Meet Erin Jackson | Healthcare Attorney & Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erin Jackson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erin, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I attribute our law firm’s success to three things. First, my business partner is my husband. While this dynamic may not work for everyone, we have been “working together” in some way or another since we began studying for the law school entrance exam together. We recognize the other person’s strengths and vulnerabilities, allowing us to divide our responsibilities in a way that really jives with our individual interests, skills, and needs. The second reason I believe we’ve been successful is the people we’ve hired. I’ve been decisive and proactive about hiring people with warm personalities and incredible talent. This has allowed us to build a team that is collaborative, funny, hardworking, and really dynamic. This dovetails with the third reason I credit with our success: our team’s kindness, intelligence, and enthusiasm for our work is genuine. In my view, this must — and does — come from the top, meaning from me. It has been incredibly important to me that our firm isn’t just a workplace but a community of professionals who are working in service to the healthcare community. To accomplish this, we have implemented workplace policies that encourage our team to stay healthy, like not working weekends, and we discuss our shared ethos, that healthcare is a human right, from the earliest stages of the job interviewing process.

What should our readers know about your business?
We trademarked our firm’s tagline: “the cure for the common law firm.” When I was struggling with chronic pain, I saw so many healthcare providers before finding the ones who would ultimately help me heal. They were a bright, shining light after a very long journey through our healthcare system. When we established our law firm, I wanted to be that bright light for healthcare providers seeking to navigate our legal system. What many don’t realize is that healthcare is very regulated — by the federal government, by the state government, and by insurance companies. It’s daunting for someone who wants to open a small healthcare practice and primarily focus on providing high-quality patient care. That’s where we come in: our team of attorneys and staff is warm and knowledgeable, we strive to break down the requirements into digestible and accessible parts, and we handle all of the pesky paperwork that can be so frustrating and overwhelming to non-lawyers. We also help providers reconceptualize their plans for their practice when they come to us with an idea that doesn’t fit within the healthcare laws. For example: many states have a rule called the “corporate practice of medicine” doctrine, meaning that corporations can’t practice medicine. It seems simple, but it’s common now for private equity or non-doctors to want to open medical practices, and many states prohibit this. There are ways to accomplish the client’s goal and comply with the law, but it’s complicated, and our role is to walk through that process beside our client, one step at a time. It’s so satisfying to see their practices thrive and to support them years down the road as they grow. Behind the scenes, I’ve felt that it’s necessary to practice what we preach: wellness, health, and self-care are priorities. Our attorneys don’t have a billable hour requirement and instead work standard business hours. They don’t work nights or weekends. During the summer, we close the office at noon on Fridays to encourage everyone to get outside for a bit and start their weekend early. Everyone needs to actually take their PTO every year. We’re active in our community: we do monthly service projects, sponsor local events, and support our employees’ individual charitable interests. We’ve strived to build a team of people who want to work in this environment and who have prioritized these things in their own lives over burning the midnight oil, so to speak.
Though, I’ll admit that I still burn a lot of midnight oil. That’s been a big challenge and is one that I’m currently tackling: hiring management-level staff that can help ease my own workload and help me to restore my own balance. I want to really focus my work on those things that I most enjoy and that I’m best at doing. Right now, I’m wearing a lot of different hats and shouldering more responsibility than is going to be feasible long-term — especially as our family grows. I’ll briefly have two under two this fall!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’ll start with a full day at Balboa Park. We’ll bring a picnic blanket and our dog, Crosby, and we’ll stroll around until it’s time for lunch at Panama 67. After lunch, we’ll head to the lawn behind the restaurant to lay in the grass and read a book while we finish our drinks. We’ll be sure to visit the dog park and watch the lawn bowling while we’re there. On the way home, we’ll grab some coffee and snacks at Moe’s Coffee in North Park. I’m a vegan, and they always come through with some delicious bakery items!

The next day, we’ll drive up to Del Mar and spend the morning reading in the grass and drinking our coffee at Seagrove Park. We’ll stick our toes in the water before leaving, and we’ll grab lunch at Naked Cafe in Solana Beach.

As for the rest of the week? We’ll have a checklist of things to do and food to eat! It’ll include the Carlsbad and Mission Valley farmers markets; dinner at Din Tai Fung; a day on Coronado Island with visits to the beach, shops, and lunch at the Hotel Del; dinner at Beeside Balcony in La Jolla, on a night that they have live music and at a table on the balcony with a view of the Pacific; and strolls around the unique beach communities: La Jolla, PB, Ocean Beach. As for getting my toddler’s energy out, we’ll stop by the playgrounds in Civita Park and at the new tot lot in Del Mar’s Powerhouse Park.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our law firm’s success rests on so many things: first and foremost, though, on the strength of my partnership with my husband and business partner, who I met before even attending law school.

Throughout law school and my early career, I suffered from debilitating chronic pelvic pain. I wouldn’t be successful today if I hadn’t had some incredible, empathetic healthcare providers who championed my health and saw a bright future for me, even when I struggled to see a clear road to recovery for myself. That experience gave me a front-row seat to our country’s healthcare system, and it paved the way for our law firm’s work with healthcare practices and providers.

I’ve also had so many unexpected mentors and friends develop along the way. At various times, their encouragement, candor, and love has given me a sounding board, served as a reality check, and helped to ground me. I’ve also learned so much from their entrepreneurial pursuits and achievements.

On a lighter note, I’d credit my giant home library with giving me a way to turn my brain off at the end of the day. I read a couple of books each week, and they are the very best way to transition from running a law firm to getting some rest.

Website: https://jacksonllp.com

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