Shareholder
Health Care, Co-Chair
Health Care Litigation and Risk Management, Chair
Litigation
Captive Insurance

Lancaster
717.399.6639
610.236.4181 fax
jws@stevenslee.com

Jim regularly represents hospitals and physicians in state and federal court – a practice he has sustained for over 27 years. His practice includes litigation, medical staff issues and health care captive insurance issues.

Jim uses his extensive experience as a litigator to advise hospitals, medical groups and retirement communities throughout the United States in connection with understanding and reducing their professional liability risk. Jim develops risk reduction strategies for health care providers and organizations and has created innovative strategies and educational programs to support them. This includes the creation of complete customized loss control programs in high risk areas, event management systems for self-insured organizations and captive insurance groups. Jim has helped to create captive insurance programs in multiple locations around the country that are both specialty-specific and national in scope.

He lectures frequently on health law issues and has published more than 200 articles, several handbooks and seven textbooks. He is an invited speaker across the country on health care issues, including liability reduction and risk management, and presents to nationally prominent health care organizations such as the American Association of Clinical Urologists, the American College of General Surgeons, the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, American Health Lawyers Association and the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management.

As published in the June 2005 issue of Philadelphia magazine, Jim was recognized as a 2005 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer by being selected by his peers as among the top 5 percent of lawyers in the Commonwealth.

Education:
Duquesne Law School, J.D., 1982
Shippensburg State College, B.A., 1979

Bar Admissions:
Pennsylvania

Court Admissions:
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Representative Publications:

• "Ethics Training Needs to Emphasize Disclosure and Apology," HEC Forum, Vol. 20, No. 3, SpringerLink, September 2008. Co-authored with Maggie M. Finkelstein, Esq. and Doug Wojcieszak, Founder of the Sorry Works! Coalition.

• "Reduce Liability Risk by Improving Your Patient Satisfaction"
  Press Ganey, July 2008. Co-authored with Maggie M. Finkelstein.
• Contributing Author, Sorry Works!, Disclosure, Apology and Relationships Prevent Medical Malpractice Claims. AuthorHouse, 2007.
• Contributing Author, Minimizing Endoscopic Complications: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Clinics of North America, January 2007, Volume 17, Number 1, W.B. Saunders Company, A Division of Elsevier, Inc.
• "Liability Risk Reduction Strategies for Physicians"
  Physician's News Digest, August 2006. Co-authored with Maggie M. Finkelstein.
• "Can Adhesive Labels Prevent Wrong Site Surgery and Reduce Liability Risk?" Widener Law Review, Vol. 12:293.
• "Best Practices: Reducing Liability Risks for Nursing Homes - Changing the Liabilty Equation." LTC Advisor, a publication of the American Health Lawyers Association Long-Term Care Practice Group, February 2006. Co-authored with Maggie M. Finkelstein.
• Five-Star Customer Service: A Step-by-Step Guide for Physician Practices. HCPro, Inc. Co-authored with Maggie M. Finkelstein.
• 15 Policies and Procedures to Reduce Liability for Physician Practices. HCPro, Inc. Co-authored with Maggie M. Finkelstein and Patricia M. Kearney.
• The Satisfied Patient: A Guide to Preventing Malpractice Claims by Providing Excellent Customer Service. HCPro, Inc.
• Bariatric Surgery: A Comprehensive Bariatric Program Can Act to Reduce Liability Risks and to Promote Patient Safety. Co-authored with Maggie M. Finkelstein.
• The New Universal Protocol: Can Adhesive Labels Prevent Wrong Site Surgery and Reduce Liability Risks? Co-authored with
  Maggie M. Finkelstein.

Professional Associations and Civic Affiliations:
Surgical Review Corporation, Board Member, Executive Committee
College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Fellow
Lancaster Bar Association, Professionalism Section
Pennsylvania Bar Association, Civil Litigation Law Section
American Bar Association
American Health Lawyers Association, Practice Guide on Alternative Risk Financing, Co-Editor; Healthcare Liability and Litigation Practice Group, Immediate Past Chair
Defense Research Institute, Medical Liability and Health Care Law Committee
Hospital Association of Pennsylvania, Society of Healthcare Attorneys
American Society of Law & Medicine
W. Hensel Brown Inn of Court, Master Designation; also Past President
Pennsylvania Medical Directors Association
Lancaster Community Health Plan, Founding Board Member
Lancaster Family YMCA, Foundation Chairman, 2004 Volunteer of the Year