Las Vegas health care attorney Ayesha Mehdi has been selected for the Leadership Development Program of the American Health Lawyers Association’s (AHLA) Fraud and Abuse Practice Group, starting July 1. She will help provide a forum for other attorneys who represent health care providers, facilities and businesses. After coming to the U.S., Mehdi completed her undergraduate studies in Michigan, followed by law school and graduate school in Kansas. Mehdi and her physician husband spent five years in Kansas before moving to Las Vegas. She launched Frontier Health Law in 2016. The attorney, who grew up in Pakistan, says she always knew she wanted to be connected to the health care field. “I was raised to think of health care as a noble profession,” she says. “You don’t necessarily have to be a physician to make a difference in people’s lives.” Mehdi said it is a priority for her to be connected to leading health care attorneys. As a law student, she had been active with the AHLA, which she believes includes the nation’s top health care law firms and attorneys. When she started Frontier Health Law, she became more active and sought out mentors within the organization. One of her mentors suggested she apply for the leadership program, and she said she felt like it was a logical next step for her. “Being affiliated with AHLA at this level is an incredible honor for me,” Mehdi said. “Over the next year I will be furthering my own knowledge and working with incredible leaders in my profession.” She said she hopes her participation will inspire others, especially young girls — including her own daughter. “I come from a traditional background, and for us, family is the number one priority. As such, many women from my culture are encouraged to stay at home rather than pursue demanding careers. I believe that growth in my career sets an example for my daughter, as well as my son, that women can be good wives and good mothers without sacrificing their personal and professional growth.” Mehdi gives back to the community in other ways. Last year she served on the board for the Clark County Medical Society Alliance and she does pro bono work for the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada’s Children’s Attorneys Project, which advocates for children in the foster care system. She also serves on the University of Kansas School of Law’s board of governors and is a member of the American Bar Association’s health law section and the State Bar of Nevada’s insurance and health law section.   MORE ABOUT THE AMERICAN HEALTH LAWYERS ASSOCIATION Founded in July 1997 with the merger of the National Health Lawyers Association and the American Academy of Healthcare Attorney, the nearly 14,000-member AHLA is the nation’s largest 501(c)(3) educational organization devoted to legal issues in the health industry. Its mission is to provide a collegial forum for interaction and information exchange to enable its members to serve their clients more effectively; to produce the highest quality nonpartisan educational programs, products and services concerning health law issues; and to serve as a public resource on selected health care legal issues.