The Life Science Lawyer

Book excerpt: Health care and life sciences are increasingly complex. There are many global players in life sciences and healthcare-patients, governments, hospitals, managed care companies, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies and pharmacies are only a few. With this increasing complexity comes a higher demand for hybrid professionals who can translate both the science as well as the legal issues surrounding this complicated environment. In the US, there are thousands of life science lawyers--people who have both a scientific/healthcare background and also who have gone on to law school (or in one case, vice versa). This book explores the following through interviews: Why did these life scientists and healthcare professionals decide to go to law school? Why did they study both science and law? What made them decide to shift their careers from the sciences to science and the law? How was the study of science and health different or the same as law? What did they do with their dual degrees after school? Did they practice science/healthcare, law, both, or neither? How do they view themselves? How do they define success, and what has made them successful in their careers? A pre-1L decided to find the answers to these questions by interviewing more than 30 life science lawyers for this book the summer before her own law school adventure. Every life scientist or healthcare professional-doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists, PhD bench scientists, nurses, dentists, and other allied healthcare professionals-who ever contemplated law school should read this guide in order to understand the life science lawyers who have gone before them and their wisdom."