What it’s like to work at NGL
Kaitlyn O’Connor, Esq.
Kaitlyn joined Nixon Gwilt Law as Counsel in 2018 and became Partner in 2023.
Kaitlyn’s work includes digital health, telehealth, TelePet, digital sports medicine, DTC digital health business models, remote care management, virtual first delivery models, global privacy and security, teledentistry, fraud and abuse, and HIPAA privacy/security.
Keep reading to find out why Kaitlyn chose to build her career at NGL.
Why did you decide to work at NGL?
I initially started at NGL because I REALLY needed a job. I took a risk during my third year of law school and turned down a full-time job offer from a firm I liked so that I could find a healthcare-focused opportunity. I spent eight months following graduation walking dogs to stay afloat and cold-emailing health law firms, basically begging someone to take me in.
As soon as I started at NGL, though, I was immediately obsessed with Carrie and Rebecca's work. Right away, I could tell the clients we were serving were making an impact. I loved helping them do that. I decided soon after I started (and luckily, they did, too) that I wanted to stick around for the long term.
What has been the most surprising benefit of working at NGL?
That everyone here is a real human! As lawyers, our industry is often associated with devastating mental health statistics, lack of work-life balance, and toxic work environments.
Here, I can honestly say that everyone truly wants one another to succeed both in work and outside of work. Our people are open, supportive, kind, and, most importantly, open to giving and receiving feedback to make sure we are all being the best versions of ourselves as often as possible.
What excites you about the work you do?
So many things! My two favorite aspects of working here are:
I absolutely LOVE being strategic with clients. Every day, I work with passionate, energetic founders and executives—from early stage companies to global institutions to public companies—all working to do something new and innovative in healthcare. I get so excited when a client comes up with a new idea and we work together to iterate and problem-solve until we find a way to make it work for their business AND for patients. We never lose sight of the patients.
Because we work in innovation, I have been dealing in brand-new areas of law and industry since my first day here. This gave me an opportunity to immediately become a nationally-recognized thought leader despite being relatively early in my career. This isn't an opportunity many second or third year attorneys have in other industries or at other firms.
Can you share your career journey at NGL?
Gladly :) I joined NGL at the beginning of 2018 with absolutely no experience in healthcare. I spent my first three years here shadowing the partners and more senior attorneys on client calls, learning about the industry, working through complex analyses, and learning as much as I possibly could about how to help clients be successful.
Even though I was early in my career, the partners offered me constant, direct client interaction, speaking opportunities, substantive knowledge, continuous feedback, and autonomy to find my place in a burgeoning legal industry.
After those first three years, I was promoted to Senior Counsel, which gave me the opportunity to start building my skills as a leader, teacher, and mentor for our newer attorneys. I spent two years honing my business development skills, speaking at conferences around the world, conducting firm webinars, and working with a couple of colleagues to build a new veterinary telehealth practice at the firm.
Now, I am five years into my career and I am the first of my friends to make partner!
What kind of person do you think would excel at NGL?
There are a lot of ways to succeed here, but I think someone who is excited and passionate about healthcare, loves a challenge and learning something new every day, is open to sharing their knowledge with others, and is looking for an opportunity to take ownership in their own work and maybe build something new would enjoy working here the most. And, it probably helps if you like dad jokes and dogs...