JHLI moot court team members Anthony Lopez, Lana Smith and Lauren Masching.DePaul University College of Law's
Mary and Michael Jaharis Health Law Institute (JHLI) moot court team placed second in the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Health Law Regulatory & Compliance Competition. Team members included third-year student Lana Smith and second-year students Lauren Masching and Anthony Lopez, who are all health law fellows at JHLI.
"We are extremely proud of our moot court team who placed second at the University of Maryland competition," said moot court team supervisor and health law institute executive director Katherine Schostok. "They gained invaluable experience and knowledge in the compliance and regulatory field."
At the competition, the team analyzed a hypothetical problem for potential compliance and regulatory issues. The students worked together to answer a variety of issues facing a hospital system that included the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, the False Claims Act, employment matters and corporate structuring of a hospital system. After a brief research period, teams presented two 20-minute presentations, one as counsel for the Food and Drug Administration and the other as outside counsel for the hospital system. This was the second time the Jaharis Health Law Institute has competed at the regulatory and compliance competition.
"We were nervous leading up to the distribution of the problem, but once we evaluated the issues we gained our confidence back," said Lana Smith. "The health law classes we've taken at DePaul, especially Professor Schostok's Healthcare Fraud and Abuse course, gave us the research skills and knowledge to tackle the problem, as well as the ability to comfortably discuss our recommendations.
"After the presentations, we received positive feedback, but it was a wonderful surprise to hear we placed second out of the teams who competed. It was an incredible feeling to be able to represent the Jaharis Health Law Institute and DePaul."