Partner

Jennifer Stuart is a partner in the Chicago office of SmithAmundsen. She is a member of the Health Care Practice Group at the firm, concentrating her practice in healthcare compliance and the defense of medical malpractice, hospital liability, and other complex litigation claims at the trial and appellate levels.

Jennifer received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1998. She then attended the Duke University School of Medicine, where she received a Master of Health Sciences in pathology in 2001. Jennifer received a Juris Doctor, cum laude, and certificate in Health Law from Loyola University Chicago in 2006. While in law school, she was a member of the Health Law Society and was Senior Editor for the Annals of Health Law. Jennifer also received a CALI Award for appellate advocacy, and was a Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman Health Law Fellow.

Jennifer’s background in the health care field includes experience in oncology, emergency medicine, and anatomic pathology, and gives her a unique perspective on the varied issues which arise in the defense of health care related claims. Before attending law school, Jennifer worked at a large university-affiliated hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, serving as a liaison between the pathology and surgery departments for the hospital’s tissue and blood repository. Prior to joining the firm, Jennifer also externed at the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, and clerked at Hofeld & Schaffner in Chicago where she gained insight on the plaintiff’s perspective of medical malpractice litigation.

Jennifer regularly consults with clients regarding healthcare compliance issues, patient privacy concerns and HIPAA compliance, credentialing issues, NPDB reporting, MMSEA legislation and reporting requirements, and the applicability of the Illinois Medical Studies Act. Since joining SmithAmundsen, she has also gained experience in a wide range of medical malpractice and healthcare related claims, including birth injuries, nursing home and long term care facility litigation, delayed diagnosis/misdiagnosis claims, premises liability, and wrongful termination actions. As member of the Health Care Practice Group, Jennifer’s appellate and post-trial experience includes an affirmed defense verdict on behalf of a hospital and its residents in a medical negligence action, an affirmed directed verdict on behalf of an on-call physician based upon the lack of any doctor-patient relationship, a JNOV reversal of a $7.6 million verdict against a hospital in a case where negligence was admitted and only damages challenged at trial, and submission of an amicus brief in support of the constitutionality of Illinois’ 2005 Tort Reforms in the Lebron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital litigation on behalf of a Chicago-based healthcare system. Jennifer also serves on the Executive Board of the Chicagoland Healthcare Risk Management Society.