Litigation Lead, Regulatory Healthcare Consulting
About The Position
Ascendient is seeking a Litigation Lead, a specialist role for an individual formally qualified as an expert witness in administrative law hearings. This role involves defending clients in Certificate of Need (CON) application contests before administrative law judges. The Litigation Lead will be responsible for ensuring testimony is analytically airtight and strategically defensible. Ascendient has a 30-year reputation as a premier Certificate of Need consulting firm, partnering with hospitals and healthcare organizations on high-stakes regulatory and strategic work, including CON applications, contested case litigation, expert witness testimony, healthcare utilization forecasting, service line planning, and strategic planning. Litigation is the firm's highest-stakes, highest-value work, requiring deep subject matter expertise, composure under pressure, and the ability to defend positions analytically and strategically.
Requirements
- Formally qualified and accepted by an administrative law judge or hearing officer as an expert witness in CON, healthcare regulatory, or other administrative law hearings
- Testified in a minimum of 3–5 administrative law hearings (7 or more preferred)
- Direct experience with Certificate of Need processes, review criteria, and state health planning frameworks
- Demonstrated ability to survive rigorous cross-examination and defend analytical methodology under adversarial pressure
- Experience authoring expert reports or pre-filed written testimony for administrative proceedings
- Hospital financial modeling and feasibility analysis experience
- Deep understanding of hospital and health system operations, service line dynamics, and utilization data
- Familiarity with healthcare data sources: CMS datasets, AHA data, state health planning databases, and similar
Nice To Haves
- CON hearing experience in North Carolina (strongly preferred); multi-state experience a plus
- Background in a healthcare consulting firm
- Experience with CON opposition work — comments, responses, counter-arguments
- Ability to be qualified as an expert in both need analysis and financial feasibility as distinct subject matter areas
- Experience mentoring or developing staff on litigation-related analytical work
Responsibilities
- Serve as Ascendient’s primary expert witness in contested CON hearings across multiple states, with particular depth in North Carolina
- Develop and execute litigation strategy in direct partnership with client attorneys
- Author expert reports and pre-filed written testimony that are analytically rigorous and fully defensible under cross-examination
- Prepare hearing exhibits and supporting analytical work product tied to CON review criteria: need analysis, financial feasibility, utilization projections, and service area analysis
- Attend and participate in all phases of hearings, including proceedings that may span multiple weeks
- Prepare for and give deposition testimony as required
- Mentor and develop the firm’s Opposition Lead, with the potential to serve as their direct supervisor as the practice scales
- Help shape the firm’s litigation methodology, standards, and analytical capability over time
Benefits
- health, dental, life, and disability insurance
- 401(k)
- paid time off
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
