Mary Emma (Ackels) Karam is a Dallas health care lawyer and recognized authority in managed care law, emerging health care issues, and employer and corporate consulting. Her current practice consists of counseling clients on emerging health care implications and strategies; representing various organizations as outside general counsel and coordinator of legal work; and corporate consulting in litigation, banking, real estate, and corporate matters involving emerging health care issues on state and national levels.
Mary Emma has honed her approach to client service for the more than 30 years she has practiced law at Jackson Walker. She emphasizes communication, results, and an uncompromising commitment to achieving her clients’ goals, while effectively managing their legal costs. Mary Emma accomplishes this by being personally engaged in every decision that affects her clients, from selecting a legal team, to overseeing strategy, to reviewing every bill. Her deep level of involvement and attention to detail ensures that Mary Emma’s clients receive the highest level of professionalism and value in every matter she handles. She serves as outside legal counsel to numerous corporate entities.
Mary Emma’s wide range of experience gives her a unique ability to advise on the multiple aspects of the contracting process, including issues related to the employer, member, plan, managed care organizations, third- party administrator, broker, and regulatory oversight. Her diverse background also enables her to provide invaluable assistance in the sale or transfer of health care entities and provider networks, as well as the formation of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), integrated delivery systems, clinically integrated networks, and various health care models. She currently represents seven hospitals or hospital systems and works with health care entities on strategic planning regarding formation of entities and integrated corporate health care systems to meet new managed care initiatives. She assists health care organizations in positioning themselves for future health care ventures. She counsels clients on medical staff issues, credentialing matters, contract review, management service agreements, employment agreements, recruitment and shareholder agreements, practice acquisitions, auditing and over payment issues, prompt payment, clean claims, and medical records.
With a broad background in health insurance contracting and practical experience in the business of health care, Mary Emma represents employers and works with human resource departments in the analysis of the various components of their health insurance benefit plans, third-party administrator agreements and brokerage arrangements. She advises Employer Benefit Plans on health care-related contracts, plan offerings and initiatives. She also advises trusts, banking institutions, developers and other entities on strategic decisions that involve the health care industry.
Mary Emma acts as outside general counsel and advisor to several client entities, selecting legal teams and overseeing work for clients who have needs in several legal areas. In this facet of her practice, Mary Emma demonstrates her commitment to client service by taking the time to gain a thorough understanding of her clients’ business, providing value-added solutions, and personally ensuring that the clients’ legal needs are met in an efficient and cost-effective manner. As part of this practice, she currently serves as the general counsel to the Diocese of Dallas.
Mary Emma began her career in litigation and quickly distinguished herself as a skilled trial lawyer. In 12 years as a litigator, trying at least one case every year, she never lost a jury trial. Drawing upon her strong litigation background, Mary Emma now consults in litigation matters that involve a variety of health care and insurance issues and advises banking and corporate institutions in disputes involving health care matters. She has tried numerous jury and bench trials, representing a variety of corporate clients in various business litigation matters. For several years, she represented Texas Utilities in nuclear power plant litigation, involving the coordination of a large number of attorneys, engineers, and other professionals; the briefing and argument of numerous legal issues; and the organization, review, production and maintenance of more than 40 million pages of documents. She has also handled various noise matters at D/FW International Airport on behalf of an association anits member airlines.