Raleigh partner Cara Ludwig focuses her practice on assisting healthcare providers with a variety of transactional matters, including affiliations, mergers and acquisitions, and expansion of services. She has also represented healthcare entities in leasing, employment, recruitment, and services arrangements and provided guidance regarding HIPAA, Stark law, and Anti-Kickback Statute compliance.

What are some of the traits that you admire the most amongst your peers?

Candor. When someone is willing to admit that they don’t have it all together and don’t know everything, it gives us all a little space to be real. I’m not talking about anyone committing legal malpractice here, of course, but some of the mentors and colleagues from whom I have learned the most are the ones who have been willing to say, “Here’s how I messed up one time. Let me help you avoid that same pitfall.” I aspire to be that person for others; if there’s any way that someone else can learn from my mistakes, I will gladly be an open book. Especially as a woman, the more we can support one another, the more we advance women everywhere.

What is one piece of advice would you give to individuals who want to get into this industry?

Don’t do it unless you love it. I’m so grateful that I can honestly say I love what I do. If I didn’t, there’s no way I could put in the time and effort it requires. There are plenty of challenging, lucrative careers out there, and choosing one that you genuinely enjoy probably won’t happen by accident. Take initiative. Set up informational interviews. Shadow people in different fields. If you’re interested in law, ask several attorneys in different practice areas if they can share what they like most and least about their careers. Offer to come into the office and help out, even without pay, to see what their days are really like. Put in a little time now to figure out what you like, and it will pay dividends in the form of a career you enjoy waking up to each day.

Who is your biggest inspiration? 

Without question, my two-year-old daughter. I want her to grow up accustomed to seeing women in positions of leadership and to know that anything she wants to pursue is achievable if she works for it. I want her to expect respect and to recognize when it’s lacking, in both personal and professional relationships. And I want her to see that femininity and strength are not mutually exclusive characteristics.

What are the biggest foreseeable challenges in your field? 

Like so many areas of the law, the field of health law is constantly changing. The COVID-19 pandemic has made that truer than ever. Clients need advice almost day-to-day on which mandates, injunctions, exceptions, and requirements they are subject to. Frankly, it’s a lot of information to keep up with, but it’s also part of what I love about health law. There’s always something new to learn. It will never grow stale or dull.

What’s one piece of advice that greatly impacted you and your career trajectory?

If you’re considering a career in the legal profession, think about what you want your day-to-day life to look like, and choose a practice area that generally aligns with that goal. For instance, when I was considering whether to pursue a transactional or litigation focused practice, one of my law school professors advised that transactional work has a tendency toward more consistent hours, without the ebb and flow of trials. I can’t say that is always the case (since preparing to close a large transaction sometimes feels like preparing for a trial!) but on the whole, I’ve found it to be fairly accurate. Based on that professor’s advice, I accepted a position as a healthcare associate at a large law firm, and I’ve never regretted it.