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Click on any name to view the attorney's bio and email address. Or, simply scroll down to meet the entire Lebow & Malecki Consulting, Inc. team. Melinda S. Malecki, J.D., M. S. Susan Von Nordheim, J.D., R.N.
Joan M. Lebow,
J.D. Ms. Lebow served as General Counsel of ibex Healthdata Systems, Inc., until October 2004 and continues to represent its acquirer, Picis. The company provides Web-based software applications to hospitals and physicians. As General Counsel, Ms. Lebow managed and provided all legal services, including development and protection of intellectual property assets, software licensing and sublicensing, corporate transactions and employment. She served as Corporate Secretary and was a member of the senior executive team. Ms. Lebow started the Legal Department of Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, in 1987 and was its General Counsel for 13 years. During her tenure, she administered all corporate transactions and managed all trials and appeals. Meanwhile, she handled all insurance, including commercial and general liability, malpractice liability and self-insurance. As a member of the senior leadership team, she provided all regulatory and transactional support of insurance subsidiaries. She also managed the regulatory compliance of the Medical Center, with emphasis in the areas of public and private reimbursement and clinical operations. Prior to her work at Illinois Masonic, Ms. Lebow served as Assistant General Counsel of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she engaged in a broad healthcare and corporate practice. She represented Northwestern in state and federal administrative hearings, and handled ERISA and employee benefit issues, medical staff and licensed professional regulatory affairs. She began her career in law as an associate with the firm of Lord, Bissell & Brook, where she handled direct litigation, insurance coverage disputes and general corporate matters. Ms. Lebow is an Adjunct Professor of Health Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law, and is a Scholar affiliated with the Institute of Science, Law and Technology, a joint program between IIT and Chicago-Kent. She is a past President of the Chicago Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association. She serves on the Board of the Little City Foundation, advises the Board of Directors of The Family Institute and actively raises funds for the Bottomless Closet and Literature for All of Us. She also belongs to the Steering Committee of the Senior Business Women's Forum and serves on various committees of the Illinois Association of Hospital Attorneys. Ms. Lebow received her Bachelors Degree in Religious Philosophy from Pitzer College, The Claremont Colleges, Claremont, California, in 1975, and received her J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, in 1978.
Melinda S. Malecki, J.D., M.S. Ms. Malecki began her career as a risk manager at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, in 1988. She became the Director of Risk Management and Legal Services at West Suburban Medical Center, Oak Park, in 1991 and later became the Medical Center's General Counsel. While working for West Suburban, Ms. Malecki provided all legal services to the Medical Center's administration and staff. She also functioned as the Medical Center's Corporate Compliance and Privacy Officer. She directed all insurance purchasing and significantly reduced the Medical Center's financial exposure due to liability insurance expenses. She began the private practice of law in 2000. Ms. Malecki has extensive experience in the area of physician representation, including sales and purchases of practices, contract negotiations and complex corporate disputes. Her work as a hospital attorney benefits her physician clients in dealing with such matters as medical staff issues and contractual negotiations. One of Ms. Malecki’s greatest skills is handling complex risk management issues for health care organizations. For example, she is frequently retained to create or redesign a risk management function / program for facilities that need to pass an accreditation or are at risk of losing insurance coverage. She is a frequent presenter on several “how to” topics including Risk Management, Documentation, Peer Review and Negotiating Lucrative Contracts. She has been published in the Journal of the Illinois Bar Association and featured in Business Insurance. Ms. Malecki serves on various boards, including the PCC Community Wellness Center Board in Oak Park, Illinois. In 1999, she founded a nonprofit organization called “Clients First,” which is dedicated to fostering quality legal representation in the area of Family Law. She is a past president of the Health Care Risk Management Society of Metropolitan Chicago. Ms. Malecki received a B.A. degree in Communication Arts from Loyola University, Chicago, in 1979, and a J.D. from the John Marshall Law School, Chicago, in 1992 and an M.S. in Organization Management from Dominican University, River Forest, in 2007.
Mary Jo Connelly, J.D., R.N. After receiving her law degree, she joined the firm of Sweeney & Riman, Ltd., as an associate. As a partner in the firm, she concentrated in the defense of medical malpractice lawsuits. She has successfully defended malpractice cases and argued numerous cases before the Illinois Appellate and Supreme Courts. In addition, she has represented self-insured physicians in disciplinary administrative hearings before the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and handled insurance coverage disputes. Her practice at Sweeney & Riman also included defense of product liability, construction and premises lawsuits. Ms. Connelly began her professional career
as a registered nurse. Shortly after receiving her nursing license,
she was appointed Director of a 34-bed neurosurgical unit at St.
Mary’s Hospital, affiliated with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,
Minnesota. Her responsibilities included direct patient care, teaching
students and registered nurses and supervision of the care of all
patients on the unit. She then relocated to San Francisco, where
she was Director of 12 specialty medical clinics at the
Cavan Doyle, J.D. Previously, Ms. Doyle was law clerk to the Honorable Rita M. Novak of the Circuit Court of Cook County, General Chancery Division, where she focused on contract interpretation, commercial litigation, fiduciary liability, consumer fraud and landlord/tenant issues. Ms. Doyle also gained expertise in the application of equitable remedies, including specific performance, quiet title, constructive trusts, declaratory judgments, estoppel and injunctive relief. In law school, Ms. Doyle was a Senior Member of the Loyola Law Journal and a member of the National Health Law Moot Court Team. Ms. Doyle also completed an externship with the Honorable Ronald A. Guzman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Doyle served as an Americorps volunteer with City Year Boston, Inc., where she worked in the field of domestic violence prevention. Ms. Doyle received her J.D., cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2007, where she also earned a Certificate in Health Law. Ms. Doyle received an L.L.M. in Medical Law with Distinction from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England in 2004, and a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Virginia in 2002.
Cheryl Miller, J.D. Ms. Miller authored “Splitting Fees or Splitting Hairs?” published in the May, 2009 edition of Virtual Mentor, the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics. Ms. Miller was formerly with Brookdale Senior Living Inc. as a Corporate Counsel. She provided legal advice to the operations and facilities of Brookdale, located in thirty-six states. Her practice for Brookdale focused on resident agreements, regulatory compliance, vendor agreements and corporate transactions. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Miller was a paralegal for nine years in a firm’s business law department where she primarily focused on corporate and secured transactions and entity maintenance. Ms. Miller is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, the Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys, the American Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. Ms. Miller received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1994, and received her Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2005.
Susan Von Nordheim, J.D., R.N. Ms. Von Nordheim began her legal career at the law firm of Johnson and Bell, Ltd., where she defended medical malpractice and personal injury lawsuits. She has extensive experience representing hospitals, physicians and various other ancillary healthcare professionals. Ms. Von Nordheim later served as Assistant Vice President in the Legal Department at Fortress Insurance Company, a national dental malpractice professional liability insurance carrier. Ms. Von Nordheim supervised the Compliance Department and provided legal services and support to the corporation. She managed malpractice claims and litigation, negotiated settlements on behalf of clients, selected and managed defense counsel throughout the country and resolved insurance coverage disputes. In addition, Ms. Von Nordheim interpreted legislative updates, statutes and case law pertinent to the malpractice industry. She also published several cutting-edge legal, regulatory and malpractice articles in the company newsletter and website. Prior to her tenure at Fortress, Ms. Von Nordheim was senior claims attorney at TIG Insurance Company, a national medical malpractice professional liability insurance carrier. In this capacity, Ms. Von Nordheim investigated, managed and directed complex medical malpractice claims and lawsuits and assisted the company in the “run-off” of its medical malpractice book of business. Ms. Von Nordheim began her professional career as a registered nurse. She specialized in Pediatric Surgery at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois and Labor and Delivery, Neonatal Intensive Care and Postpartum Care at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Von Nordheim received her Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Minnesota. She received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in Business Communication from Northwestern University and an Associate Degree in Nursing from Moraine Valley Community College. Ms. Von Nordheim is a member of the American Bar Association, Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals, Chicagoland Healthcare Risk Management Society and Defense Research Institute.
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Professionals
Melinda
Malecki is a corporate attorney with 14 years of corporate and regulatory
experience and 20 years in the Healthcare Risk Management field.
She provides legal counsel and risk management services for hospitals
and healthcare organizations, continuing care facilities, community
healthcare centers, psychiatric hospitals, physicians and other
healthcare providers.
Mary
Jo Connelly is a registered nurse and an attorney with more than
25 years experience as a litigator. She has effectively used her
clinical background to defend physicians and dentists in medical
negligence actions and to structure the most advantageous corporate
relationships for their practices. She represents clinicians in
arbitrations and has served as an arbitrator in numerous hearings
for the Circuit Court of Cook County. In addition, she has an active
Real Estate Broker license and has advised real estate developers
in a variety of condominium projects.
Cavan Doyle is an associate with Lebow & Malecki Consulting, Inc., where she specializes in corporate transactions and healthcare law. Her healthcare experience includes professional licensure, liability, insurance coverage and defense, regulatory compliance, risk management and employment law. 
Cheryl Miller is an associate with Lebow, Malecki & Tasch, LLC. She counsels companies, physicians, and health care organizations on general and corporate governance matters and compliance with health care regulations.
Susan Von Nordheim is a registered nurse and an attorney. She specializes in Healthcare Law and her areas of expertise include healthcare regulatory compliance and risk management, medical and dental malpractice defense, claims management and litigation, professional liability insurance coverage, contract negotiation, review and analysis.