They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40 - Nawa Lodin of Wilson Sonsini

Nawa Lodin

Age: 34

Law Firm: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Practice Area: Health Care and Life Sciences

Title: Associate

Location: Washington, DC

Law School: American University Washington College of Law

Please describe two of your most substantial, recent wins in practice.

Working on the Waystar IPO as part of the health care regulatory specialist team was a true career milestone. As the first major digital health IPO in nearly three years (which raised $968 million), it brought an exciting level of energy and momentum to the entire industry.

I’ve advised revenue cycle management (RCM) companies for many years, which I feel have often been overlooked as less “sexy” within digital health sector, so seeing an RCM company go public was particularly meaningful. This IPO felt like a milestone not just for Waystar, but for many of my clients in the space. The IPO also gave me an opportunity to leverage my health care experience across HIPAA, state privacy laws, AI, and operational RCM compliance.

More recently, I worked on JP Morgan’s $70 million Series B investment in Nourish. Beyond being a notable unicorn deal, it resonated with me personally. Since becoming a mother, I’ve become increasingly focused on nutrition, preventive care, and how food intersects with long-term health. Advising on a transaction involving a company at the forefront of the “food as medicine” movement allowed me to blend deep regulatory work with a mission I care about.

What is the most important lesson you learned as a first-year attorney and how does it inform your practice today?

My approach to being a lawyer is being practical — not theoretical. Like most first-year associates, I was often tasked with the due diligence side of deals. I quickly found that most forms were many years old, with updates only related to changes in regulations.

With that in mind, I thought about how health care law is most often implicated. We know that much of our practice is defined by enforcement, rather than regulations that can be several years old. I started reviewing recent enforcement actions and settlements to see specific gaps that health care companies had and used those as guides to create new diligence focus areas.

I continue that practice to this day. If a new OIG opinion is released, I review to see how I can be nuanced, nimble and practical in my diligence approach. The partners I worked with saw this method as extremely helpful, and clients valued having a clear connection between what we were reviewing and its potential impact on their investment or business.

How do you define success in your practice?

Success is being the “go-to” lawyer. I am proud of the Digital Health team we have cultivated at Wilson Sonsini and being the “go-to” team not just for health care regulatory counsel but also corporate, litigation, IP, tax, and all aspects that impact our health care and life sciences clients. I feel success when I am able to empower my clients with the knowledge they need to respond to organizational leadership, patients, investors and even regulators.

Rather than counseling in a way that would require a client to repeatedly return to us on the same issue, I believe the most effective way to build a deep connection is to embolden clients, so they return with their most innovative, yet complex hurdles. I know our clients appreciate this, which is why they so often refer their colleagues to us, their “go-to” lawyers.

What are you most proud of as a lawyer?

As the daughter of war refugees from Afghanistan, I am deeply passionate about women’s rights to education in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where education for women is a crime. I carry a heavy burden knowing this and try to devote as much pro bono time to supporting women in Afghanistan and their right to education.

Specifically, I have worked on several pro bono matters supporting Afghan women asylum seekers who were banned from returning to their universities, following the Taliban takeover in August 2021. I am proud and honored that I was able to successfully achieve asylum for some of those courageous Afghan women.

Who is your greatest mentor in the law and what have they taught you?

I have had many mentors but only a few champions. While many successful lawyers have offered invaluable advice, I have found that a champion, a lawyer who actively advocates for my success, is hard to come by. I have been lucky enough to have two.

Early in my career when I first fell in love with health care law, Barbara Rowland, an attorney with McKesson, was an incredible champion for me. She promoted me to her colleagues and put me in rooms where I otherwise would never have had the opportunity to be in, especially as the daughter of refugees. She was incredibly responsive, thoughtful and engaged in my success, despite being one of the busiest and well-respected health care attorneys in our industry.

My second champion came later in my career with Andrea Linna, health care regulatory partner in WSGR’s Digital Health group. Andrea is not just an exceptional health care attorney—she’s a true source of empowerment. With her wealth of expertise, she offers invaluable guidance to our clients while consistently championing me. She ensures I’m involved in every aspect of our work, making me the primary point of contact for clients and other teams, which gives me the opportunity to develop my skills.

Beyond that, Andrea actively supports my efforts to build my own practice and client base, always offering thoughtful and constructive feedback to help me grow. As a young mom myself, witnessing Andrea’s super-human ability to balance being a mother while being a Big Law partner has been an inspiration.

Tell us your two favorite songs on your summer music playlist.

“Uh Uh” by Chief Keef (featuring Playboi Carti) and “Diamond Boy” by SZA are the perfect poolside tracks for the summer.

Nawa Lodin of Wilson Sonsini with her husband, Wahid Lodin, and her son and daughter.

Photo Illustration: Jonathan Hurtarte/Bloomberg Law; Photo courtesy of Nawa Lodin