Baker Donelson has recognized Julie E. Kass with the Firm's 2018 Susan E. Rich Award for excellence in the promotion of and commitment to women in the legal profession.
"Julie has long focused on supporting and promoting women both within our Firm and beyond," said Christy Tosh Crider, chair of Baker Donelson's Women's Initiative. "She has encouraged, mentored and promoted numerous young women attorneys. As one of the leading health care lawyers in the nation, she serves as an inspiring example of a lawyer who is recognized for both her excellence as a practitioner and her dedication to making both her professional and personal communities better places to live and work."
Ms. Kass, who serves as co-chair of Baker Donelson's Health Law Department and is a shareholder in the Firm's Baltimore office, focuses her practice on the fraud and abuse aspects of Medicare and Medicaid, including the federal Stark and Anti-Kickback laws, OIG exclusion authorities and civil money penalties. She is among the country's leading authorities in the Stark and Anti-Kickback laws, and previously served as senior counsel with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Counsel to the Inspector General, and Industry Guidance Branch.
Ms. Kass is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA), where she helped to create the Women's Leadership Council. She also has served as chair and vice chair of the AHLA's Physician Organizations Practice Group and as a member of the Fraud & Abuse Practice Group Advisory Opinion Task Force, and is current chair of the Physicians and Hospitals Law Institute Program Planning Committee. She is actively involved in the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, where she was part of the leadership of the Women's Business and Professional Group. Ms. Kass has been recognized as a leading health care attorney byThe Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, and Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers.
Baker Donelson established the Susan E. Rich award in honor of Susan Elliot Rich, a shareholder in the Firm's Chattanooga, Tennessee office, who was the Firm's first woman shareholder, the first woman to be appointed an office managing shareholder and the first woman appointed to the Firm's board of directors. This award is given annually to a recipient who exemplifies ongoing commitment and effort to strengthen the role of women attorneys at the Firm.
