Partner
Craig is a native of Dayton, Ohio but attended secondary school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania at the Hill School. He received a bachelor's degree in Biology, Chemistry and Physical Education from Oberlin College in 1974 and an MD from the University of Cincinnati in 1978. After serving two years of active duty in the Navy as a forward deployed physician with both the Navy and Marines, Craig completed training in General and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Critical Care Medicine, and Trauma Surgery at the University of Washington and subspecialty training in Aortic Aneurysms with Drs. Michael DeBakey and Stanley Crawford in Houston, Texas. He then was employed on the faculty of the University of Washington teaching General, Trauma and Cardiothoracic Surgery eventually taking the position of Chief of Cardiovasular and Thoracic Surgery at the Seattle Veterans Medical Center. In 1992, Craig moved to Missoula, Montana where he participated in the founding of the International Heart Institute at St. Patrick Hospital.
After suffering a hand injury that abruptly ended his surgical career, Craig attended law school at the University Montana where he was co-editor of the law review, a teaching assistant and graduated with high honors in 1999. During his time as a law student Craig clerked with the Health Law Department of the firm. Following law school Craig obtained a post doctoral law degree (LLM with highest honors) in Health Law and Policy from Loyola University Law School in Chicago. While in Chicago he also studied Canon Law with the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Chicago and interned at the University Illinois on the administrative team of the Dean of the Medical School and the Vice Chancellor Health Affairs as a legal advisor.
Following graduation from Loyola in 2000, Craig returned to Missoula, Montana as the Vice President of St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center where he was responsible for Legal and Medical Affairs and had administrative responsibility for approximately one third of the operations of the hospital. He became associated with the firm as “Of Counsel for Health Law Matters” at this time. Since 2000 Craig has taught the Health Law course at the University of Montana and has also taught numerous other classes in the University of Montana Schools of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Sciences, Nursing, and Public Health. He has served on the Health Policy Committee of the American College of Surgeons on a national level and chaired the American College of Surgeons State Committee on Trauma. He has lobbied for healthcare legislation at both state and national levels. Craig decided to leave St Patrick Hospital and subsequently began devoting his full time to legal work with the firm in 2007 concentrating in the area of Health Law, especially legislative, transactional, risk management, regulatory and liability issues.
Craig spends his public service time serving and at times chairing boards for various organizations including the Missoula Catholic Schools, Montana Catholic Conference, Montana Catholic Social Services, the Montana Neurosciences Foundation, the Montana Cancer Center Foundation, and the St. Francis Xavier Parish Counsel. His personal interests/avocations include holding a fifth degree blackbelt in Aikido which he practices with his sons, restoring and riding antique motorcycles, and fishing.