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BakerHostetler’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Controversies team is a specialty of our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice.


  • Represented a Fortune 500 company in a suit against the pension plan third-party administrator that allowed embezzlement and overpayments to drain trust assets.
  • Represented a 401(k) plan sponsor in a protracted, contentious DOL Employee Benefits Security Administration investigation and IRS audit alleging various fiduciary breaches and prohibited transactions, including working with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals and the DOL Office of Administrative Law Judges.
  • Represented a board member and former 100 percent shareholder in resolving a corporate governance and ERISA fiduciary liability dispute with an ESOP company.
  • Represented a major nonprofit healthcare system in ERISA top-hat plan litigation regarding Code Section 457(f) deferred compensation.
  • Represented a former union president in ERISA litigation, brought by the DOL Office of the Solicitor on behalf of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, regarding a union welfare benefit plan.
  • In litigation spanning eight years, represented a business owner who sold his family’s business to the business’ employees by setting up an ESOP. The owner was then sued by a class consisting of current and former employees claiming the terms of the sale were unfair. Contentious litigation ensued, with three separate employee groups taking extreme positions. Following a series of strategic victories on key motions, including one forcing a division of the class into separate classes and the appointment of separate counsel and one involving the realignment of fiduciaries, the case was settled on terms economically favorable to the client.
  • Successfully represented a major bank in a case involving “stock drop” litigation.

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