The Legal 500 > United States > United States > ERISA litigation

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP’s ERISA litigation practice has carved out a reputation as a leader in the highly publicized field of 403(b) university plan litigation, with Philadelphia-based practice heads Brian Ortelere and Jeremy Blumenfeld, and Chicago-based Deborah Davidson obtaining favorable rulings for clients such as Washington University, the University in St. Louis and Duke University. Stock-drop litigation is another field of expertise, with the team currently defending class actions against 401(k) plan sponsors in the aerospace and retail sectors. Christopher Boran and Melissa Hill, based in Chicago and New York respectively, regularly represent clients in the financial services, technology and public sectors in ERISA class actions involving breach of fiduciary and excessive fee claims. The team is also acting on unique cases concerning the calculation of mortality rates in the payout of defined benefit plans.

The Washington DC-based ERISA litigation practice at O'Melveny & Myers LLP is a highly active defense counsel for 401(k) fiduciary breach claims against financial institutions, such as Brian Boyle, Shannon Barrett and Meaghan VerGow’s successful representation of Morgan Stanley in litigation concerning its proprietary investment strategies. Other recent matters in this field saw Los Angeles-based Catalina Vergara defending claims of retirement fund mismanagement and the usage of mutual funds in 401(k) plan investment choices, while the team also routinely handles excessive fee litigation. Gregory Jacob has a noteworthy practice in health plan disputes, having recently defended the recovery of overpayments to healthcare service providers.

Goodwin’s Boston-based ERISA litigation practice is currently engaged in significant class actions for plan sponsors, which concern the usage of proprietary funds in their investment strategies – a rapidly developing trend in ERISA litigation. Typical clients for practice head James Fleckner and Alison Douglass in this space are sourced from the asset management, healthcare and financial services sectors. High-profile insurance entities are counted on the client roster, which retain the team for disputes concerning loan practices and the pay out of lifetime insurance benefits. Fleckner and Jack Cleary are also handling a suite of stock-drop cases, including unique allegations concerning the mismanagement of failed ESOP plans. The team also enjoys a steady stream of mandates involving excessive fee charges and challenges to the denial of retirement health benefits.

As the most comprehensive benefits boutique in the US, Groom Law Group has an expansive ERISA litigation team available to its client roster of plan sponsors, retirement funds and service providers. Michael Prame, Sarah Adams and practice head Lars Golumbic defend high-value class actions concerning breach of fiduciary and 401(k) fee litigation, claims involving executive compensation plans (including rabbi trusts and top-hat plans), contested plan terminations brought by the PBGC, and also cover withdrawal liability litigation. Adams also brings experience in church plan litigation, while class actions arising from ESOP investigations brought by the DOL are another strong point for Golumbic. The firm has an expansive health plan litigation offering through Mark Nielsen, who regularly acts on benefits disputes under the Americans with Disability Act. The firm is based in Washington DC.

Recent innovative cases for Jenner & Block LLP’s Chicago-based ERISA litigation team involved defending asset managers in class actions concerning the management of multibillion dollar stock funds, and allegations of RICO violations in a plan sponsor’s 401(k) plan management. High-profile plan sponsors routinely entrust the team to handle fiduciary breach claims, stock-drop litigation and anti-cutback matters. Joseph Torres recently joined from Winston & Strawn LLP, and is currently representing clients in the chemical and energy sectors regarding vested lifetime benefits claims. Craig Martin and Amanda Amert left the firm for Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in March 2020.

Mayer Brown’s ERISA litigation experts are involved in a number of cutting-edge suits concerning 403(b) university plan litigation, with practice heads Nancy Ross and Brian Netter (based in Chicago and Washington DC, respectively) defending the likes of Georgetown University and Cornell University against high-value claims of fiduciary breaches. The team represents plan sponsors of publicly-listed companies in class actions challenging the administration of 401(k) plans, as well as novel matters involving the transferal of assets between defined contribution plans. Ross and Chicago-based Richard Novak are also engaged by ESOP trustees in litigation involving prohibited transaction claims.

Proskauer Rose LLP’s ERISA litigation practice maintains a high profile by defending financial services clients in class action suits concerning their 401(k) investment plan management strategy; representative examples include New York-based Russell Hirschhorn’s representation of Wells Fargo in fiduciary breach allegations (a mandate which he took over from the recently retired practice co-head Howard Shapiro) concerning its $35bn plan. Also on this front, New York-based practice head Myron Rumeld is currently defending allegations of prohibited transaction violations involving proprietary investments. Another stand-out aspect of the team is its stock-drop litigation expertise, having obtained favourable results for plan sponsors in a number of cases before the Supreme Court.

Spearheaded by San Francisco-based Kathleen Cahill Slaught and Chicago-based Ian Morrison, the vast geographical reach of Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s ERISA litigation offering makes it a choice for third-party plan administrators and service providers with a national footprint. The department works closely with the firm’s broader benefits practice to provide risk-mitigation advice and pre-litigation support, and handles the full scope of excessive fee, breach of fiduciary and prohibited transaction litigation. San Francisco-based Ward Kallstrom often represents plan sponsors and fiduciaries in claw-back claims against healthcare service providers, while Chicago-based Mark Casciari and Ronald Kramer are currently handling withdrawal liability litigation for defined benefit plan sponsors. The team is also experienced in disputes arising from cash-balance plan conversions.

Greenberg Traurig LLP’s ERISA litigation expertise spans the breadth of withdrawal liability, breach of fiduciary, stock-drop and healthcare plan disputes. Atlanta-based co-head Todd Wozniak has a notable practice in defending large-scale plan sponsors in fiduciary breach claims against their health and wellness plans concerning the provision of out-of-network services. Wozniak also has extensive ESOP litigation expertise, with recent issues involving high-value actions filed by the DOL. Practice co-heads Jeffrey Mamorsky and James Nelson, based in New York and Phoenix respectively, are also noteworthy contacts.

Atlanta-based firm King & Spalding LLP is retained by a roster of clients in the financial services, energy and consumer goods sectors to handle the breadth of ERISA litigation matters. Recent highlights in the health plan space for practice head David Tetrick involved high-value liability claims to lifetime-vested benefits. On the plaintiff side, Washington DC-based Bobby Burchfield often represents healthcare service providers against plan administrators. Tetrick and Darren Shuler regularly defend plan sponsors in breach of fiduciary litigation, class actions concerning prohibited transactions, and novel class actions concerning the usage of proprietary funds in 401(k) investment strategy.

The growing ERISA litigation practice at McDermott Will & Emery LLP is headed up by Ted Becker and Christian Nemeth in Chicago, and Brian Cousin in New York. A lengthy roster of ESOP trustees calls upon the team to handle complex litigation and DoL investigations, as well as matters involving wrongful plan terminations, prohibited transactions and fiduciary breaches. The firm’s ERISA Health & Welfare Fiduciary Task Force was recently established in response to the growing field of health plan litigation; the team represents significant health insurance clients including Cigna and Aetna in this field.

Representative matters for Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s ERISA litigation practice involve defending plan sponsors in challenges to the administration of health benefits plans, 401(k) fiduciary breach allegations and enforcement actions by the DOL. Employment litigation practice head Jeffrey Klein and Nicholas Pappas, both based in New York, are key contacts.

San Francisco-based practice co-head James Baker and Chicago-based co-head Lisa Brogan are go-to names at Baker McKenzie LLP for ERISA litigation. Typical mandates involve ERISA fiduciary litigation for insurance companies, lawsuits involving the denial of severance pay, healthcare plan disputes and defending defined benefit plan sponsors in withdrawal liability litigation. Baker also cites a niche expertise in acting for employer-sponsored plan participants against health plan service providers. 401(k) stock-drop litigation, ESOP disputes and cash-balance plan disputes are also handled.

Considerable expertise in withdrawal liability disputes makes Jones Day’s ERISA litigation offering a preferred choice for plan sponsors of multiemployer funds; recent engagements for Washington DC-based practice head Evan Miller involved questions relating to actuarial assumptions for The New York Times, as well as successor liabilities for a national grocery supplier. The team is also engaged in disputes concerning the provision of health benefits and breach of fiduciary claims.

Based in New York and leveraging the firm’s significant roster of multiemployer clients, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP’s ERISA litigation leader Ronald Richman represents plan sponsors and administrators in disputes concerning the withdrawal liabilities of multiemployer funds. A recent stand-out matter saw Richman representing the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers’-Publishers’ Pension Fund in a high-profile dispute against The New York Times.