Susannah Gopalan, JD, MIA

General Counsel

Susannah Gopalan, JD, MIA, joined UNC Health Pardee as its General Counsel in December 2025. As General Counsel, Gopalan provides strategic legal guidance to Pardee, advises on provider agreements and compensation matters, and supports the organization’s long-term growth and expansion initiatives. 

Gopalan has more than two decades of experience advising healthcare providers, associations, and government entities on regulatory compliance, Medicare and Medicaid payments, and litigation matters. 

Gopalan joined Pardee from Feldesman LLP in Washington, D.C., where she represented primary care and behavioral health facilities, state and national associations, and state governments in regulatory appeals, federal court cases, and the adoption of new Medicare and Medicaid payment systems. Earlier in her career, she served as a Health Care Financing Analyst with the Congressional Research Service, guiding members of Congress on Medicaid and Medicare policy. She has also led a legal support program at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, practiced law at Covington & Burling LLP, and clerked for Judge John M. Rogers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. 

Gopalan earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law, a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College.