Belmont Journal Law Symposium Spotlights Emerging Health Care Legal Challenges

Professors Scott Burris, Stacey Tovino present topics at cutting edge of academic discussion

The landscape of health law is constantly shifting, shaped by emerging technologies, evolving regulations and new legal challenges.

Legal scholars, practitioners and students gathered at Belmont’s College of Law to explore these changes at the Belmont Law Journal’s annual Spring Symposium, March 21.

The Belmont Law Journal’s topic-focused publication highlights criminal, health and entertainment law, with a rotational topic each year for its spring symposium. With the theme, "Healthcare in a Changing Landscape: Navigating the Ever-Evolving Health Law Climate," the symposium provided a critical platform for discussing pressing health legal issues and the future of policy and practice.

The event underscored Belmont Law’s growing reputation as a hub for legal scholarship and professional development, particularly in the health care law sector.  

Leadership Behind the Symposium 

Maddie Sabourin, the executive events and symposium editor, guided the event's success. Throughout law school, Sabourin has focused on health law, working in medical malpractice and as a summer law clerk in reimbursement litigation at Polsinelli, an Am Law 100 firm. She currently works in managed care litigation at Polsinelli and will continue there after graduating in May.

After assisting last year’s editor of the entertainment law symposium, Sabourin was eager to fill this year’s open position and make use of her connections and experience. Her health law history coupled with Belmont Law’s stellar reputation among Nashville’s health care legal professionals, resulted in securing an outstanding lineup of academic keynote speakers and a diverse group of panelists for a compelling symposium.

“Professors Scott Burris and Stacey Tovino were our first picks for academics, so we were honored and thrilled when they said yes,” Sabourin said. “The panelists were also excited to participate and be a part of the symposium. Particularly when it comes to health law, the Nashville area knows that Belmont delivers. A lot of our panelists frequently hire or have hired Belmont graduates and know our symposium is well-organized and thorough and that it is something not to be missed.” 

Through their work coordinating speakers, arranging travel, securing panelists and moderators and managing event logistics, Sabourin and her executive board were instrumental in creating a seamless event that showcased diverse legal perspectives.

Keynote Speakers on Critical Health Law Challenges  

The event’s keynote speakers provided authoritative perspectives on two pressing health care law challenges.  

Professor Scott Burris delivered the morning keynote, The Legal Path to a Whole of Government Opioids Response, addressing how an integrated legal approach can strengthen the fight against the opioid crisis.  

In the afternoon, Professor Stacey Tovino discussed Public and Private Insurers’ Use of AI to Deny Health Insurance Claims. Her presentation highlighted the ethical and legal ramifications of AI-driven insurance decisions, raising questions about fairness, oversight and accountability in the era of machine learning. Among the proposals in Tovino's article for the Belmont Law Journal is a recommendation that health insurers use language that discloses their use of AI models with a 90% error rate in processing insurance claims. 

The Belmont Law Journal will be the first law school journal to publish on Tovino’s topic, placing the College on the cutting edge of this academic discussion.   

Engaging Panel Discussions  

The symposium featured two thought-provoking panel discussions.  

The first, Private Equity in Healthcare, discussed the roles and experiences of various health care professionals in private equity and the sector's growing influence. Belmont Law adjunct professor Mark Ison served as moderator. 

Panelists

• Brian Adams: transactional health law associate at Polsinelli 

• Daniel Patten: health care partner at Holland & Knight 

• Dr. Lisa Piercey: founder and managing partner of TriStela Capital Partners 
• Charlie Walker: chief compliance officer and general counsel at Graham Healthcare Capital 

While each panelist offered insights into the benefits and pitfalls in health care law, the significance of the symposium extended beyond the day’s discussions.  

For Belmont Law students, the event also served as a gateway to deeper engagement with the legal complexities of health care, a field where Nashville, as a health care capital, offers abundant opportunities. 

“It is cool that you have the opportunity to do this,” Walker said, referring to how the symposium provides students access to industry professionals who explain the nuances and discuss various areas of the field. “I came up in an hour when private equity was not a highly-discussed industry.” 

The second panel, The Rise of Arbitration in Healthcare Litigation, focused on the increasing reliance on arbitration to resolve health care disputes. Moderated by professor of law & director of health law studies Deborah Farringer, the panel specifically explored how arbitration affects patients, providers and the legal landscape. 

Panelists 

• Caldwell Collins: shareholder at Baker Donelson and Managed Care Litigation practice group leader 

• Chasity Goodner: senior litigation counselor at HCA 

• David King: shareholder in the Health Care Litigation and Disputes group in Nashville and Managed Care and Payor Disputes practice group leader at Polsinelli 

• JD Thomas: partner at Barnes & Thornburg, practicing health care litigation   

An Emerging National Reputation 

The Belmont Law Journal continues to solidify Belmont Law’s national reputation in health care and other fields, further elevating the College’s prestige in legal academia and practice.

The 2025 spring symposium provided a rich dialogue on the evolving health care legal landscape while fostering thought leadership, networking and career preparation for Belmont Law students in one of the most dynamic areas of law today. 

“Belmont really focuses on preparing practice-ready attorneys,” Sabourin said. “If you want to be a health law attorney and you're graduating from Belmont, you have an advantage because the firms in Nashville know what kind of caliber of student they're getting.” 

The Belmont Law Journal will publish its student notes in the spring and Burris and Tovino’s articles will publish in fall 2025.