Mayesha Alam, L'23

The Richmond Law & Business Forum is excited to spotlight our student board members! This member spotlight features Mayesha Alam, who has helped to organize a number of Forum events including a conversation about Richmond’s start-up community and a Business Law over Dinner event featuring lawyers who practice in the area of mergers & acquisitions.

Why did you apply to be on the board for the Richmond Law & Business Forum?

I decided to join the Richmond Law & Business Forum to positively influence the roots of an organization that I believe will reach a wide audience someday. Parallel to my own interests, the Forum bridges the gap between two disciplines to provide lawyers, business leaders, and students a shared space to share their interrelated experiences while also providing early careerists the opportunity to forge connections in intimate networking environments.

What Forum events have you enjoyed the most?

I've found every single of our events to be engaging (truly!) - but I found myself drawn to events focused on the start-up space and entrepreneurship. I'm especially excited for some of our events coming up this school year focusing on essential business concepts.

What are your own career goals/plans?

As a JD/MHA student, my interests are embedded in two different industries. At the intersection of healthcare leadership and law is the unique opportunity to practice and influence health law. I'm drawn to innovative models such as medical-legal partnerships and value-based care models due to their unique approach of combining preventative health with preventative justice. I've increasingly found myself drawn to being a part of the process of helping healthcare systems implement such models in various markets and transactional settings at a systemic level. I hope to someday emerge as an innovative leader in healthcare providing solutions to legally-based social determinants of health and improving outcomes for at-risk populations in our communities.

Tell us about your work experience related to business law?

I've had the incredible privilege of being part of Hancock, Daniel & Johnson, P.C. for the past three years. As a part of a leading "everything healthcare" law firm, I've had broad exposure to many fields including mergers and acquisitions, contracts, compliance, certificate of public need and licensure, antitrust, governance, risk-based contracting and management, and employment services. My experiences have been unique in having worked in the capacity of a law student as well as someone with an MHA with a deeper understanding of the healthcare market, business concepts, and analytic skills. My experience has truly illustrated how the legal field and business field go hand in hand. More importantly, it's demonstrated that change and influence on an industry or issue can come in many forms. Many of us believe that business law and public interest are completely separate but I've found that they can be part of the same objectives. This is especially true for healthcare business law.

What has been your favorite part of Richmond Law so far?

My favorite thing about Richmond Law is the sense of family. From faculty to students, everyone is invested in your success as well as your well-being. I believe a great education can be achieved anywhere, but to find a home in your career is rare.