Jim Owens
Practice Focus Area: Healthcare
Office: Los Angeles
Years at Firm: 8+
What is your favorite part about practicing healthcare law at McDermott?
The lawyers and other professionals here, first and foremost. We have an amazingly talented team with a wealth of experience advising sophisticated clients in all segments of the healthcare industry. The substantive law depth and breadth, market knowledge, and geographic scope of our healthcare practice is impressive and makes us the best in the business. It is truly the “A team,” and it enables me to bring together the full spectrum of healthcare law advisers to provide a one-stop-shop of high-quality services for our clients. I also enjoy working with our smart and successful clients who value our work and who treat us as members of their team.
What is the biggest opportunity and greatest challenge facing clients in your area of focus today?
My practice is focused primarily on representing health systems and hospitals. Some of the biggest challenges facing our clients are diminishing margins caused by declining reimbursement and rising costs, physician and nursing shortages in the face of an aging population, and increased regulatory hurdles to many types of healthcare transactions. Some of the biggest opportunities include innovative partnerships among providers for specific types of services, and innovations in digital health and artificial intelligence in the healthcare setting. McDermott is well positioned to help bring these opportunities to fruition for our clients.
What advice would you give to junior lawyers looking to build their practice in your focus area?
I would recommend that junior lawyers look for opportunities to work with a variety of healthcare industry clients on a range of matters. To the extent that you enjoy working with a particular type of client on a particular type of legal matter, I would recommend seeking out more of that type of work, because people tend to excel in the areas that interest them. I started out as a healthcare generalist and gradually began to focus on representing large health systems and hospitals in a variety of complex transactions, because I enjoy the challenges of transactional work in a highly regulated industry.
What is the proudest moment of your career to date?
While no one matter comes to mind, I think I am most proud of the fact that during my more-than-35-year career, I have worked with some of the best health systems and hospitals in the United States. These institutions are mission driven to provide high-quality healthcare services to all patients regardless of the ability to pay. They want to make the world a better place by helping others and by being an employer of choice in the communities they serve. They also tend to be collegial, act with integrity, and foster an environment of mutual respect.
I am also proud of having had the opportunity throughout my career to mentor junior lawyers who have now become successful practitioners in their own right.
If you were not a lawyer, what career would you pursue?
If I were not a lawyer, I would be a photographer or a filmmaker. I have always enjoyed the visual arts, and in the summer after law school, I attended an art photography class at the University of California, Los Angeles, and fell in love with all types of photography. I also enjoy all types of film and even considered going to film school. Fortunately for me, I made the right choice in picking law as a career, but I still enjoy photography and film in my spare time.
Learn more about Jim’s practice here.
