Attorney Gabriel Imperato (JD ’77) and his wife Cynthia, a former judge, have made a $100,000 gift to support the health law program at DePaul’s College of Law. Their generosity will create the Gabriel and Cynthia Imperato Fund for Excellence in Health Law, which will provide unrestricted support with a focus on students, programming and compliance-based initiatives.
“This generous gift by the Imperatos will allow the College of Law to continue to strengthen its highly ranked health law program, especially in the growing field of health law compliance,” said Dean Jennifer Rosato Perea. “The broad impact of this gift will be felt in the excellent students we recruit, the engaging programs we host, and the curricular innovations we develop.”
Established in 1984, DePaul’s health law program is consistently ranked as one of the top in the country. The comprehensive program provides students, alumni and practitioners with access to world-class faculty and cutting-edge programming, including the annual Jaharis Symposium on Health Law and Intellectual Property. The program also provides students with support and opportunities throughout their law school careers, preparing them to become the next generation of lawyers and leaders in health law.
“I started my more than 40-year legal career as a health lawyer when I was still a law student at DePaul’s College of Law,” says Imperato. He gained this experience as a part-time law clerk at the Office of General Counsel of the United States Department of Health and Human Services in Chicago.
Imperato is a partner at Nelson Mullins, a full-service law firm with 25 offices serving clients in more than 100 practice areas. Based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Imperato assists and advises health care organizations on corporate governance and compliance matters, and represents clients accused of health care fraud. He is a nationally recognized leader in health care law, frequently speaking at events and conferences on compliance and ethics. Imperato is a long time Board Member and Past President of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) and the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA), and is a faculty member for the HCCA Compliance Academy. Every year since 2006, Imperato has been recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer and as one of The Best Lawyers in America® for Health Care Law. In 2012, he was named Miami Health Care Law Lawyer of the Year.
“This journey has served me well and it seemed appropriate to support the dedicated efforts of the College of Law to further education and training in this area of law, which continues to grow year in and year out,” Imperato says.
Cynthia Imperato retired from the Broward Circuit Court bench in 2016 after 13 years of service. She currently chairs the board of the Broward County Chapter of the American Red Cross and serves on the board of the St. Thomas More Society of Broward County.