Baker & Daniels' ERISA litigators have substantial experience representing employers, plans, plan fiduciaries, insurers and service providers in ERISA lawsuits in federal and state courts, arbitrations (including arbitration of multiemployer plan withdrawal liability disputes, disputes arising under collective bargaining agreements and disputes arising under executive compensation arrangements and agreements), administrative claims proceedings and other dispute resolution proceedings under employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements.
We handle all types of benefit claims litigation (pension and 401(k), health, life, disability, etc.), and regularly represent plan fiduciaries in disputes related to compliance with ERISA's fiduciary duties and other aspects of plan administration. In benefits litigation, we represent all types of employers and plan sponsors, including publicly-traded companies, privately-held companies, schools and other governmental employers, and churches and other nonprofit organizations.
Matters that Baker & Daniels ERISA litigators handle include:
- Counseling and advising employers and fiduciaries through the course of administrative proceedings on disputed claims under benefit plans (particularly important in the Seventh Circuit and certain other circuits where failure to make a meticulous administrative record can compromise the defense of subsequent ERISA litigation on the claim).
- Representing employers and fiduciaries before the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and other regulators.
- Negotiating resolutions to benefits-related disputes (including, among others, disputes with service providers, the U.S. Department of Labor and other regulators, and relating to qualified domestic relations orders), and advising employers and plan fiduciaries on the complex issues involved in the establishment, funding and administration of employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements.
- Representing public companies in ERISA fiduciary breach cases, as well as related securities actions, arising out of 401(k) plan losses from company stock investments.
- Representing plan sponsors and fiduciaries in administrative claims appeals and litigation over a variety of eligibility, coverage and benefit computation disputes under welfare, pension and profit sharing plans.
- Representing plan sponsors and fiduciaries in the removal of state court actions, interpleading competing beneficiaries to resolve conflicting benefit claims and dismissing state law claims and jury demands through ERISA litigation.
- Representing employers in arbitrations and preliminary administrative proceedings to challenge withdrawal liability assessments and delinquent contribution actions by multiemployer plans.
- Representing employers, third party administrators, insurers and other service providers in a wide variety of ERISA actions involving welfare benefit plans, including COBRA disputes, eligibility for or termination of disability or life insurance benefits, application of health plan coverage exclusions and severance pay issues.
- Assisting companies of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, with the development and implementation of claims and appeals procedures for all of their employee benefit and executive compensation plans and advising their plan fiduciaries on the resolutions of claims under those procedures.
- Representing publicly-traded financial institutions in assessing, prior to potential acquisitions, a target company's employee benefits business practices to assess the extent to which they presented unreasonable exposure in benefits-related litigation.
- Defending against PBGC objections and priority claims as part of corporate bankruptcy proceedings.
- Defending institutional trustees in ESOP litigation and in negotiation with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve alleged violations of ERISA's fiduciary duties.
- Representing buyers of a business in pursuing claims that the seller materially understated the business' pension and retiree health liabilities.
Our ERISA litigators take a practical, problem-solving approach to resolving disputes related to employee benefit plans. We pride ourselves on being able to explain complex issues and concepts in simple terms. Like all of our practice groups, the ERISA litigators recognize the importance of responsiveness and emphasizes accessibility and client service.