Health Law Boutique Enters Texas Market With Goodwin Attys
Simone Otenaike
Brandie Mask
Health law boutique Aligned Health Law LLC announced Monday it has expanded into Texas with the addition of two attorneys who worked for Goodwin Procter LLP, bringing its attorney roster to 13 since its launch this year.
Brandie Mask and Simone Otenaike have joined Aligned Health Law as partners and will help advise healthcare industry clients, focusing on venture capital and emerging growth companies, digital health and biotechnology matters, and artificial intelligence-driven healthcare enterprises, the Atlanta-based firm said.
A firm representative told Law360 Pulse that Mask is based in Houston, and Otenaike is based in Austin.
"We are thrilled to have Brandie and Simone join AHL to support and grow our practice in the healthcare sector," firm founders Laurice Rutledge Lambert and Jennifer Whitton said in a statement. "Both Brandie and Simone are outstanding lawyers, first and foremost. We know that they will champion ... our culture, embrace our firm's values and provide exceptional strategic counsel to our clients navigating the shifting healthcare landscape."
The founders told Law360 Pulse in an emailed statement on Monday that the hirings mark the firm's first inroads into the Texas market, which Lambert and Whitton called "a major milestone for our firm."
"With the addition of two exceptional former BigLaw attorneys in Houston and Austin, we're deepening our commitment to serving healthcare clients in one of the nation's most vital healthcare markets," they said.
Lambert is also the firm's CEO, and Whitton is the managing partner. The firm began taking clients earlier this year, but it put up its website and announced the founders' arrival in early April. The duo, who previously founded Health Law Strategists LLC with Kathlynn "Kathy" Butler Polvino, opened Aligned Health Law to guide healthcare and technology clients. Polvino remains at Health Law.
Before making the move to Aligned Health Law, Mask worked at Goodwin for more than three years until July 2024, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also previously worked at Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Vinson & Elkins LLP, the profile shows.
She earned her law degree from Yale Law School and an undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama.
"Joining [Aligned Health] was an easy decision. It combines the depth of expertise you'd expect from a large firm with the flexibility and focus today's healthcare clients really value," Mask told Law360 Pulse in an emailed statement on Monday. "I'm thrilled to help lead our expansion into the Texas healthcare market, where there's tremendous growth and innovation."
She added: "What truly resonated with me is [[Aligned Health's] values-led culture, grounded in authenticity, collaboration and client service. I look forward to bringing my [emerging company and venture capital and mergers and acquisitions] experience to a firm that's deeply attuned to the needs of this dynamic space."
In a statement, Otenaike said she was drawn to join Aligned Health because of its "thoughtful, forward-looking approach to serving healthcare clients — grounded not just in legal excellence, but in shared values."
"Their focus on mission-driven, impactful work — especially at the intersection of health and technology — resonates deeply with my own commitment to supporting clients who are pushing boundaries in meaningful ways," Otenaike said. "I'm excited to join a team that's not only shaping the future of healthcare law, but doing it with purpose."
Otenaike worked at Goodwin for more than four years and also has worked at BakerHostetler and McGinnis Lochridge, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She earned a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Rice University.
In her practice, Otenaike advises healthcare clients about transactions, commercial agreements, compliance and regulatory matters, and artificial intelligence and data issues, the firm said.
--Additional reporting by Emily Johnson. Editing by Lakshna Mehta.