Page 11 - July August CBA Report

Explore a regular feature that
highlights our experienced
attorneys and the unique
paths that lead them
to this chapter of their
legal career.
A Look Back
With Pam Popp
This “A Look Back” may be a little different than others-I’m
going to walk you through an exciting (at least to me!)
chapter in metropolitan bar leadership-with only a side-
note on the practice of medical malpractice and health law in the
1980s and 90s.
It was 1976 and I was working as a registered nurse at The
General Hospital, now UC Medical Center. By 1984, I had grad-
uated from the UC College of Law and accepted a position as a
trial attorney in a firm specializing in representing physicians in
medical malpractice cases across southern Ohio. I discovered
that law and medicine/nursing gave me the perfect background
to connect with my clients and with juries.
This joint expertise was not new, The American Society of
Law and Medicine, The American Association of Nurse Attor-
neys, The American Health Lawyers Association and health law
practice groups at the national, state, and local level existed and
still exist today. The CBA and the Academy of Medicine collab-
orated over the years on programming and joint projects. My
mentors, notably, Bea Larsen, the first female President of the
CBA, were engaged and available. However, the courtroom was
unwelcoming. Being mistaken for a court reporter or a litigant
and continuously being ignored during case reports was not what
I expected. The hostility and stress of contested litigation was
taking a toll on my family and personal life. I exchanged litiga-
tion for in-house practice involving broader health law issues and
risk management in 1992. I worked with Mercy Health System,
The Health Alliance/Christ Hospital and HealthSource of Ohio
over the years and lost some of my connection with the CBA.
That changed when Bea called me with a request for help
regarding a committee issue at the CBA. That opportunity to
re-engage with them led to my increased involvement and ulti-
mate honor to serve and represent the CBA as President in 1998
and my return, briefly, to litigation. Not surprisingly, my focus in
1998 was improving civility in litigation.
Amazingly, in 1998, Heather Sowald became President of the
Columbus Bar Association. Heather was a small firm owner/prac-
titioner managing domestic relations clients and cases. The same
year, Barbara Smith became President of the Cleveland Bar Asso-
ciation. Barbara was a school teacher who went back to law school
and was a health care practitioner. She was also President of the
Ohio Women’s Bar Association that was formed in 1991. We were
known as the “Triumphant Triumvirate,” leading Ohio’s largest
metro bar associations with almost 15,000 members combined.
Together we collaborated and celebrated our leadership year with
joint presentations and programs across Ohio and the country.
The CBA continues to remain a vibrant and relevant asso-
ciation with a tremendously talented staff, bringing attorneys
together from every practice specialty throughout the area to
collaborate, educate, serve and provide leadership for the benefit
of its members and the citizens who serve, live and work in the
community we call home.
CBA Past President Pamela Popp is a retired nurse-attorney with a BSN and JD
from the University of Cincinnati Colleges of Nursing and Law. She specialized in
defense medical malpractice litigation with several firms, including Rendigs, Fry, Kiely
& Dennis and practiced as in-house counsel with Mercy Health System (now Bon
Secours-Mercy), The Health Alliance/Christ Hospital and HealthSource of Ohio.
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