M. Katherine strahan
Partner
- Phone: 713-547-9128
- Email: kstrahan@hicks-thomas.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathystrahan/
Bio
Katherine is a trial lawyer with twenty-five years of experience in complex commercial and managed care litigation. She has spent her entire career representing managed care organizations (MCOs) in business and healthcare disputes and has extensive experience representing employers, group insurers and claims administrators in disputes involving health, disability, life and accidental death and dismemberment benefits, including claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and insurance-bad-faith laws.
As part of her managed care practice, Katherine routinely handles contract, business-practices, and provider-prompt-pay disputes in court and arbitration proceedings. These matters often involve claims arising out of managed care agreements, third-party administrative services contracts, out-of-network reimbursement or claims handling practices, verification of coverage or benefits, and plan coverage provisions. In handling these disputes, Katherine defends claims based on alleged ERISA violations, breach of contract, quantum meruit, breach of fiduciary, insurance code violations, fraud, misrepresentation and other torts. Relatedly, Katherine also represents third-party payers in overpayment and fraudulent-billing-practices claims against health care providers and related entities. Katherine has developed the claims data management skills necessary to litigate the hundreds or thousands of medical claims often at issue in managed care cases, and has worked with a variety of experts on medical coding and billing issues.
As part of her managed care and employee-benefits litigation practice, Katherine is experienced in ERISA welfare benefits litigation, including addressing breach-of-fiduciary duty, standard-of-review, preemption, standing, and discovery issues in those cases. In addition to ERISA, Katherine is familiar with related regulatory schemes, such as health-plan regulations under the No Suprises Act (NSA), Affordable Care Act (ACA), Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). She also has familiarity with state-law group insurance regulations arising in managed care litigation.
In addition to her trial court practice, Katherine represents clients in federal and state courts of appeal. In addition to preparing briefing in several appellate courts, she has presented oral argument in the United States Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit and the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas. The issues in these appeals have included jurisdictional challenges, successor and contractual liability, and ERISA standard-of-review and benefits-decision defenses.
Practice Emphasis
- Complex commercial and managed care litigation
Education
- JD, University of Houston Law Center, cum laude, Order of the Barons, 1999
- BA, The University of Texas, 1991
Court Admissions
- Texas, 1999
- US District Court, Northern District of Texas
- US District Court, Southern District of Texas
- US District Court, Eastern District of Texas
- US District Court, Western District of Texas
- US District Court, Western District of Oklahoma
- US District Court, Northern District of Oklahoma
- US District Court, Eastern District of Oklahoma
- US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
Honors & Distinctions
- Recognized as a Best Lawyer for Commercial Litigation, The Best Lawyers in America, 2024
- Named a Future Star, Texas, Benchmark Litigation, 2012-2024
Professional Memberships
- Houston Bar Association
- World Affairs Council of Houston
- National Association of Women Lawyers
- 2012 Fellow, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
- Federal Bar Association
Representative Cases
- Recovering on third-party payers’ claims for overpayments and improper medical billing practices;
- Defending claims against MCOs arising out of managed care agreements with providers, including disputed issues involving medical coding, billing and reimbursement methodologies;
- Defending claims against MCOs arising out of out-of-network reimbursement under ERISA benefit plans;
- Obtaining summary judgment in favor of defendants in ERISA welfare benefit cases;
- Obtaining dismissal of a putative class-action over ERISA medical benefits; and
- Defending insurance bad faith claims in state court.
Publications/Speaking Engagements
Payor-Provider Litigation: An Assessment of Frequently Litigated Disputes: co-presenter, 11th Annual Advanced Forum on Managed Care Disputes and Litigation, American Conference Institute (ACI). (July 22, 2020)
ERISA Master Class: Dissecting the Key Elements for Managed Care Litigators, co-presenter, Managed Care Dispute and Litigation Conference, American Conference Institute (ACI). (May 18, 2018)
Healthcare Related ERISA Litigation: Addressing the Uptick in Medical Provider Claims, and Litigation Arising from the intersection of ERISA and ACA, panel, American Conference Institute’s 15th Annual National Forum on ERISA Litigation. (November 3, 2017)
ERISA 101: Dissecting the Fundamentals for Managed Care Litigators, co-presenter, American Conference Institute’s 5th Annual Advanced Forum on Managed Care Disputes and Litigation Pre-conference Workshop. (May 14, 2014)
Dissecting ERISA for Managed Care Litigators: Making Strategic Arguments Based on Inconsistent and Evolving Legal Standards, co-presenter, American Conference Institute's Advanced Forum on Managed Care Disputes and Litigation (May 23, 2012)
ERISA Preemption: Successful Strategies Within the Evolving Law, co-presenter, American Conference Institute's 2nd Advanced Forum on Managed Care Disputes and Litigation. (November 8, 2011)