Deputy General Counsel
Primary Location
University Hospital - UMC
Address
530 South Jackson Street
Louisville, KY 40202
Shift
First Shift (United States of America)
Job Description Summary
About UofL Health
UofL Health is a fully integrated regional academic health system with five hospitals, four medical centers, nearly 200 physician practice locations, more than 700 providers, the Frazier Rehab Institute and Brown Cancer Center.
With more than 12,000 team members-physicians, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists and other highly skilled health care professionals-UofL Health is focused on one mission: delivering patient-centered care to each and every patient each and every day.
Job Description
Position Summary and Purpose
The Deputy General Counsel serves as a senior legal advisor within the academic healthcare system, providing strategic, solutions-oriented legal counsel on a broad range of healthcare, academic and operational matters. This role partners closely with executive leadership, clinical leaders, department chairs, and administrative teams to support the mission, values, and strategic priorities of the organization.
The Deputy General Counsel acts as a trusted advisor and thought partner to the Chief Legal Officer and may serve as second-in-command for the legal function. This position leads and manages complex legal matters, ensures regulatory compliance, and provides high-quality legal services in a fast paced and multifaceted academic healthcare environment.
Essential Functions
Provide expert legal advice on healthcare regulatory matters (including Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, HIPAA, EMTALA, Medicare/Medicaid regulations, accreditation standards).
Advise on academic medical center issues, including physician employment, graduate medical education, research compliance, and clinical training agreements.
Draft, review, and negotiate complex contracts, including physician agreements, affiliation agreements, research agreements, business associate agreements, and vendor contracts.
Support enterprise wide legal strategy, risk mitigation, and policy development.
Serve as a strategic advisor to leadership on legal implications of operational decisions, partnerships, and organizational initiatives.
Collaborate with Compliance, Risk Management, HR, Research Administration, medical staff office, and clinical teams to ensure adherence to federal and state laws and regulations.
Identify potential legal risks and recommend proactive strategies to minimize exposure.
Support investigations and responses related to compliance matters, patient care issues, privacy concerns, and regulatory audits.
Provide legal support for academic partnerships, clinical training programs, faculty governance, and research activities.
Advise on medical staff bylaws, credentialing, privileging, and peer review processes.
Assist in managing legal aspects of system initiatives, clinical program development, and organizational growth.
Other Functions
Serve as a key advisor and delegate for the Chief Legal Officer.
Lead or oversee legal staff, outside counsel, and internal project teams as assigned.
Provide mentorship, guidance, and development opportunities for members of the legal team.
Manage multiple complex projects and legal matters simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
Performs other duties as assigned.
Additional Job Description
Job Requirements
(Education, Experience, Licensure and Certification)
Education
Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school.
Experience
Minimum 8-10 years of progressive legal experience within the healthcare environment. In-house experience preferred but not required.
Licensure
Active license to practice law in the state of Kentucky or ability to obtain licensure by hire date.
Job Competency
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities critical to this role:
Demonstrated expertise in healthcare regulatory law, hospital operations and academic medical center environments.
Experience supporting or working within an academic healthcare system or university affiliated medical center preferred.
Strong contract negotiation and drafting experience.
Ability to manage a broad portfolio of matters and independently handle complex legal issues.
Proven ability to work collaboratively and effectively with executives, clinical leaders, faculty, and administrative staff.
Exemplifies service excellence - responsive, informs constituents of process, pleasant to work with, educates and provides timely, accurate information
Displays strong organizational skills - manages time effectively, keeps tasks appropriately prioritized and delegates appropriately; works proactively- anticipates and plans for problems before they arise; is able to perform work in a neat, efficient, well-coordinated, well communicated manner with a high degree of accuracy and professionalism
Role models strong work ethic - motivated, diligent, industrious and persistent in the workplace, stays on tasks to completion, works at a fast pace to ensure optimal efficiency; remains flexible - ability to change directions, as needed, to ensure optimal outcomes
Displays strong interpersonal skills- can build effective, strong working relationships with employees, colleagues, management and vendors through trust, communication, and credibility; displays self-awareness and emotional intelligence, exercises sound judgement
Displays strong leadership skills - ability to work collaboratively with others, serve others, help others, lead others, mentor others, and take directions from others in the interest of moving process and programs forward to the desired outcome
Language Ability
Must be able to communicate effectively in both verbal and written formats
Reasoning Ability
Ability to break down problems or tasks; scanning one's own knowledge and experience to identify causes and consequences of events,
Computer Skills
Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, Power Point)
Additional Responsibilities
Demonstrates a commitment to service, organization values and professionalism through appropriate conduct and demeanor at all times
Maintains confidentiality and protects sensitive data at all times
Adheres to organizational and department specific safety standards and guidelines
Works collaboratively and supports efforts of team members
Demonstrates exceptional customer service and interacts effectively with physicians, patients, residents, visitors, staff and the broader health care community
UofL Health Core Expectation
At UofL Health, we expect all our employees to live the values of honesty, integrity and compassion and demonstrate these values in their interactions with others and as they deliver excellent patient care by:
Honoring and caring for the dignity of all persons in mind, body, and spirit
Ensuring the highest quality of care for those we serve
Working together as a team to achieve our goals
Improving continuously by listening, and asking for and responding to feedback
Seeking new and better ways to meet the needs of those we serve
Using our resources wisely
Understanding how each of our roles contributes to the success of UofL Health