Joanna Suder, ’12, was listed as a “Top Lawyer” in 2016 by Delaware Today magazine.

Suder is just one of two attorneys listed in the public health law specialty and among a handful of public-sector professionals.

Since 2013, Suder has been a deputy attorney general representing the Division of Public Health, the largest division of the state’s largest agency.  The division is involved with a variety of high-profile matters, from medical marijuana to animal welfare and infectious diseases like Ebola and the Zika virus.

Last year, Suder successfully argued a case before the state Supreme Court, representing the Delaware Health Care Commission’s Health Resources Board, which had approved plans for construction of a nursing home. 

In both her brief and arguments, Suder noted that the appellant had challenged the board exclusively without including the nursing-home builder, an indispensable party to the matter.

“I won on a technicality,” Suder said.  “But a win is a win.”

The victory was even sweeter, since the case put Suder up against a veteran attorney who had previously served as an adviser to the governor.

Suder completed a concentration in Health Law and served as a research assistant to Professor Robert Field.