In recent years, the number of lawsuits — both single-plaintiff cases and class actions — brought against benefit plans, employer plan sponsors and fiduciaries over alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) has surged. Whether millions of dollars are on the line or potential regulatory fallout is looming, we are well equipped to defend clients in high-stakes litigation due to our wide-ranging ERISA knowledge, combined with our unmatched trial skills.
We represent employers with benefit plans, employer plan sponsors, plan administrators, investment managers/advisors, and plan fiduciaries in a wide range of ERISA-related disputes. Those matters include misclassification issues, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation litigation, retiree health insurance benefits, stock drop cases, cash balance disputes, and claims alleging imprudent plan investments or fiduciary breaches. We focus on counseling our clients to resolve benefits matters in order to avoid litigation. When litigation is unavoidable, our ERISA team strategically leverages pretrial motions to avoid trial.
The specific legal issues that arise in ERISA litigation are multifaceted and nuanced. Our ERISA Litigation team, consisting of attorneys from our Labor and Employment Practice Group and our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation team who have strong working knowledge of both ERISA and the Affordable Care Act, offers decades of experience navigating the ins and outs of ERISA’s provisions. Our background facilitates solid defense strategies for both single-plaintiff lawsuits and class actions.
Along with this surge of ERISA lawsuits comes increased oversight and scrutiny from regulatory agencies. Because litigation often triggers regulatory action, or vice versa, it is important to take a holistic look at ERISA dispute resolution. Rather than attempt shortsighted efforts to resolve the dispute at hand, our experienced attorneys take a strategic approach to defense and dispute resolution to ward off any potential lawsuits, audits or regulatory actions that may be implicated in the future. We have successfully defended clients in private-sector litigation, regulatory compliance matters and ERISA class actions.
We understand how expensive it can be for clients to defend against ERISA claims and lawsuits, with allegations often going back over a decade. Our collaborative, multidisciplinary team takes a comprehensive approach to minimizing the risk and cost of litigation or regulatory action through plan drafting, guidance and counsel.