Pension And Employee Benefit Class Actions The Defence

Introduction

Pension and benefit plan administrators are becoming increasingly familiar with litigation and in particular, class proceedings. We have seen a tremendous increase in both the number of pension and the breadth of issues raised in those actions. In this paper I will address the following questions:

• What explains the rise in pension class actions?

• Are pension disputes really "tailor made" for class actions?

• Jurisdictional hurdles: when will arbitration prevail over a class action?

• How can a defendant minimize the cost of defending a class action?

• How can a defendant manage conflicts?