Howard Shapiro > Jackson Lewis P.C. > New Orleans, United States > Lawyer Profile
Jackson Lewis P.C. Offices
601 Poydras Street
Suite 1400
New Orleans, LA 70130
LOUISIANA
United States
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Howard Shapiro
Work Department
ERISA Litigation
Position
Principal and Co-Leader of the ERISA Litigation practice group
Career
Howard Shapiro is a principal in the New Orleans, Louisiana, office of Jackson Lewis P.C., and is co-leader of the firm’s ERISA Complex Litigation group. Howard focuses his practice on the defense of large, sophisticated ERISA class actions.
Howard defends “bet-the-company” litigation where damages are potentially material. His cases involve the defense of Defined Benefit plans, 401(k) Plans, and 403(b) Plans. He also defends litigation involving health and welfare plan issues. His practice is nationwide, and throughout his career, Howard has appeared as counsel across the entire country. Typically, his cases involve damage allegations in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars. Howard has defended cases involving: breach of fiduciary duty; breach of the duty of loyalty; Prohibited Transactions; 401(k) Plan asset performance, fees, and expense issues; 403(b) Plan asset performance, fees, and expense issues; defined benefit plan asset issues, accrual issues, and cut-back issues; Cash Balance Plan issues; ESOP litigation; fiduciary misrepresentation claims; sophisticated preemption issues; Executive Compensation litigation, both pension and welfare claims; Directed Trustee claims; retiree rights litigation; severance plan class actions; Section 510 cases; and complex benefit claim cases. He has appeared in federal courts from coast to coast while maintaining an active national ERISA litigation practice.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Labor and employment > ERISA litigation
(Hall of Fame)With an impressive national footprint, Jackson Lewis P.C.has a successful record defending high-value ERISA class action lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions. Aside from defending substantive class action litigation, the team are well-placed to advise on retiree rights, severance plans, benefit plans, and ESOPs. The firm’s extensive client portfolio of employers, plan sponsors, plan administrators, fiduciaries has recently expanded their client base to include food services and energy-related companies. Standout work includes a claims dismissal for MGM which amounted to over 1.6bn assets under management, high exposure ESOP cases, and a precedent-setting case for Nova Southeastern University. The ERISA Litigation Group is co-led by industry veteran Howard Shapiro
and René Thorne, who is highly active in the healthcare space. Stacey C.S. Cerrone is a core member of the team focusing on the defense of complex ERISA class actions along with seasoned litigator, Lindsey H. Chopin. New Jersey-based Michael E. Holzapfel has considerable expertise in benefits administration, single-plaintiff lawsuits, federal and state insurance, whereas Robert W. Rachal focuses on ERISA fiduciary, benefits, and executive compensation litigation. Managing principal Charles F. Seemann boasts longstanding experience defending ERISA plans and plan fiduciaries, while Phillip C. Thompson in Kansas specializes on defending employers from ERISA class actions. All members of the team are based in the New Orleans office unless otherwise stated.
Lawyer Rankings
- Hall of Fame United States > Labor and employment > ERISA litigation
- ERISA litigation United States > Labor and employment