2016 was the year that church plans went to the Supreme Court, excessive fee claims came to elite universities and the Department of Labor’s authority to alter its regulation of fiduciary conduct was challenged in multiple courts. Of course, stock drop litigation, excessive fee cases, and other assaults on the make up of 401(k) plans continued apace, even if they yielded the spotlight to flashier, more novel types of cases.
Continue Reading The Year in Review: Looking Back at ERISA Litigation In 2016
Class Actions
I Predict the Future in Planadvisor
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I, and a cast of other ERISA Nostradamus[es], claim to foretell the future of ERISA litigation – by gazing back at the past year – in this new article in Planadvisor, titled “Expect More Varied ERISA Litigation in 2017.” I am quoted in the article on the trend line of stock drop litigation, but also…
Whitley v. BP, Stock Drops, and the Outer Limits of Fiduciary Responsibility
By Stephen Rosenberg on
There is an old political saying that where you stand depends on where you sit, which, roughly translated, means that people tend to assert positions that are beneficial to their own organizations and employers, rather than based upon a consideration of broader issues. The author of the maxim, Rufus Miles, thinks the idea goes…
Thoughts From the Beach on the Excessive Fee Cases Against Prestigious Universities
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Back from spending a week in the great state of Maine (you go, Palace Diner!), but even when I am away, “the sun comes up [a]nd the world still spins,” nowhere more, it seems, then in the world of ERISA litigation. So over the next few days, I am going to try…
Moving on From the Churches, the ERISA Plaintiffs’ Bar Takes Aim at the Universities
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Well now. The world’s leading private attorney general of ERISA fee enforcement has now instituted four coordinated lawsuits against the retirement plans of major universities (MIT, Yale, NYU and Duke, as of this writing). I haven’t read the complaints yet, and have only read the industry articles on it (I like this one, and…
Floating a Few Thoughts on Kelley v. Fidelity
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I don’t have too much to say about the specific details of this opinion in Kelley v. Fidelity Management Trust Company, out of the First Circuit yesterday on a putative class action against Fidelity related to the use of float income from plan transactions. This is particularly because it is primarily a technical decision…
Excessive Fee Litigation Against Small Plans – Damberg v. LaMettry’s Collision
By Stephen Rosenberg on
My partner, Marcia Wagner, is quoted in this article about a somewhat stunning development, the filing of a class action excessive fee case against a relatively small plan, with around $9 million in assets. I have been asked for some time, by media and by audience members at speaking engagements, if and when we will …
Thoughts on Kaplan v. Saint Peter’s Healthcare System and the Church Plan Exemption
Remember the Church Lady from Saturday Night Live? I have always wondered if she was covered by an ERISA governed retirement plan, or whether her retirement plan was exempt from ERISA as a church plan. I think the answer probably lies in the question of whether her retirement benefits were established and maintained by …
Bell v. Anthem, Excessive Fee Cases, and the Economics of Settlement
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Actuary and blogger John Lowell has a strong post today on the latest high profile excessive fee case filed involving a 401(k) plan, Bell v. Anthem. I will let you read it yourself for the details, but he asks some interesting questions. In one of them, John discusses the borderline nature, at least as …
Top Ten List Of Things From 2015 That Are Somehow Related To ERISA And My Practice
Like many, I took some time off over the holidays. Unlike many, who used the time to do fun things like go skiing, I used the time to sit down with three fingers of my favorite small batch craft brewery bourbon and write a top ten list for my blog. Here, without further ado, is…
