General Practitioner: Beth Siemer

Partner, Spencer Fane

St. Louis

Growing up, Beth Siemer never considered pursuing a career in law, but she found her way to health care and now cannot imagine doing anything else. 

As a transactional and regulatory attorney at Spencer Fane, Siemer focuses on moving health care deals across the finish line, a role that harkens back to her career beginnings, when she was an administrative assistant at a start-up.

“I love working with entrepreneurial companies and helping them get to the next steps, whether it’s a compliance issue or a new initiative they’re launching,” she says.

After graduating from Truman State University with a degree in economics, Siemer pictured herself in business and began working her way up the ladder in an entry level job at an Exxon Mobile chemical technology start-up in Pasadena. 

“I was the receptionist, but my employers kept giving me work to do and I ended up serving as their business manager,” she says.

A summer associate from the company’s outside law firm convinced her to look beyond her administrative duties and consider going to law school. 

Her husband, who was a minister, moved the family to St. Louis for a pastorship. She was the mother of two young children when she won a scholarship to Washington University School of Law and hasn’t looked back. 

She fell into health care law as an associate at Lewis Rice, attracted to the transactional nature of the practice. She later served as assistant general counsel at Express Scripts, gaining proficiency in the pharmaceutical industry.

Over time, Siemer has developed expertise in 340B, a federal program that requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide discounted outpatient drugs to eligible safety-net providers that serve low-income and underinsured patients.

“I believe it is critical that people have ready access to high quality health care, and this program impacts public health in both rural and urban settings,” she says. 

Siemer loves the variety her practice brings and enjoys strategizing with her clients on ways to mitigate risks they may not even be aware of. 

“Many issues converge in the health care space, and helping my clients develop strategies that work for their business is the sweet spot for me,” she says.