FAQs

1. What kinds of clients do you typically represent?
   


2. Can you work with my attorney who knows nothing about CAM?
   


3. What will it cost to hire your firm?
   


4. Do you accept credit cards?
   


5. Do you offer a payment plan?
   


6. Where are your attorneys licensed?
   


7. What else do your attorneys do?
   


8. How did your attorneys become involved in the CAM law field?
   


9. Have you prepared informed consent forms for specific therapies?
   


10. Do you provide physician or other references?
    


11. How can I contact your offices by email?
    


12. Can you recommend liability insurance for CAM?
    


13. Can you recommend an attorney in my state?
    


14. Will you answer some general questions about the industry?
    


15. How soon can I expect to hear back from you?
    


16. Podcasts: A selection of 5-minute audio clips with general info about our practice
    
    

1. What kinds of clients do you typically represent?
MDs (medical doctors), RNs (nurses), PTs (physical therapists), OTs (occupational therapists), clinical psychologists, dentists, and other allied health professionals; DCs (chiropractors), LAcs (acupuncturists), LMTs (massage therapists), NDs (naturopaths), midwives, and other complementary care providers (including non-licensed CAM practitioners); Dietary supplement manufacturers; Law firms and attorneys seeking expert advice or testimony; Medical centers and other educational institutions; Health plans designing CAM benefit packages; HMOs, PPOs, MCOs, other insurance organizations; Medical spas; Integrative medicine clinics; Membership organizations and associations; Nursing homes, home health, hospices, labs; Policy and consumer advocacy groups; Patients and their families; Physicians; Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

We have represented or currently represent:

2. Can you work with my corporate attorney, who knows nothing about CAM?
Definitely.  We can either take the role of primary counsel, coordinating with your existing attorney, or serve as an expert to assist your primary attorney, depending on the situation and your preferences.  For example, some clients have a law firm that is handling their disciplinary proceeding before a state medical board, but would like us to furnish an expert opinion for an upcoming proceeding.  Other clients are facing disciplinary issues at the more preliminary, investigative phase and would like assistance responding in writing to an initial Board inquiry.  Still others are in an entrepreneurial, planning phase, trying to open or expand an existing practice involving CAM therapies. In any case, we can work flexibly, with your needs and instructions in mind. If you do require coordinating with an existing attorney, it would be a good idea to contact your attorney and let him or her know your plans, so that you can confer about the most effective way you might utilize our services.

3. What will it cost to hire your firm?
The answer depends on the complexity of the project.  Each client situation is different.

Although we have experience estimating what it will likely take to address a given situation, and can share that preliminary estimate with you, we cannot guarantee the total fee. One reason is that the scope of the representation can change in either direction as we begin working together, and refine the issues we might find it critical to address. For example, we might find that we quickly accomplish a very discrete analysis in a limited amount of time. That is often the case. On the other hand, the consultation may start out with a given set of facts but in our conversation, additional circumstances might emerge that complicate the picture, and require additional research and careful advice.

Since cost of services is always of concern, here is an illustration of how sometimes situations are more complicated than they might initially appear. Suppose a nurse engages our firm, letting us know that she wishes to join a medical spa in a state where medical spas are flourishing. But during the initial consultation, it turns out that the services she is asked to perform require medical supervision, and that the medical director has not implemented appropriate policies and procedures. The nurse also suggests that the MD may be allowing other practitioners to offer services outside their legally authorized scope of practice, raising concerns of shared liability. Further, the spa is selling dietary supplements, raising potential conflicts of interest and anti-kickback concerns; and the ownership structure triggers corporate practice of medicine issues in that state. Next, we learn that the nursing board has issued a set of criteria for practices involving complementary therapies although the definitions are ambiguous, while the medical board has somewhat contradictory guidance regarding medical spa therapies, and neither is willing to give concrete advice to the nurse. A bit later our client informs us that the real reason she called was because one of the spa's clients had recently been treated with a contaminated product, and although the injuries were minor and the negligence clearly lay with the manufacturer, a state agency initiated investigation of the spa.

Obviously these are the kinds of facts can extend the desired length of the consultation past an initial estimate, and it would be important to communicate realistically about the work that needs to be undertaken to render professional advice. There is no question that a conscious professional in any discipline has to remain sensitive to client concerns about cost; at the same time, it is inappropriate to operate under expectations of a 'vending machine' approach to valuable professional services. Here is a nice quote from a book on day trading: "The business rule of thumb for many fly-by-nights seems to be, 'where there is no value, compete strictly on price.' If the very best have truly paid the price for their success, they will not cheapen their achievements with a bargain basement offer."

Good communication overall is essential to working together. The attorney-client relationship is very special and takes a great deal of mutual trust. As part of enhancing the sense of safety that builds trust, contractually, the client has the right to seek to terminate legal services at any time. Ideally, this arrangement should allow a good measure of control over future expenditure of attorney time.

As to the fee itself, we do not publish our hourly on the Web, but believe our rates are modest in view of our expertise, and, to make that more concrete, are generally far less than you will find charged by partners in law firms in most major U.S. cities.  Also, our staffing is lean so we work as efficiently as possible.

In order to give us sufficient time in representing you to adequately research the law and render competent advice, and in a manner consistent with applicable ethical requirements of attorneys, we follow the practice of many law firms in requiring a minimum advance deposit from all clients.  That minimum is $2,000 (the amount may be higher depending on the projected work required for a given client).  This minimum is based on our experience representing clients over the years. As explained in detail in the legal services agreement that you will receive if we decide to work together, advanced payments are maintained in a state-regulated bank account which are subject to certain ethical rules, including that accrued interest is paid directly to the State Bar association. Further, an advance deposit is not a minimum fee; it is simply an advance, guaranteeing that payment for a certain chunk of work is readily available. Many law firms, particularly large firms, require significantly higher advance deposits before beginning work. From our perspective overall, the advance provides integrity to our work together.

4. Do you accept credit cards?
No, not for legal services. Ethical rules promulgated by State Bar associations prohibit merchant accounts for legal services.

5. Do you offer a payment plan?
We offer legal services, but we are not in the business of providing credit. If you are not yet prepared to engage legal services, please feel free to call us again whenever you are ready.

6. Where are your attorneys licensed?
Michael H. Cohen Esq. is an active member of the Bar in California, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, D.C.  He also maintains a part-time affiliation with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  He is admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England of Wales (currently non-practicing). He has taught both U.S. and U.K. / Commonwealth Caribbean law.  Alan Dumoff, Esq. is an active member of the Bar in Maryland and Washington, D.C.  We are able to research the law in various states, and our clients come from all across the United States, and from abroad.  Relatively few U.S. lawyers have Bar memberships in more than one, or at the most two states, although large firms have multi-jurisdictional practices, and disclose on their letterhead where their attorneys are members of the Bar.  

7. What else do your attorneys do?
We run the Global Vision Law Group and the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Law Blog. We are also involved in cutting-edge research in health law and policy focusing on integrative and energy medicine, and in speaking all over the country about legal issues in complementary and integrative medicine.  Our books and articles offer the latest thinking on frontier topics.

8. How did your attorneys become involved in the CAM law field?
For a more complete answer, you will probably want to review some of Michael H. Cohen's books, including Future Medicine and A Friend of all Faiths.  To make a long story short, Michael always had an interest in religion and spirituality, even as a law student at the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, and while functioning as a Wall Street lawyer. During a period of study at the Iowa Writers' Workshop (following completion of the JD-MBA program at the University of California, Berkeley and a judicial clerkship in New York), he began opening to mind-body techniques as a way to enhance creativity for fiction-writing.  This led, among other things, to an encounter with the Monk, yoga, meditation, followed by Gurdjieff work, Ericksonian hypnotherapy, Reiki, and other tools and paths, including study with Rabbi Joseph Gelberman at the New Seminary (and subsequent ordination as an interfaith minister), and completion of the four-year (part-time) program at the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. In 2000, Michael received his credential as an RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher; see later photo from Mysore, India), and that same year, joined the full-time faculty of Harvard Medical School in a unit dedicated to research and education of what had by then become known as "complementary and integrative medical therapies."  The full-time 'Harvard years' offered precious opportunities for research and scholarly attention to legal and ethical issues in integrative medicine, as well as emerging hospital policy in the complementary medicine field.  The  Law Offices had opened in 1999 but became especially active following the shift to part-time, clinical status at HMS in 2005. Since then, Michael H. Cohen has continued to teach an annual course on Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Health Law & Policy at Harvard School of Public Health, focusing on contemporary legal, regulatory, ethical, and policy issues pertaining to integrative medicine.

Alan Dumoff is a JD-MSW who has spent many years developing expertise at the interface of mental health care, law, and mind-body/CAM modalities. Through his extensive practice experience, he is familiar with a myriad of therapies, and legal risks and 'gray zones' associated with their use, as well as legal risk management.  By virtue of their training and/or hands-on familiarity with mind-body and CAM therapies, both Alan Dumoff and Michael H. Cohen endeavor to remain sensitive to the complex psychological and energetic dynamics underlying clients' legal concerns, while offering their expertise as experienced legal counsel.

9. Have you prepared consent forms for MD's or other providers dealing with therapy XYZ (a therapy either considered CAM, or emerging within the profession (e.g., an anti-aging therapy or innovative treatment for pain, chronic fatigue, or another condition not easily treated by conventional care))?
We have drafted a variety of consent forms for physicians, allied health professionals, and CAM providers.  Legal rules governing informed consent vary by state and by profession.  Disclosures specific to various treatment modalities should incorporate information about relevant clinical risks and benefits. The key requirement in informed consent is materiality. Informed consent should include adequate information about the risks and benefits of all treatment options. Clinician-clients and their attorneys need to work together to ensure that the information provided is legally adequate.

10. Do you provide physician or other references?
We have begun to provide a list of selected recent clients on on our website. These clients gave permission to be listed; presumably, that implies they had a positive experience.  Many other clients (for example, sometimes physicians who have successfully come through a medical board disciplinary hearing) understandably wish their identities to be kept confidential. In addition, we do not wish to burden our existing clients' privacy and time with demands to help build our business by offering guidance to prospective others.

We did, at one point, collect client testimonials regarding our work, but have concluded that we prefer to spend our time delivering services to clients.  Testimonials can be self-serving, and in any event, are subject to important qualifications, set forth in our standard disclaimer language. In fact, this is a good place to restate the part of the disclaimer that notes, "any review or other matter that could be regarded as a testimonial or endorsement does not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of an individual's legal matter."

Those desiring additional information regarding our work can review the extensive information already available on the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Law Blog.  The blog contains extensive information about topics such as licensure, malpractice, and disciplinary issues facing physicians, allied health providers (such as nurses and psychologists), and CAM professionals such as chiropractors and massage therapists (all of whom we have represented).  The site also provides references to medical and legal literature on these topics, links to books on CAM law and policy written by Michael H. Cohen, and extensive biographical pages.  More detail, including a curriculum vitae, are also available, including links to articles (many authored during five years' experience as a lawyer with faculty status at Harvard Medical School). Information on the Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Health Law & Policy course (HPM 218) taught by Michael H. Cohen at Harvard School of Public Health is also available on the site. Another useful resource discussed and linked to on the blog is the Institute of Medicine Report on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use by the American Public, a report to which Michael H. Cohen served as the Consultant.

11. How can I contact your offices by email?
We like to focus our time directly responding to our clients' needs.  If you wish to contact Michael H. Cohen regarding speaking or legal representation, please call the law office at (949) 209-8962 and leave your telephone number and the best times to reach you to schedule an initial consultation with you to determine how next to proceed.

12. Can you recommend liability insurance for CAM?
Unfortunately, no, we cannot recommend any given carrier for professional liability insurance relating to delivery of complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine services. In general, it is important to inquire of your existing carrier regarding coverage and exclusions, to review the policy carefully, and to make inquiries and receive responses in writing. Some insurance companies may offer riders for additional coverage, but the terms should be drafted and carefully reviewed for compliance with local law and for conformity with your practice.

13. Can you recommend an attorney in my state?
Again, we do make attorney referrals from time to time, but we know of very few attorneys in the U.S. who are specializing in this area. Most health care law attorneys are not familiar with legal rules pertinent to CAM or integrative medicine. Please see responses to FAQs 2 and 6.

14. Will you answer some general questions about the industry?
We do not respond to questions outside of an attorney-client relationship, unless the call involves a media inquiry, or philanthropic interest in supporting our nonprofit Institute for Integrative and Energy Medicine. We are sometimes inundated with telephone calls. We appreciate the interest, but no longer automatically return every call. One reason, beyond trying to concentrate our efforts, is that we offer so many free resources and general updates on the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Law Blog. We also provide a series of podcasts that include information about the typical structure of a consultation, what typically goes in an informed consent, and other topics. We have also introduced a series of affordable Legal Toolkits (text and audio overviews by Michael H. Cohen) that cost a tenth of what you'd pay for an hour of attorney time. A great deal of energy goes into keeping our work and these websites as current, enlivening, and informative as possible. We trust you will understand our priorities.

15. How soon can I expect to hear back from you?
Every client is a priority client.  We usually respond to voicemail inquires regarding legal services within 24 hours of receipt. When you call, please do leave a landline number, and if possible, a telephone number where you can be reached in the evening hours as well. In the meanwhile, good luck in your business, and in all your endeavors! We look forward to hearing from you.

16. Podcasts
For easy listening, each audio podcast is under 5 minutes in length. Please review our disclaimer, which further explains that these materials are offered for educational and informational purposes and not as legal advice or opinion.
 

	How might an informed consent form help limit malpractice liability exposure?  This podcast discusses the possible liability protection afforded by a robust informed consent form. The talk also describes the potential benefits of an assumption of risk, and some of the legal caveats involved. This podcast further canvasses some of the basic terms that might be helpful in an informed consent form tailored specifically to inclusion of complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies. Both physicians and allied health and CAM providers may benefit from an appropriate informed consent form when practicing integrative care.
	What does a typical consultation look like?  This podcast explores some of the legal issues (such as licensure and scope of practice concerns, malpractice, and regulatory discipline, that arise when individual clinicians and entrepreneurs create an practice that includes complementary and alternative or holistic therapies, either in a solo clinic or in an integrative care center, or in a medical spa).
	Which of your books should I read?  This podcast describes my various books, starting with Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives (1998) on through to my most recent publications, Healing at the Borderland of Medicine and Religion (2006) and The Practice of Integrative Medicine: A Legal and Operational Guide (2007).  I also include a brief suggestion about which audience (i.e., physician, allied health, or CAM clinician; entrepreneur; hospital executive or administrator; patient; or attorney or government regulator) might be most interested in a particular book.
	How do you work?  This is a question people typically ask in the first call.  The podcast describes the way the attorney-client relationship is usually structured. In our Law Offices, we work hard to ensure that communication is effective and efficient.  Included in the podcast is a general explanation of the usual provisions in an attorney-client services agreement.