In the next month I’ll be working out a contract for my first “real job”. The general consensus is that it’s a good idea for a physician to have his contract reviewed by a lawyer, since these contracts can be fairly complex. Mine will be more straightforward than most, since I’ll be working for a straight salary, but it seems like a good idea.
So how do I find someone to do this for me? Is this something any lawyer can do, or is there a particular specialty I need to seek out? I assume that it should be reviewed by someone in the state where I’ll be working; is that the case? What, specifically, do I want him to do for me? How much can I expect to pay for the service?
IAAL, however I do not practice outside of the military. On the civilian side, I work in Human Resources.
My suggestion to you is to not have an attorney review your contract, until you have read it, and formulated questions about the contract. That way, you will minimize the hourly fees that you will be charged. Assuming your contract is for a short duration <1 year, it should be pretty straighforward, and you might not feel the need to use an attorney.
However, seek out a firm or a lawyer with significant employment law experience, ask him/her to review the contract, and bring your questions/concerns to their attention before the review process.
Yes, you’ll want someone from that state where you will be working. Ideally, you want a lawyer who not only has employment law experience, but one who knows physician contracts. For example, there can be some particular noncompetition covenant, practice buy-in and other issues peculiar to physician contracts. That’ll vary state by state.
Do you know any lawyers in that state? Even if the person you know does something completely different, he or she probably could refer you to someone local. Otherwise, ask a few of your doc acquaintances in the state.
I you will be practicing in North Carolina, I can ask our department’s health policy law professor if he knows someone he can recommend for you. Plus we’ve got a whole law school full of folks just down the street …