Sydney
Mayer graduated from DePaul University College of Law this May, earning a Juris
Doctor degree and certificate in Health Law. Sydney recently shared with the E-Pulse her interest in health law,
experiences during law school, and advice for future health law students.
Sydney
graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in May of 2013 with a
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French. During her time at the University of Illinois
at Chicago she was a member of Phi Kappa Phi National Honors Society and the
UIC Honors College. Throughout her
undergraduate studies, Sydney always had a passion for law and attending law
school was a calculated decision for her. When Sydney first started at DePaul College of Law in the Fall of 2013,
her interests concentrated in International Law. However, while taking Contracts her 1L year
with Professor Epstein, she was encouraged to further explore Health Law and
she followed this advice.
The
summer following her 1L year, Sydney secured a position at Rush University
Medical Center as a Law Clerk. She was
able to secure this position through DePaul’s Health Law Institute Summer
Scholar Program. At Rush, she further
honed and developed her research and writing skills. Sydney appreciated the one-on-one mentorship
offered at Rush during her clerkship. During this clerkship, Sydney’s mentor took the time to dissect a
research memorandum she prepared and helped improve her writing, clarity, style,
and methods of catering to the reader.
During
her 2L summer, Sydney worked as a Summer Associate at Donohue, Brown, Mathewson
& Smith, a well-known Medical Malpractice Defense Firm. At Donohue Brown, Sydney drafted various
motions and assisted in trial preparation by summarizing depositions and
preparing memoranda of law on different legal issues. Throughout her 3L year, Sydney worked as a
Law Clerk at two different firms. From
September of 2015 through November of 2015, she first clerked at Collison Law
Offices, where she aided in the drafting of complaints and motions. From November of 2015 through May of 2016,
Sydney clerked at Roetzel & Andress, a full service law firm. As for post-graduate employment, Sydney has
secured a position with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) in
Washington, DC. Here, she will
participate in the Honors Attorney Program, where she will work as federal
attorney for two years while rotating through various departments. Similar to her first position at Rush, being
a member of the Jaharis Health Law Institute helped arrange this opportunity
for her.
Sydney
identified that two of her favorite Health Law courses were Legal Aspects of
Biotechnology Businesses Medicare Fraud and Abuse. It was during her Medicare Fraud and Abuse
class that she became aware of the prominence of power wheelchair fraud. In October of 2015, she published an article
in the DePaul College of Law Journal of Health Care Law concerning this topic. Throughout law school, Sydney was the
recipient of several honors and distinctions including the DePaul Dean’s List,
Wolters Kluwer Legal Scholar, and an honoree of the Women of Spirit and
Action.
Sydney
recommends that current students remain open-minded to any opportunity. She also encourages students to seek out
support and advice from professors such as Professor Wendy Epstein and
Professor Katherine Schostok. In
Sydney’s experience, the support offered by these professors enabled her to
identify her interests in Health Law and secure employment opportunities to
explore these interests.
The Jaharis Health Law Institute and its Fellows are
extremely grateful to Sydney for her contributions and wish her the best of
luck in her bar examination preparation and future endeavors. Congratulations Sydney!