New Partner Sarah diFrancesca Brings Life Science Offerings to Dinsmore’s Growing Health Care Practice
March, 2020 - United States of America
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP is continuing to expand its talented bench of health care attorneys with the arrival of Sarah K. diFrancesca, who brings a depth of experience in life sciences to the firm. She often defends health care companies involved in False Claims Act (FCA) investigations, and her work spans the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and clinical laboratory industries.
DiFrancesca comes to Dinsmore from Cooley LLP, where she was a partner advising life sciences and health care clients on fraud and abuse, compliance with regulatory matters, government investigations and transactional diligences. She has also regularly counseled boards of directors and other senior committees amid internal investigations and audits.
“The life sciences industry is fascinating,” she said. “It is creating new drugs and devices to improve our lives all the time. It’s my job to stay on top of the industry’s regulatory changes to advise clients on the legal risk areas that impact their businesses. Dinsmore is a great fit for me because it has such a robust FCA and health care offering. My life sciences work straddles both of those, and I look forward to helping Dinsmore build out that practice.”
As a supplement to her law practice, diFrancesca is a member of the Food and Drug Law Institute, the American Health Lawyers Association (where she serves on the Fraud and Abuse Committee), and last year, she was on Law360’s Life Sciences Editorial Advisory Board.
“We are thrilled to have Sarah join Dinsmore as we continue to focus on the strategic growth of our health care presence nationwide,” said Jennifer Mitchell, co-chair of Dinsmore’s health care industry practice group. “Sarah brings with her a breadth and depth of experience with her life sciences FCA practice that will complement, enhance and expand the services we provide clients.”
DiFrancesca is also on the board of Brad’s Blessings, a non-profit named for her late brother, Brad Giesting. The charity spreads joy through acts of kindness to people with cancer and other significant illnesses, and to military personnel suffering the effects of burn pits. Brad’s Blessings also provides scholarships to students at Brad’s alma maters who model kindness to others.
Outside the office, diFrancesca, her husband and two children enjoy their summers on the lake boating, kayaking and fishing.
