When one thinks of public health, stock images from movies such as “Contagion” or “Outbreak” usually come to mind. A crowd of people quarantined in a small room lined up to get some kind of ominous inoculation is the usual scène à faire. While most can envision doctors and nurses running around the room, few would place a lawyer at the scene. However, the field of public health is one that is deeply intertwined with statutes, rules and ordinances.

 

Public health law is a vital part of ensuring a healthy community. Just as public health encompasses a broad range of subjects, such as epidemiological outbreaks to disease surveillance to immunizations, public health law attempts to cover the wide range of issues that arise from each. Public health agencies must constantly pay attention to the law to ensure that they respect the rights of the public while limiting their liability.

 

As a public health attorney, the “client” is also two-part. There is the public, who needs protection from disease, and there is the agency, which needs to be able to act with a certain degree of authority. A good balancing act must therefore be mastered by a public health attorney. On the one hand, there are questions of constitutional rights, such as the right of due process, while on the other there are questions of the public good. As an attorney, one often thinks of the old conundrum of when does the good of the individual give way to the good of many.

 

The most important thing every lawyer should understand however is the practice of public health law provides an opportunity to make a difference. By learning the statutes and acknowledging the diverse needs of the public, a good lawyer can actually contribute to the promotion and protection of the community one case at a time.