Scholarship

Kathy has long been fascinated by teaching.  A state finalist in debate and competitive speaking at the high school level, Kathy considered becoming a speech and debate coach.  But the law had a stronger pull, and a job as a litigator at a top law firm provided plenty of opportunities for rhetorical advocacy. Yet Kathy never completely lost the passion to share her learnings with others, and once she left the active practice of law, she found herself once again drawn to academia.

While at Latham, Kathy thought deeply about how the law should develop in the ever-changing world of healthcare innovation and regulation.  She wrote and published articles on cutting-edge topics and new legal developments.  She joined panels at national health care conferences, and within a few years became a sought-after speaker within the healthcare bar.  She joined the planning committee for the major American Bar Association and American Health Lawyers Association healthcare fraud and compliance conferences, on which she served for many years.

At the same time, Kathy recognized that her frequent interaction with healthcare regulators and government lawyers provided her with a unique insight into the US Department of Justice’s enforcement priorities.  She understood how sharing these insights might help her clients avoid enforcement scrutiny, and so she designed, offered and presented comprehensive healthcare compliance training programs long before such programs became common in the industry.

Kathy was honored in 2009 when the US Department of Justice invited her to teach Assistant US Attorneys how to successfully handle healthcare fraud investigations.  In 2013, Kathy was invited to guest lecture at Cornell Law School in a class on whistleblowers.

Kathy’s passion for teaching reemerged after she left the active practice of law.  Upon learning that Willamette University School of Law had a Health Law Certificate Program, she reached out to offer her services.  She was immediately invited to join the program as a guest lecturer, and just like that, Kathy was back in law school, but this time as a teacher.  She enjoys the intrinsic satisfaction of connecting with students focused on healthcare law, thinking creatively and proactively not just about what the law is, but what the law should be.  And she looks forward to finding new ways to share what she’s learned with the next generation of lawyers.