Description:
Position Summary:The General Counsel (GC) will serve as the chief legal advisor and risk manager for the company. They will ensure legal compliance across all operations, oversee regulatory, contractual, corporate governance, risk, litigation, employment, and reimbursement issues, and help to facilitate strategic growth while protecting the organization from liability. In a company with ~850 beds (across facilities), the GC will need to be hands-on, proactive, and well‐versed in behavioral health law, regulatory compliance (federal & state), licensing, accreditation, payer contracts, and risk management.
Key Responsibilities:
- Regulatory Compliance & Licensing
- Ensure each facility complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws/regulations pertaining to behavioral health, substance abuse treatment, medical detox, inpatient/residential treatment.
- Oversee and maintain required licenses/accreditations (e.g. Joint Commission, state behavioral health authorities) for all facilities. flyland.com
- Monitor changes in laws/regulations (Medicaid/Medicare, state licensing, privacy, patient rights) and develop appropriate compliance policies.
- Corporate Governance & Board Relations
- Advise the executive leadership and Board of Directors on legal matters, corporate structure, fiduciary duties.
- Prepare and review corporate policies, board resolutions, and legal disclosures.
- Contracts & Transactions
- Draft, review, negotiate, and advise on contracts with payers, insurers, vendors, service providers, facility leases, employment, and partnership/affiliation agreements.
- Risk Management & Litigation
- Manage and/or coordinate defense of litigation, claims, investigations (including licensing board inquiries).
- Develop and enforce risk‐mitigation strategies, policies on incident reporting, malpractice or liability exposure, patient safety, privacy/safeguarding (HIPAA, etc.).
- Employment Law & HR Support
- Advise on employment matters (hiring, terminations, disciplinary actions), compliance with wage/hour laws, discrimination, labor relations where applicable.
- Support HR in policy development (e.g. for staff credentialing, background checks, employee conduct especially in treatment facilities).
- Payer & Insurance Reimbursement
- Advise on contracts with insurers, understand reimbursement rules and audits.
- Ensure billing, coding, claims submissions are compliant and support defending profiles in audits, overpayments, etc.
- Privacy, Health Information & Data Security
- Oversee protection of patient data (HIPAA, state privacy laws, confidentiality in behavioral health).
- Work with IT and operations to ensure safe handling of records, breach protocols, telehealth legal compliance.
- Ethics & Quality Assurance
- Support QA / clinical leadership in maintaining quality and safety standards.
- Ensure ethical standards, patient rights/responsibilities are upheld.
- Strategic Support
- Participate in strategic planning, expansions, acquisitions (if applicable), joint ventures.
- Assist in policy development related to service delivery, modalities (e.g. peer support, group therapy, holistic practices) to ensure legal/ regulatory alignment.
Qualifications:
- Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, member in good standing of relevant state(s) Bar (Florida required if Flyland's HQ).
- A minimum of 8-12 years of legal experience, with significant experience in healthcare law, ideally behavioral health or addiction treatment.
- Demonstrated experience with regulatory compliance (e.g. Joint Commission, state licensing), payer contracting, privacy/HIPAA, risk management.
- Familiarity with both inpatient/residential treatment and detox environments.
- Strong interpersonal skills, able to work with clinical, operations, finance, HR leadership.
- Excellent judgment, integrity, and ability to balance risk with advancing organizational mission.
- Proactive, solution‐oriented, able to simplify complex legal issues for nonlegal stakeholders.
- Strong drafting, negotiation, and analytical skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities across several facilities.
- Direct reports may include: compliance manager, contracting/legal counsel(s), risk manager.
- Regular interaction with clinical directors, operations VPs, finance, HR, accreditation/licensing staff.
Examples include:
- Audit findings / regulatory compliance issues (number & severity)
- Contract cycle time and risk exposure in contracts
- Litigation outcomes / costs managed
- Credentialing/licensing renewal performance
- Privacy/security incidents and response metrics
