Back to rankings
Joseph Clark

Joseph Clark

More information
Proskauer Rose LLP

Proskauer Rose LLP

United States • Labor and employment

1

ERISA litigation

Proskauer Rose LLP fields a deep bench focused on ERISA litigation, with the team benefiting from its close collaboration with its employee benefits and executive compensation group and appellate practice group across five different US offices. Lawyers are skilled in handling employee benefits cases nationwide, as well as in bet-the-company ERISA lawsuits, 401(k) and 403(b) plan participant claims, and government investigations. Myron Rumeld, who is known for his ‘effective representation of defendants or plaintiffs, without any inherent bias toward either side,’ covers a full range of ERISA litigation, both at trial and appellate level, including representations of 401(k) plan fiduciaries and class action stock and excessive fee claims. Russell Hirschhorn is experienced in representing a range of clients in federal trial and appellate courts, as well as in investigations commenced by the US Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service, while Joseph Clark aids clients in defense of class action claims seeking benefits, or alleging ERISA fiduciary breaches. Neil Shah is noted for being instrumental in a NBA players’ pension plan, as well as in representing plan sponsors and fiduciaries in ERISA stock-drop options. All lawyers mentioned are based in New York.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Phone
1.212.969.3178
Email
[email protected]
Profile
proskauer.com

Profile

Work Department
Labor & Employment
Position

Joseph E. Clark is a senior counsel in Proskauer's Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of Proskauer's Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group where he focuses on complex employee benefits litigation.

Joe represents a diverse range of clients from the time a claim is asserted through trial or arbitration, whether it is defending plan fiduciaries against class action claims of fiduciary breach or prohibited transactions or in connection with government investigations, or defending employers against multiemployer pension plan claims for withdrawal liability.  These clients include financial service providers, investment managers, Fortune 500 corporations, and benefit plan committees.

Outside of the context of litigation, Joe also advises fiduciary clients regarding their fiduciary responsibilities and employers regarding various withdrawal liability issues.

Co-editor and a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation blog, Joe has authored pieces on employee stock ownership plans, excessive fee claims, fiduciary breach, investigation and determination of benefits claims, and best practices for plan drafting. He has also published several articles regarding these issues in BNA Insights.

Content supplied by Proskauer Rose LLP

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Partners are willing to be hands on. Work well with outside experts.’

  • ‘They are very responsive to client needs, very level-headed.’

  • ‘Myron Rumeld is a knowledgeable and strong collaborator.’

  • ‘The team has all the requisite skills for handling cases alleging violations of ERISA. Its distinguishing characteristics include the ability to drive cases with more than two parties to a successful resolution, creative methods for calculating damages that can withstand legal challenge, knowing how and when to use experts for consulting and/or testifying, and managing cases in a way that keeps costs under control while comfortably meeting deadlines.’

  • ‘Myron Rumeld is effective in representing either defendants or plaintiffs, without any inherent bias toward either side. When raising contradictions, he is direct without being hostile, insistent but reasonable.’

Key clients

  • Wells Fargo & Company
  • MetLife
  • Intel Corporation
  • National Basketball Association
  • Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund – M&K Employee Solutions, LLC
  • Bessemer Trust Company
  • Baystate Health Inc
  • California Institute of Technology
  • Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund
  • Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) Health Plan
  • Trustees of the IBT Local 854 Pension and Health & Welfare Funds

Work highlights

Defending Wells Fargo & Company and others in the second-of-its-kind putative class action brought by several former participants of the Wells Fargo & Company Health Plan (on behalf of a class of hundreds of thousands) who allege that the plan fiduciaries paid excessive fees to the plan’s pharmacy benefits manager and that, in turn, resulted in participants paying higher fees for prescription drugs.
Representing MetLife in a putative class action that is one of several cutting-edge lawsuits alleging that retirement plans improperly use antiquated group annuity mortality tables to convert plan participants’ accrued benefits to alternative forms of benefits.
Representing the Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund in several matters challenging the methods and assumptions used to calculate withdrawal liability.