Lauren Leikam

As a former prosecutor for the Florida Department of Health, Lauren Leikam knows all too well the impact a disciplinary action can have on a health care professional’s livelihood. Lauren brings this invaluable courtroom expertise to Chapman Law Group, where she specializes in professional license defense, criminal defense, and government and administrative law. 

Working out of Chapman Law Group’s Sarasota office, Lauren regularly represents doctors, nurses, and other licensed health care providers throughout the state of Florida.

Lauren earned her Bachelor of Science in Criminology from the University of Tampa in 2005, and a Juris Doctorate from Florida State University College of Law in 2008.

Throughout law school, Lauren successfully represented individuals accused of committing crimes for the Public Defender’s Office of the Second Judicial Circuit. Lauren also graduated with recognition for her outstanding public service to the Capital Crimes Division, where she assisted in the defense of individuals facing the death penalty.

In 2009, Lauren began her administrative law practice when she became a Special Deputy Hearing Officer for the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. She administered approximately 40 unemployment hearings per week for a period of three years, in matters including qualification for benefits, discrimination, harassment, Family Medical Leave Act, workplace violence, fraud, recoupment, and child support.

She moved to the Florida Department of Health’s Prosecution Services Unit in 2012. As a prosecutor in the Department’s nursing and medical sections, Lauren was responsible for prosecuting the licenses of medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pain management clinics, pharmacies, compounding pharmacies, electrologists, and nurses. In this position, Lauren regularly presented cases to probable cause panels and medical licensing boards. Through this, she gained valuable experience prosecuting cases that involved over-prescribing, failure to meet the standard of care, impairment and drug diversion, wrong-site surgery, sexual misconduct, out-of-state discipline, and other statutory/rule violations.

She also spent time in the DOH’s Office of General Counsel, where she represented the bureaus within the department that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and represented the Department in administrative hearings involving federal regulations.

In her free time, Lauren is an aspiring writer, loves to work on her art, and enjoys competing in Tough Mudder races.