Senior Risk Attorney - Malpractice/Health Defense

Overview

At Houston Methodist, the Senior Risk Attorney position is responsible for risk, claims, and litigation management involving high exposure and high-profile matters. The Sr. Risk Attorney position safeguards Houston Methodist's (HM) interests by providing guidance to internal clients and acting as the organization's corporate representative in litigation and claims management. This position provides counsel to prevent, mitigate, and eliminate asset losses. The Sr. Risk Attorney position engages with management-level clients to achieve measurable outcomes. This position shepherds claims to an equitable resolution in a financially prudent manner. To achieve this, the Sr. Risk Attorney position applies relevant, advanced legal theories of civil, commercial, and employment litigation, as well as criminal, federal, and state regulations. This position formulates accurate legal analyses and reports expected losses to department leadership. In litigation management, the position coordinates HM witnesses in multi-party cases; in particular, cases involving executive leadership or sensitive matters. The Sr. Risk Attorney leads and supports team members, and meaningfully contributes to strategy planning and mediations and is responsible for ensuring a suitable balance is struck between the degree of risk tolerance and the successful delivery of healthcare services.

Houston Methodist Standard

PATIENT AGE GROUP(S) AND POPULATION(S) SERVEDRefer to departmental "Scope of Service" and "Provision of Care" plans, as applicable, for description of primary age groups and populations served by this job for the respective HM entity.

HOUSTON METHODIST EXPERIENCE EXPECTATIONS

• Provide personalized care and service by consistently demonstrating our I CARE values:
  • INTEGRITY: We are honest and ethical in all we say and do.
  • COMPASSION: We embrace the whole person including emotional, ethical, physical, and spiritual needs.
  • ACCOUNTABILITY: We hold ourselves accountable for all our actions.
  • RESPECT: We treat every individual as a person of worth, dignity, and value.
  • EXCELLENCE: We strive to be the best at what we do and a model for others to emulate.

• Practices the Caring and Serving Model

• Delivers personalized service using HM Service Standards

• Provides for exceptional patient/customer experiences by following our Standards of Practice of always using Positive Language (AIDET, Managing Up, Key Words)

• Intentionally collaborates with other healthcare professionals involved in patients/customers or employees' experiential journeys to ensure strong communication, ease of access to information, and a seamless experience.

• Involves patients (customers) in shift/handoff reports by enabling their participation in their plan of care as applicable to the given job

• Displays cultural humility, diversity, equity and inclusion principles

• Actively supports the organization's vision, fulfills the mission and abides by the I CARE values

Responsibilities

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provides clients with risk-focused legal advice in a manner that is advantageous to effective change management practices.

• Provides supportive, goal-driven guidance to HM employees through legal proceedings. Assumes responsibility for legal proceedings that involve executive leadership.

• Utilizes an advanced ability to professionally engage with business partners, internal clients, outside law firms, and vendors to ensure financially-sound, successful outcomes in a timely manner.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Investigates events with a focus on legal, risk, and reputational implications thereof, and employs high-level critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate these exposures. Attends to multiple complex, high-priority events with consistently thorough outcomes.

• Generates and maintains claims and litigation files that are thorough, concise, and accurate, so as to provide management with meaningful information.

• Communicates in a manner that reflects the ability to apply legal analysis to facts, offers recommendations pertaining to claims and litigation strategy, enhancing operations on a system level.

• Assists management in generating reports, and discusses report findings in a manner that reflects a contemplative legal analysis of aggregate information.

• Oversees and assists outside counsel or third parties in all matters pertaining to litigation which includes management of subpoenas, scheduling, discovery/production, witness meetings, depositions, and internal relations.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Recognizes opportunities to eliminate or mitigate risks and conveys these to leadership in a concise and knowledgeable manner to bring about change. Recommends resolution based on established legal theories, while applying HM's risk management principles.

• Seeks creative solutions to enhance efficiency in the department and collaborates with others or under the supervision of management, as appropriate, to achieve a successful outcome.

• Under direction of department management, engages in oversight and direction of outside council in a manner that comports with HM's strategic plan. Maneuvers litigation toward anticipated outcome with a focus on cost-savings and protection of organizational values and reputation.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Evaluates the legal merits of a matter and recommends thoughtful and conservative indemnity and legal reserves. Submits timely, comprehensive, and persuasive memoranda to secure financial or trial authority. Submits written work that reflect an expert degree of persuasiveness and understanding of a matter's value or potential loss, and which requires minimal revisions by management.

• Engages with outside law firms and vendors in a judicious manner while ensuring that the highest-quality legal services are rendered.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Identifies and effectively utilizes resources to accomplish multiple high-priority tasks in a limited amount of time.

• Maintains knowledge of relevant state and federal litigation, legislative on-goings, and judicial changes that have the potential to create an impact on the organization and departmental strategy. Educates colleagues and stakeholders.

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive; the employee will also perform other reasonably related business/job duties as assigned. Houston Methodist reserves the right to revise job duties and responsibilities as the need arises.

Qualifications

EDUCATION

• Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.)

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Five years' experience at a law firm as an attorney focused on a docket primarily comprised of medical malpractice or personal injury OR three years' experience as an in-house risk attorney or similar position

• Experience as a licensed Physician Assistant (PA), Registered Nurse (RN), Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP) preferred

License/Certification

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS - REQUIRED

• ATT-JD - Attorney - State Bar -- Member of the Texas State Bar in good standing within 6 months AND
• PA - Physician Assistant - State Licensure -- If previously licensed, must be eligible for reactivation within 6 months OR
• RN - Registered Nurse - Texas State Licensure and/or Compact State Licensure -- If previously licensed, must be eligible for reactivation within 6 months OR
• RN-Temp - Registered Nurse - Temporary State Licensure within 6 months OR
• RCP - Licensed Respiratory Care Practitioner - State Licensure -- If previously licensed, must be eligible for reactivation within 6 months OR
• CRT - Certified Respiratory Therapist (NBRC) -- If previously licensed, must be eligible for reactivation within 6 months

KSA/ Supplemental Data

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations

• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security

• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles

• Advanced ability to process large volumes of data from multiple disciplines, discern complex legal-risk issues, and thoughtfully recommend professional business solutions to avoid risk of litigation

• Exceptional communication skills and ability to interact effectively and politely with people with varying backgrounds. Ability to maintain composure and invoke confidence in difficult situations

• Ability to creatively and successfully support business units undergoing change management

• Strong analytical skills and ability to make thoughtful decisions and provide risk-avoiding, legally-sound direction that comports with HM's I CARE Values and risk and litigation management strategic plan, and the circumstances as they present

• Ability to create a plan for, and execute, accurate claim evaluation

• Advanced knowledge and application of case law, statutes, and trends related to medical malpractice

• Ability to quickly and creatively solve novel complex medical-legal-social issues

• Independent and creative problem solving skills

• Working knowledge of litigation financing and ability to direct outside counsel to ensure legal reserves are prudently used

• Intermediate knowledge of operational structure necessary to support optimal healthcare delivery and working knowledge of hospital operations in the U.S.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform No
• Scrubs No
• Business professional Yes
• Other (department approved) No

ON-CALL**Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. DIsaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

• On Call* Yes

TRAVEL****Travel specifications may vary by department**

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes

Company Profile

Houston Methodist (HM) is one of the nations leading health systems and academic medical centers. HM consists of eight hospitals: Houston Methodist Hospital, its flagship academic hospital in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, and seven community hospitals throughout the greater Houston metropolitan area. HM also includes an academic institute, a comprehensive residency program, a global business division, numerous physician practices and several free-standing emergency rooms and outpatient facilities. Overall, HM employs over 25,000 employees. Houston Methodist is supported by a wide variety of business functions that operate at the system level to help enable clinical departments to provide the best patient care and service in a spiritual environment.

In 2019 Houston Methodist and its physicians treat more than 6,333 international patients from more than 76 countries. Houston Methodist Global Health Care Services consulting and education divisions also provide advisory services and training and development to health care organizations around the world.