Georgia State Law is ranked No. 6 on Law Street Media’s “Top 10 Law Schools for Health Law” list.
The specialty rankings blend quantitative and qualitative data using a 100-point formula that examines courses offered (25 points), graduates employed in the specialty (20), proximity to subject-relevant employment centers (15), networking and extracurricular opportunities in the discipline (15 each), and other rankings such as those published by U.S. News & World Report (10 points).
“The Georgia State Center for Law, Health & Society has so much to offer our students in terms of access to exceptional faculty, a wide array of courses, opportunities for experiential learning in and out of the classroom, and a strong alumni network in the vibrant city of Atlanta,” said Leslie Wolf, center director and professor of law. “We are delighted to have our program recognized among Law Street’s Top Law Schools for Health Law.”
In the ranking, Georgia State Law was noted for its strong employment rates, experiential learning, program and certificate offerings, and also received a near perfect score in location, which cited its proximity to numerous health law firms and lawyers in the metro-Atlanta area.
For Sophia Horn (J.D./M.S.H.A. ’18), the wealth of opportunities and enthusiasm she saw while on a tour of Georgia State Law led her to choose the college over others that also has well-known health law programs.
“I had the opportunity to speak with Professor Charity Scott and Stacie Kershner (J.D. ’08), associate director for the Center for Law, Health and Society, and both were so passionate about the program they really sold me on it,” she said. “Georgia State has a variety of health law courses and opportunities which is what makes the program so unique compared to other schools that may just have regulatory classes or one overarching health law course.”
As a Georgia State student, Horn has interned with the Georgia Department of Community Health and was a graduate research assistant for the Center for Law Health and Society. This summer, as a Fellow for the Georgia Academy of Healthcare Attorneys Fellowship, she is working with the Georgia Hospital Association legal department and Children’s Hospital of Atlanta in-house Counsel. In the fall, she be a GRA for the Georgia Health Policy Project, participate in the HeLP Clinic and complete classes for the Health Law Certificate.
“I am thankful to Georgia State because without our program and my opportunity to cover so many health law topics, I don’t know that I would have been selected for these opportunities,” she said.
The diversity of health law courses at Georgia State Law also provide a well-rounded foundation for her future career, Horn said.
“My favorite two were probably Public Health Law and Health Law Fraud and Abuse. Professor [Jonathan] Todres taught Public Health Law and really pushed us to think outside the box and speak up in class and share our ideas,” she said. “Adjunct Professors Scott Grubman and Mike Paulhus taught Health Law Fraud and Abuse. They brought in guest speakers on a regular basis to expose us to different careers in the fraud and abuse realm. I really enjoyed getting to hear from the speakers about their perspective and real-life experiences with the topics we were covering.”
Overall, Georgia State Law scored 87 points out of 100 in Law Street Media’s analysis. The top ranked program, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, scored 92 points.
Law Street Media’s Top 10 Law Schools for Health Law are ranked: Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Saint Louis University School of Law, Harvard Law School, Boston University School of Law, Georgia State University College of Law, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, Arizona State's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Seton Hall University School of Law, and Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.