Still parceling out items of interest that have stacked up on my desk in the last week or so. Among the things I still haven’t gotten to, I have to admit, is a careful reading of the Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Heckler v John Deere, but I will, shortly. In the meantime, though
ERISA Statutory Provisions
A Pile of Things on Kennedy v. DuPont
By Stephen Rosenberg on
A lot of interesting things have piled up in my in-box during the past week and a half or so, when I have not had time to blog. I still think they are interesting, even after a few days of having them underfoot, so I am going to try to parcel out as many of…
Wrongs That Can’t Be Remedied: ERISA Preemption and Limited Statutory Remedies
Paul Secunda, the law professor formerly known as the workplace prof, has a new law review article out on the “wrong without a remedy” aspect of ERISA litigation, which is the fact that the broad scope of preemption can combine with the limited range of remedies available under ERISA in a way that makes…
Fun With Bill and Liv
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Employee Benefit Plans, ERISA Statutory Provisions
Sorry, couldn’t resist – Bill being William Kennedy and Liv Kennedy being the named beneficiary in yesterday’s Supreme Court opinion, Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings and Investment Plan. After reading the opinion itself last night, I thought I would add a couple of comments to my initial impressions of the opinion, which…
Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings and Investment Plan
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Here’s the early word on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings and Investment Plan, which revolved around the issue of divorce decrees, the QDRO requirements of ERISA, and whether – in the absence of a valid QDRO – a plan administrator can rightly just pay proceeds to an…
Disclosure of Information: Where Securities Law and ERISA Diverge
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Cool, what a nice treat to me for the first real workday of the New Year. I have always wanted a reason to link to the Harvard Law School Corporate Governance blog because, well, it just sounds so impressive (that plus it’s a really good read on all things corporate), and one of their contributors…
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Pity the Poor Fiduciary, Trapped Between the Securities Laws and ERISA
By Stephen Rosenberg on
One continuing theme in the posts on this blog is the replacement by plaintiffs’ class action firms of securities actions with ERISA breach of fiduciary duty actions in stock drop and similar type cases; the large class actions are brought on behalf of plan participants who hold company stock, often in an ESOP, against the…
Does David Have to Pay Goliath if the Slingshot Misses Its Mark?
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Fee shifting provisions, such as the one in the ERISA statute, that authorize a court to award attorney’s fees to a prevailing party, are facially neutral, and allow for an award in favor of the prevailing party, whomever that may be, and against the losing party, again whomever that may be. But should attorney’s fees…
Apples and Oranges: Litigation Costs and QDROs in the Same Post
By Stephen Rosenberg on
A couple of different things from my desk today that are worth passing on.
First, for those of you interested – as I am and have often discussed in these electronic pages – in the need to balance effective litigation tactics with the costs of litigation, particularly given discovery and e-discovery issues, I pass along this article…
To Be or Not to Be (a Fiduciary, That Is)
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I talked about a case last week that addressed the damages aspect of making out a breach of fiduciary duty claim related to stock drop type issues, and pointed out the broad, ambiguous and easy to manipulate nature of a damages claim in that scenario. Another case last week, also out of the United States…