Matt Stevens is a third year Chapman Law Student who has braved Washington D.C’s icy temperatures since January. His passion for health care law has led him almost 3,000 miles away from sunny Orange County, California to the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General at Health and Human Services (OCIG). “I love everything about my externship at OCIG. And working in health care law at the federal level means I get to work on a lot of interesting cases,” said Matt.

On a typical day at OCIG, you’ll find Matt working on several completely different projects that require knowledge of different areas of law. “We regularly deal with fraud and provider exclusion appeals that raise a host of distinct legal issues” mentioned Matt. “The goal is to help a program succeed, so we come in from a unique perspective of program integrity.”

After receiving excellent guidance and advice from Chapman Law Professor Hugh Hewitt, Matt decided first to extern at St. Joseph Health. It was there he learned that health care law was truly its own universe. His experience at St. Joseph’s lead Matt to pursue the externship at OCIG where he is diving even deeper into the universe of health care litigation. “It’s fascinating how the government deals with health care litigation at the administrative level,” said Matt.

After he passes the bar, Matt hopes to work in the healthcare regulatory field. His advice to students looking for great externship opportunities like this is to 1) start early and, 2) apply again if you don’t get it the first time. “Externships provide students with hands-on learning that you just can’t get in the classroom,” Matt added. Even if you have to tolerate below 30 degree weather, it’s worth it to follow your dream.