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Dana Berkowitz represents healthcare providers in a variety of high-stakes matters, including reimbursement disputes, regulatory proceedings, and commercial litigation and arbitration. She also provides strategic advice to healthcare and life sciences startups and handles bet-the-company litigation on their behalf. Dana has deep expertise in ERISA and behavioral healthcare. Chambers USA describes her as “the full package” and “a gifted litigator and strategist” who is “knowledgeable and solutions-based.” Legal500 calls Dana “a superlative advocate and tactician.”
Dana has a long track record of achieving favorable outcomes for healthcare providers in a wide variety of payor disputes. Her practice focuses on managed care litigation and arbitration. Dana also helps providers navigate audits, rate disputes, recoupment demands, and other high-risk aspects of their payor relationships. Dana leverages her ERISA expertise to help her clients take advantage of opportunities, such as by using the Parity Act to improve reimbursement for mental health services. Dana also advises providers on best practices, often in anticipation of sale.
Dana has achieved success in several bet-the-company litigations and appeals for providers and other business clients. For example, in 2019, she secured a complete defense verdict for a behavioral healthcare provider in a $195 million false advertising case. In 2020, she successfully defended another provider in a four-week administrative trial against the State of California. And in 2022, Dana led a large theft of trade secrets case to a favorable resolution for her biotech startup client. Dana has also briefed and argued high-profile appeals in federal and state courts across the nation.
Since 2022, Chambers USA has recognized Dana as one of the top ERISA litigators in the nation. Legal500 says that she is “unmatched in her ability to quickly ingest, organize, and master an enormous amount of factual information and synthesize it into a winning narrative.” Dana has also been listed as a leading lawyer under 40 in Benchmark Litigation and New York Law Journal.
J.D., Harvard Law School, cum laude
A.B., Princeton University, Phi Beta Kappa
California
Central District of California
New York
Supreme Court of the United States
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
American Bar Association, Employee Benefits Committee
French
Japanese
Mandarin Chinese
Spanish
October 28, 2025
Benchmark Litigation Recognizes King & Spalding as a Leading Litigation Firm
June 11, 2025
King & Spalding Earns Top-Tier Rankings in Legal 500 United States 2025 Guide
June 5, 2025
King & Spalding Earns 209 Lawyer Rankings, 100 Practice Group Rankings in Chambers USA Guide
Hammell v. Pilot Products, Inc. Defined Benefit Pension Plan. Lead trial counsel for Plaintiff in ERISA pension dispute that resulted in a nearly $3.3M victory, including over $1M in attorneys’ fees. The trial court described this four-year-long action as “no run-of-the-mill ERISA case,” noting that it “involved thorny questions of ERISA law” and “required extensive discovery and extra-judicial factfinding.”
Lead trial counsel to American biotech startup in nine-figure federal trade secrets litigation and international arbitration relating to next-generation COVID-19 vaccine. Matter resolved on favorable terms.
Grasshopper House LLC v. Clean & Sober Media LLC. First-chaired bench trial on equitable relief after adverse jury verdict in Lanham Act case against well-known treatment facility. Court found unclean hands and awarded $0 to plaintiff. Result named by Daily Journal a top defense verdict in California in 2021.
See more
May 5, 2025
Cunningham v. Cornell University: ERISA Claims Are Now Much More Costly and Difficult to Defend
January 10, 2025
Proposed CMS Rule on Behavioral Health Cost-Sharing: Opportunity for Plans and Providers to Comment
December 13, 2024
Fulfilling the Promise of Parity
October 28, 2025
Benchmark Litigation Recognizes King & Spalding as a Leading Litigation Firm
June 11, 2025
King & Spalding Earns Top-Tier Rankings in Legal 500 United States 2025 Guide
June 5, 2025
King & Spalding Earns 209 Lawyer Rankings, 100 Practice Group Rankings in Chambers USA Guide
Hammell v. Pilot Products, Inc. Defined Benefit Pension Plan. Lead trial counsel for Plaintiff in ERISA pension dispute that resulted in a nearly $3.3M victory, including over $1M in attorneys’ fees. The trial court described this four-year-long action as “no run-of-the-mill ERISA case,” noting that it “involved thorny questions of ERISA law” and “required extensive discovery and extra-judicial factfinding.”
Lead trial counsel to American biotech startup in nine-figure federal trade secrets litigation and international arbitration relating to next-generation COVID-19 vaccine. Matter resolved on favorable terms.
Grasshopper House LLC v. Clean & Sober Media LLC. First-chaired bench trial on equitable relief after adverse jury verdict in Lanham Act case against well-known treatment facility. Court found unclean hands and awarded $0 to plaintiff. Result named by Daily Journal a top defense verdict in California in 2021.
See more
May 5, 2025
Cunningham v. Cornell University: ERISA Claims Are Now Much More Costly and Difficult to Defend
January 10, 2025
Proposed CMS Rule on Behavioral Health Cost-Sharing: Opportunity for Plans and Providers to Comment
December 13, 2024
Fulfilling the Promise of Parity
October 28, 2025
Benchmark Litigation Recognizes King & Spalding as a Leading Litigation Firm
June 11, 2025
King & Spalding Earns Top-Tier Rankings in Legal 500 United States 2025 Guide
June 5, 2025
King & Spalding Earns 209 Lawyer Rankings, 100 Practice Group Rankings in Chambers USA Guide
J.D., Harvard Law School, cum laude
A.B., Princeton University, Phi Beta Kappa
California
Central District of California
New York
Supreme Court of the United States
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
American Bar Association, Employee Benefits Committee
French
Japanese
Mandarin Chinese
Spanish