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Shepard Broad
College of Law
College of Law
Education:
Gerald Morris has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University's Shepard Broad College of Law since 1992. He currently teaches the Health Law Workshop and has previously taught a range of courses related to health law. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor in the NSU online Master's in Health Law program designed for non-lawyers. Until July 2025, Professor Morris also contributed as a member of the Advisory Board of Governors for the Shepard Broad College of Law.
Mr. Morris graduated from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1977 he graduated "with Honors" (16th in his class) from the Nova University Law Center (now known as the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law) in Fort Lauderdale. He later received an LL.M. degree in Health Law from the University of Houston Law Center in December 2002.
Adjunct Professor Morris is a member of the Florida Bar and has held Board Certification in Health Law from August 1995 through 2025. He has been listed in Who's Who in American Law, including the 2004–2005 and 2011–2012 editions, and was also nominated for inclusion in Who's Who in America for 2005–2006. He earned recognition as the NSU Law Center Adjunct Professor of the Year for 2008-2009, and in 2018, he was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.
Mr. Morris served as the in-house legal advisor and General Counsel for Holy Cross Hospital and its related entities in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for over 26 years until retirement in late 2018. With nearly 560 licensed beds and over 3,000 FTEs (including a network of nearly 150 employed physicians in over 25 offices), as well as a home health service, an outpatient clinic and ambulatory surgery center, and other related entities, the organization is one of the largest health care providers in the area. It is the only religiously affiliated not-for-profit health care system in Broward County.
Before joining an in-house legal department, Mr. Morris practiced law at several Fort Lauderdale firms. His work focused primarily on general litigation and appellate matters, as well as corporate law and commercial transactions, with a particular emphasis on the developing field of health law.
His legal practice and scholarship encompasses a wide range of health law topics.
In connection with his Health Law LL.M. program he submitted papers on parental rights
relating to end-of-life decisions affecting minor children; the rights of human research
subjects when clinical studies are terminated before completion, and his LL.M. thesis
paper was on the subject of telemedicine and a proposal for overcoming the impediments
to cross-border practice by health care professionals. Adjunct Professor Morris wrote
a chapter published in 2005 on "Access to Medical Records" for the Encyclopedia of
Forensic and Legal Medicine published by Elsevier, Ltd. He regularly wrote an Ethics
Roundtable column for the Journal of Terminal Oncology and its successor publications
including the American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care and the American Journal
of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (2004 to 2006).
Currently Adjunct Professor Morris is researching the legal issues pertaining to application
of process improvement techniques and technology on health care services and the practice
of health law.
Adjunct Professor Morris is affiliated with the Florida Bar Health Law Section and has participated in various professional, bar association, and community organizations. He previously served as Chairman of the Health Care Committee for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce. Professor Morris has published works on health law and has delivered numerous lectures in the field.
