit classes and can take up to 3 credits.

Credits: Courses in the Health Law and Policy Institute can be taken for law school credit or for Continuing Legal Education (CLE). The credits can also be used toward an LL.M. Program on Law and Government degree with a Health Law Specialization, from WCL. A Certificate of Attendance will be presented to participants who do not wish to take courses for academic credit.



Course Descriptions

The actual course schedule and offerings are subject to change. Please check the WCL Summer Session's Web site for the latest information.

Introduction to International Health, Human Rights and Public Health:
Houeida Saad (1 credit), M-Tu 8:30AM-5:00PM.
Introduces students to the substance and theory of human rights law through a focus on public health. Exploring the linkage between human rights, international public health policy, and international law, the course examines the right to health vis-à-vis other human rights, as framed by international treaties and covenants. The course considers case studies and issues, focusing on vulnerable populations and specific population health threats, and focuses on the role of human rights advocates and health professionals in documenting torture, crimes against humanity, and genocide, as well as truth and reconciliation in furthering the right to health.

Introduction to Medical Issues for Lawyers:
Steve Pavsner, Corrine Parver and select physicians (1 credit), M-Th, 6:00-9:00PM.
Provides up-to-date knowledge and information in an introduction to basic medical principles and practices, and reviews medical negligence law for those students and lawyers interested in medical liability issues.

Intersection of Intellectual Property and Health Care:
Josh Sarnoff, Sean Flynn (tentative) and others (1 credit), M-Tu, 8:30AM-5:00PM
Provides significant exposure to the many relationships between U.S. patent, trademark and copyright laws and health care, including: access to medicines, data privacy, genetics, and biotechnology.

Legal Issues in Health Care Fraud and Abuse:
Carrie Valiant, Jack Boese and Corrine Parver (1 credit), W-Th, 8:30AM-5:00PM
Examines fraud and abuse in the delivery of health care, a priority of federal and state enforcement, through discussions of the major criminal and civil laws and regulations that combat various forms of health care fraud. Course includes a False Claims "Boot Camp", as well as Stark, and Anti-kickback statute issues; health care anti-fraud enforcement efforts by the FBI and Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General; sanctions; and compliance programs.

Introduction to Health Care and Life Sciences Fundamentals:
Lewis Grossman, Joel Michaels, Lynn Shapiro Snyder, Robert Dinerstein and others (1 credit), M-Th, 6:00-9:00PM
Addresses the unique issues attorneys face in counseling health industry clients, including: coding, coverage, reimbursement, billing, compliance and other regulatory matters. Includes a Washington Insiders' Health Care Update, which analyzes Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates' health care reform platforms, Congressional and state legislative initiatives, and recent Federal government regulatory actions.



Events and Internship/Externship Possibilities:

A series of guest lectures, panel discussions, and other activities involving leading practitioners from governmental and non-governmental Washington, D.C., will provide Health Law and Policy Institute participants with dynamic learning and networking opportunities. Institute staff will act as a liaison to select participants interested in learning about internship/externship opportunities in the Washington, DC, health community.



Faculty Experts:

* Tentative

John (Jack) T. Boese, Esq.: Partner in the Litigation Group of Fried Frank Harris Shriver and Jacobson LLP. Mr. Boese concentrates his practice on civil, criminal, debarment and exclusion cases arising from federal health care fraud investigations and the development of corporate compliance programs.

Robert Dinerstein, Esq.: Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law, specializing in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the rights of people with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation) and mental illness, disability laws in general, homelessness, civil rights, criminal justice, lawyer-client issues, and clinical legal education. He was the law school's associate dean for academic affairs from 1997-2004, and previously directed WCL's clinical program (1988-1996), nationally recognized for its excellence. Prior to joining WCL, Dinerstein worked as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section.

Sean Flynn, Esq.:* Associate Director of the American University Washington College of Law Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP). He teaches courses on the intersection of intellectual property and human rights, and does research on legal frameworks governing access to essential goods and services, including constitutional and human rights law, intellectual property law, utility regulation, antitrust and consumer protection law. Prior to joining WCL, Mr. Flynn completed clerkships with Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson on the South African Constitutional Court and Judge Raymond Fisher on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and represented consumers and local governments with Spiegel & McDiarmid, and as Senior Attorney for the Consumer Project on Technology in Washington D.C.

Lewis Grossman, Esq.: Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law. He teaches and specializes in American legal history, civil procedure and food and drug law. Prior to joining the faculty of WCL, he was an associate at the D.C. firm of Covington & Burling, and prior to that, he was clerk for Chief Judge Abner Mikva, U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit.

Joel L. Michaels, Esq.: Partner-in-charge of the Health Department in McDermott Will & Emery LLP's Washington, D.C. office. Michaels has extensive experience in health care insurance and health care delivery system organization, financing and regulation, and counsels health industry clients on a wide variety of federal law issues, including Medicare and Medicaid regulations, the False Claims Act, the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, ERISA, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Corrine Parver, Esq.: Practitioner-in-Residence and Executive Director, Health Law Project, American University Washington College of Law, where she designed and implemented the law school's health law specialization as part of the LL.M. Program on Law and Government's Administrative and Regulatory Law concentration.

Steven M. Pavsner, Esq.: Managing Director of Joseph, Greenwald & Laake and shareholder in the Litigation Group. Pavsner has extensive experience in personal injury litigation, including the prosecution on behalf of victims of product liability cases, medical, legal, accounting and other professional negligence cases, class action litigation, business disputes and other complex civil litigation.

Houeida Saad, Esq.: Deputy General Counsel, INOVA Health System, which is the largest health system in the Washington, DC, area, operating six acute care hospitals, emergency and urgent care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health, and wellness centers.

Joshua Sarnoff, Esq.:* Assistant Director of the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic and a Practitioner-in-Residence at American University Washington College of Law, , where he supervises law students in the practice of intellectual property law. Mr. Sarnoff is a registered patent attorney, teaches patent law, and has been involved in a wide range of intellectual property legal and policy disputes. He has published articles on patent law, has coordinated an academics' position statement on patent law reform, and has been a consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on intellectual property, trade, and environmental issues, and a pro-bono mediator for the Federal Circuit in patent cases.

Lynn Shapiro Snyder, Esq.: Senior Partner, Epstein Becker and Green, P.C., member of its Health Care and Life Sciences Practice, and Chair of the law firm's Third Party Payment Practice Group. Ms. Snyder has almost thirty years of experience advising health care industry clients about federal, state and international health law issues, including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, compliance, and managed care issues.

Carrie Valiant, Esq.: Partner, Epstein Becker and Green, P.C., member of its Health Care and Life Sciences Practice, and co-chair of the firm's health care fraud group in the Washington, DC office. Ms. Valiant concentrates on the areas of Medicare reimbursement and fraud and abuse prevention and counseling.



Registration:



Contact information:

For inquiries and request for applications, please contact us at:

Health Law and Policy Institute
American University Washington College of Law
4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
ATTN: Corrine Parver, Esq.
Health Law Project, Program on Law and Government
Tel: 202-274-4136; Fax: 202-730-4709
Email: cparver@wcl.american.edu

 
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