Jacqueline “Jacki” C. Leifer

Jacqueline (Jacki) C. Leifer serves as Senior Counsel at Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC, where she brings more than four decades of experience advising health care organizations, provider-led networks, nonprofit corporations, and national and state-based associations. Her practice focuses on corporate governance, regulatory compliance, federal grants, managed care, and strategic partnerships in the health care sector. 

Jacki advises clients on a range of issues, including formation and restructuring of nonprofit organizations, development of corporate bylaws and governance structures, negotiation and enforcement of contracts, and compliance with federal regulations such as the anti-kickback statute, Stark law, federal tax exemption standards, and antitrust considerations. 

She has counseled hundreds of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), state primary care associations, and provider-sponsored managed care entities, helping them navigate complex legal, operational, and regulatory matters. Her legal leadership has shaped how provider networks and community health initiatives are structured and governed. She has delivered governance training to tens of thousands of nonprofit board members and executives nationwide and has provided legal technical assistance to hundreds of nonprofit organizations. 

Prior to entering private practice, Jacki served as an attorney advisor in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she was principal legal counsel to the Bureau of Community Health Services (now the Bureau of Primary Health Care). 

Select Publications 

• Contributing Author, 2020 Education Health Center Guide, Education Health Center Initiative (2020) 

• Co-Author, Federally-Qualified Health Centers: From Safety Net Provider to Cornerstone of Health Reform?, Journal of Health and Life Sciences Law, American Health Law Association (October 2014) 

• Co-Author, Managed Care Handbook: A Practical Guide for Health Centers, National Association of Community Health Centers (January 2012) 

• Co-Author, Corporate Compliance Toolkit for Health Centers, National Association of Community Health Centers (2002, revised 2012) 

• Contributor, Increasing Access to Dental Care Through Public/Private Partnerships: Contracting Between Private Dentists and Federally Qualified Health Centers, Burton L. Edelstein, Connecticut Health Foundation (2003, revised 2011) 

• Co-Author, Affiliations Between Health Centers and Other Community-Based Providers, National Association of Community Health Centers (August 2011) 

• Co-Author, Assessing and Addressing Legal Barriers to the Clinical Integration of Community Health Centers and Other Community Providers, The Commonwealth Fund (July 2011)