Assistant Attorney General – Healthcare Division

The Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter represents all State executives, officials, departments, boards, agencies, and commissions in matters arising from their public duties. Such representation includes participation in litigation, transactional matters, and giving day-to-day legal advice to a wide variety of State entities. The Attorney General's Office employs approximately 200 attorneys organized into 16 legal divisions within 5 sections.

About the Healthcare Division:

The Healthcare Division is part of the State Services and Litigation Section of the Attorney General’s Office. The Division advises and defends the Department of Health and its related regulatory boards (e.g., the Board of Dentistry, the Board of Medical Examiners, the Board of Nursing, and the Board of Optometry), the Office of Vital Records, the Office of Vital Statistics, and the Health Facilities Commission.

Attorneys in the Healthcare Division defend the Department of Health against litigation arising out of the Department’s performance of State functions, to include defending adjudications of professional disciplinary matters heard under the Tennessee Uniform Administrative Procedures Act (UAPA).

In addition to defending constitutionality of health-related laws, this Division represents the Department’s legal interests in its administration of various federal grant programs. Division attorneys advise the Department of Health and Health Facilities Commission counsel on summary action proceedings brought against healthcare professionals’ and healthcare facilities’ licensure.  Representative cases have involved the recently established Health Facilities Commission’s disputes over a medical professional’s placement on the Tennessee Abuse Registry, initiation of injunction proceedings against unlicensed healthcare facilities, and defense of the Commission’s Certificate of Need decisions regarding the placement of healthcare facilities in Tennessee communities.

Job Overview:

The Healthcare Division is seeking an organized and detail-oriented attorney to represent the Tennessee Department of Health, its associated medical professional boards, in addition to the Health Facilities Commission and its related entities, in all manner of civil litigation. This position will require an attorney who is adept at learning and synthesizing relevant governing laws and applying them to complicated fact patterns. Attorneys in the Healthcare Division regularly perform the following duties, among other tasks as needed:

  • Develop effective litigation and investigation strategies for assigned cases.
  • Analyze all relevant evidence and formulate persuasive legal theories.
  • Timely and effectively work assigned cases to their appropriate conclusion.
  • Review administrative records in preparation for litigation.
  • Interview potential witnesses and take testimony by deposition.
  • Review documentary evidence, including disciplinary records.
  • Utilize e-discovery and case management software.
  • Advise counsel for the Department of Health and the Health Facilities Commission on summary action proceedings.
  • Draft pleadings, motions, briefs, and other court documents.
  • Argue motions and participate in trials.
  • Negotiate settlements, as appropriate.
  • Review proposed language in health-related regulations for legality.

The ideal candidate will have the following qualifications:

  •  Juris Doctorate and Tennessee bar admission or ability to apply for admission without examination.
  • Strong oral and legal writing skills.
  • Two or more years of civil litigation experience.
  • Familiarity with healthcare law in Tennessee and medical professional discipline matters arising under the UAPA.
  • Negotiation experience.
  • The ability to work as part of a team and to explain legal issues to non-attorneys.

TO APPLY:

Application materials can be submitted via our online applicant portal or by email using HRteam@ag.tn.gov. Attorneys should include a cover letter, resume, law school transcript, contact information for at least 3 references, and a legal writing sample. The writing sample should be no more than 10 pages but an excerpt of a larger document can be submitted if the attorney applicant was the primary author.


Pursuant to the State of Tennessee’s Workplace Discrimination and Harassment policy, the State is firmly committed to the principle of fair and equal employment opportunities for its citizens and strives to protect the rights and opportunities of all people to seek, obtain, and hold employment without being subjected to illegal discrimination and harassment in the workplace. It is the State’s policy to provide an environment free of discrimination and harassment of an individual because of that person’s race, color, national origin, age (40 and over), sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, or any other category protected by state and/or federal civil rights laws. Offers for this position will be contingent upon a satisfactory criminal history check.