Caroline Turner English

Client Work

Managed Care Litigation for Health Care Providers

Most of her practice involves the representation of health care providers in managed care and commercial payer disputes with insurers, plans, networks, and repricers, where she handles matters worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the aggregate. Caroline advises on and litigates issues arising under ERISA, the ACA, COBRA, FEHB, the No Surprises Act, the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, and various state laws. The commercial payer issues she has handled run the gamut, including disputes involving out of network and UCR reimbursement, contract breaches and tortious contract interference, network obligations, adverse benefit determinations, value based care, and many others. Among her many successes, Caroline has obtained numerous litigation victories and favorable settlements against most of the country’s major health insurers and secured two summary judgment liability rulings against MultiPlan. Caroline’s team has a national reputation in the representation of health care providers in this niche managed care space, with a breadth and depth that is unrivaled by other law firms.

ERISA Pensions and Benefits Litigation

Caroline also represents employers and fiduciaries in traditional ERISA fiduciary and benefits litigation concerning pension plans. Cases that she has handled range from defending challenges to cash balance plans to “stock drop” cases and other claims for breach of fiduciary duty concerning 401(k) plans and ESOPs. Caroline’s work has also extended to include DOL investigations and handling inquiries from the IRS.

Bankruptcy Litigation

Caroline represented a nationally renowned company in connection with Detroit’s $18 billion Chapter 9 bankruptcy — the largest municipal bankruptcy in history. Her trial work on behalf of the company, which had insured hundreds of millions of dollars of Detroit’s municipal bonds, was featured in national publications including CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Caroline’s bankruptcy litigation work has also included representation of the Official Committee of Retired Employees in the Kodak bankruptcy, auto dealerships in the Chrysler bankruptcy, and an indenture trustee and majority bondholder in the United Air Lines bankruptcy. She has litigated numerous adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court, including challenges to pre-petition liens, preference actions, executory contract rejection, assumption, and assignment, asset sales, and challenges to debtor-in-possession financing. Caroline also has a unique familiarity with the overlap of benefits issues and bankruptcy law.

Additional Experience and Pro Bono

Caroline’s experience extends beyond the substantive legal areas and clientele described above. She has litigated on behalf of large and small businesses, as well as individuals. In addition, she has provided pro bono representation of indigent clients and nonprofit entities in a plethora of cases, including two death penalty cases.

Reported Decisions

Representative reported cases on which Caroline has worked over her nearly 30 years as a litigator include:

Affordable Care Act

• Fresenius Medical Care Midwest Dialysis LLC v. Humana Insurance Company, 2017 WL 3887899 (E.D.Wis.)

Bankruptcy

• In re UAL Corp., 346 B.R. 456 (Bankr. N.D.Ill.)
• In re Chrysler LLC, 405 B.R. 84 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2009)
• In re City of Detroit, Michigan

ERISA

• Wright v. Harrison, 2013 WL 12116326 (W.D.Tex.)
• Fisher v. JP Morgan Chase & Co., 469 Fed.Appx. 57 (C.A.2 (N.Y.))
• Mugnai v. Kirk Corp., 843 F.Supp.2d 858 (N.D.Ill.)
• Gearren v. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 660 F.3d 605 (C.A.2 (N.Y.))
• In re Kirk Corp., 2010 WL 3523079 (Bankr. N.D.Ill.)
• Walker v. Monsanto Co. Pension Plan, 636 F.Supp.2d 774; 252 F.R.D. 450; 2007 WL 2710481; 2007 WL 2481179; 472 F.Supp.2d 1053; 2006 WL 2802051 (S.D.Ill.)
• Bunch v. W.R. Grace & Co., 555 F.3d 1 (C.A.1 (Mass.)); 532 F.Supp.2d 283 (D.Mass.)
• Evans v. Akers, 534 F.3d 65 (C.A.1 (Mass.)); 466 F.Supp.2d 371 (D.Mass.)

Insurance

• Farkas v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 518 Fed.Appx. 178 (C.A.4 (Va.))
• Seabulk Offshore, Ltd. v. American Home Assur. Co., 377 F.3d 408 (C.A.4 (Va.))

Managed Care

• KDCO, Inc. v. Healthlink, Inc., 2016 WL 6995873 (E.D.Mo.)
• Liberty Dialysis-Hawaii LLC v. Health Management Network, Inc., 2023 WL 11196975; 2023 WL 11196976; 2024 WL 1829400 (Haw. Cir. Ct.)
• RAI Care Centers of Maryland I, LLC v. Office of Personnel Management, 459 F. Supp. 3d 124 (D.D.C.)
• FMS Nephrology Partners North Central Indiana Dialysis Centers v. Meritain Health, Inc., 144 N.E.3d 692 (Ind. 2020)
• RAI Care Centers of Michigan I, LLC v. Administrative Systems Research Corporation International, 2019 WL 4932599 (W.D.Mich.)
• Bio-Medical Applications of Illinois, Inc. v. City of West Frankfort, 2022 WL 2064690 (S.D.Ill.)

Medicare Secondary Payer Act

• U.S. v. Stricker, 524 Fed.Appx. 500 (C.A.11 (Ala.)
• Renal Care Group Indiana, LLC v. City of Fort Wayne, 2017 WL 4990618 (N.D.Ind.)

Municipal Law

• Shook v. District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority, 964 F.Supp. 416 (D.D.C.)

RICO, Health

• Pravak v. Meyer Eye Group, PLC, 2009 WL 10664851; 2008 WL 11320042; 2008 WL 4372914; 2008 WL 11320041; 2008 WL 2951101 (W.D.Tenn.)

Professional Activities

Caroline has taught legal writing as an adjunct professor at George Washington University.