EDITH M. KALLAS

Ms. Kallas was born in New York, New York. Ms. Kallas graduated from the Juilliard School in 1984 with a B.M. in Music Performance and from the Fashion Institute of Technology with an A.A.S., summa cum laude. She is a 1987 graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she was a member of the Moot Court Board. Ms. Kallas is admitted to the New York and Colorado State Bars, the United States Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, and the United States Courts of Appeal for the Second, Third, Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh, and District of Columbia Circuits. She is also a member of the American Bar Association (Health Law Section), Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York State Bar Association, the New York County Lawyers’ Association, the Colorado Bar Association and the American Society of Medical Association Counsel.

In April of 2004, Ms. Kallas was honored by thirteen State and County Medical Societies, who presented her with an award “For the Success Attained in her Relentless Pursuit of Justice for the Physicians of America and their Patients.” Also in 2004, Ms. Kallas was named by the New York County Lawyers’ Association as one of the “Outstanding Women of the Bar.” In 2005, the National Law Journal featured Ms. Kallas in their UP CLOSE section in an article entitled, “HMO Settlement: A Fairer Deal for Doctors.” The National Law Journal also featured Ms. Kallas and her partner Joe Whatley in an article entitled “Case Puts Doctors Back in the Driver’s Seat” in 2007. In 2011, the National Law Journal recognized Ms. Kallas in a feature article entitled, “In Insurance Fights, a Healthy Return for Firm – With Wellpoint Case.” In February 2013, Ms. Kallas was highlighted in the Big Suits section of the American Lawyer Magazine in connection with the In re Aetna UCR Litigation settlement.

Ms. Kallas concentrates her practice in the areas of healthcare and insurance litigation. She represents healthcare providers, patients and members of the organized medicine community including physicians, ancillary providers, ambulatory surgical centers, durable medical equipment providers, as well as numerous national, state and county medical societies throughout the country. Her medical association clients have included the American Medical Association, Medical Society of the State of New York, Connecticut State Medical Society, Medical Society of New Jersey, California Medical Association, Florida Medical Association, Texas Medical Association, South Carolina Medical Association, Tennessee Medical Association, Northern Virginia Medical Societies, North Carolina Medical Society, Nebraska Medical Association, Washington State Medical Association, Hawaii Medical Association, Alaska State Medical Association, Rhode Island Medical Society, Vermont Medical Society, New Hampshire Medical Society, El Paso County Medical Society, and the California Chiropractic Association.

Ms. Kallas represents healthcare providers in litigation, arbitration, negotiations, and contracting, and provides day-to-day consultation and advocacy services in connection with a broad range of issues facing providers today. She has also represented healthcare providers and medical associations in numerous class actions pending in federal and state courts (including representation of a certified class of approximately 900,000 physicians throughout the United States). Ms. Kallas was appointed Co-Lead Counsel for the Provider Plaintiffs in In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2406. She has also served as Co-Lead Counsel in the Love et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association et al. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida; on the Steering Committee in the In re Managed Care action; as Co-Lead Counsel and a member of the Executive Committee in the UCR Class Actions against Wellpoint (C.D. Cal.), CIGNA and Aetna; as Lead Counsel in the Scher v. Oxford physician class arbitration; and has served as lead counsel in numerous state court healthcare actions. Ms. Kallas also served as Co-Lead Counsel in the In re Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litigation in the District of New Jersey against major brokerage and insurance companies on behalf of classes of businesses and employees who purchased insurance, including healthcare insurance. She was one of the principal negotiators of settlements with Aetna, Cigna, Healthnet, Prudential, Humana, Wellpoint and 90% of all the Blue Cross entities in the country on behalf of nationwide classes of physicians and medical societies that have resulted in billions of dollars in value, consisting of monetary relief and significant corporate reforms, to physicians throughout the country. The settlements have resulted in significant business practice changes that are viewed as setting a new standard in the healthcare industry in the best interests of physicians and their patients.

Ms. Kallas has also served in a lead role in Doe v. United Health Care, No. 13-cv-00864 (C.D. Cal. filed 2013) (national class action settlement approved in July 2014 permitting consumers to opt out of mail order program); Doe v. Cigna Health Care, No. 15-cv-60894 (S.D. Fla. filed 2015) (national settlement implemented in December 2015 that removed HIV/AIDS specialty medications from the mandatory mail order tier); Doe v. Blue Cross of California, No. 37-2013-31442 (San Diego Super. Ct. filed 2013) (California-only settlement implemented in May 2013 cancelling mandatory mail order program); and Doe v. Anthem, Inc. (national settlement implemented in June 2016 that also removed HIV/AIDS specialty medications from the mandatory mail-order requirement tier for all of Anthem’s subsidiaries in the United States), and was a principal negotiator of the settlements in those actions. Ms. Kallas has also given legislative testimony regarding issues affecting physicians and successfully handled, on a pro bono basis, an appeal for a patient requiring lifesaving treatment.

Ms. Kallas is the co-author of “Gender Bias and the Treatment of Women As Advocates,” Women in Law 1998. Ms. Kallas has also participated as a Faculty Member and/or Speaker in connection with the following presentations: “Class Action Healthcare Litigation,” ALI-ABA Healthcare Law and Litigation Conference, 1999; “Class Actions: HMOs and Healthcare Providers Under Attack,” ALI-ABA Life and Health Insurance Litigation Conference, 2000; “Providers (Suits by Doctors and Hospital Class Actions),” ALI-ABA Healthcare Law and Litigation Conference, 2000; “The Application of ERISA and RICO Theories in the Age of Managed Care,” The Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert, 2000; “Healthcare Litigation: What You Need to Know After Pegram,” Practicing Law Institute, 2000; “Provider Suits by Doctors and Hospitals v. HMOs,” ALI-ABA Healthcare Law and Litigation Conference, 2001; The Joint Seminar Session of the School of Allied Health and Health Law Section at Quinnipiac University School of Law, 2001; The CLE Conference presented by the American Society of Medical Association Counsel, 2002; “The Unique Role of The Medical Society Effectively Litigating for Change in the Healthcare Arena,” American Academy of Otolaryngology Presidential Board of Governors Special Seminar 2002; “The Future of Class Action Litigation in America,” The CLE Conference presented by the American Bar Association, 2005; “Gender Bias in Litigation and the Trend Toward Diversity in Multi-District Litigation Proceedings,” Mass Torts and Class Actions CLE Summit (Whatley Drake LLC Continuing Legal Education Conference) 2006 and 2007; “Arbitration Issues in Class Action Suits: How Bazzle Changed the Landscape of Class Arbitration,” Whatley Drake & Kallas LLC Continuing Legal Education Conference 2007, ASMAC 2008; “Forum Shopping: Defendants Do It Too,” Symposium on the Class Action Fairness Act and published in the Newsletter of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Business Litigation Committee, Winter 2007; “Ingenix Litigation Update,” ASMAC 2010; “Negotiating Skills for Career Advancement,” Connecticut State Medical Society Professional Development Conference for Women in Medicine CME, May 2010; and “National Trends in Provider Contracting,” Connecticut State Medical Society, “Managed Care Contracting: Anatomy of a Contract” Seminar, April 2012; “Avoiding Traps in Alternative Dispute Resolution,” American Medical Association Webinar, February 2013; “Contract Negotiation Skills,” Connecticut State Medical Society Professional Development Conference for Women in Medicine CME; “Update on Antitrust in Healthcare Cases,” American Society of Medical Association Counsel Meeting, June 2015; "MDL Process and Procedures, Selection of Lead Counsel," Miami Law Class Action & Complex Litigation Forum, December 2016; "Health Insurer Predatory Practices," ASMAC 2018; "Ethics Issues in Large Scale Litigation," Miami Law Class Action & Complex Litigation Forum, January 2020.