Introducing your 2023 Susan Davidson Memorial Award for Excellence in Health Law Winner: Kate Dewhirst

In this edition of the OBA Health Law’s section insider, we spoke with those who participated in nominating Kate Dewhirst, the 2023 recipient of the Susan Davidson Memorial Award for Excellence in Health Law. Kate is the founder of the law firm, Kate Dewhirst Health Law. Kate advises health care organizations on risk management, privacy, system integration, and credentialing issues. She is also the CEO of Something Orange Training Inc., an educational company designed to build confident health teams by learning privacy, managing conflict, employment, and legal issues.

We hope to have an awards dinner in 2024 to celebrate Kate. Stay tuned!

Describe Kate in three words.

Lonny Rosen: Supportive, enthusiastic, and trusted.

Sarah Virani: Creative, change-maker, and approachable.

Maria McDonald: Creative, integrous, and vivacious.

Lonny, why did you nominate Kate?

I have known Kate for the better part of 20 years and have long been impressed by her approach to her health law practice. Specifically, her entrepreneurial approach to the business of health law, her compassion and openness to showing vulnerability, and her supportive approach towards clients and members of the Bar all made her a perfect choice for this award.

Kate’s nomination spoke of her role as a mentor. How has Kate's mentorship impacted you and your career?

Sarah: I met Kate in my first year of lawyering at a time when it was very difficult to break into health law as a junior lawyer. She provided me with coaching and tangible tools for self-reflection, goal setting, skills translation and profile building that have shaped my career. Kate always insisted that I could achieve everything that I wanted to, despite my wanting to make unconventional transitions and have experiences in vastly different types of law within the health sector. With her guidance, I have benefitted from those experiences and have shaped a career that I’m proud of.

Lonny: Kate had started her solo health law practice and then her boutique health law firm before my partner and Elyse Sunshine and I went out on our own. Kate was a tremendous resource and mentor to us when we started, and has provided support and advice to us constantly since that time. She has also been an enthusiastic source of knowledge and mentorship to many in our practice area, including other members of our firm.

Maria: Kate has been the most significantly positive influence in my career. She offered me a position around 14 years ago, practicing employment law in the healthcare field and we have worked together in one way or another ever since. The way Kate practices law is the way she lives her life. She serves others. She genuinely likes and cares about people. She is a model for lawyers, no matter how experienced. If I have an ethical dilemma or a difficult judgement call to make, I call Kate. Or I just ask myself, “What would Kate do?” The answer is usually the more difficult option (such is life), but it is always the right one.