Benefits Litigation

Firm attorneys handle a variety of litigation involving retirement benefits such as pension and welfare plans, including both single and multiemployer plans. Clients include employers and plan sponsors in a wide variety of industries, plan trustees, insurers, fiduciary liability coverage and plan products, multiemployer plans, buyers and sellers of businesses and individual executives.

Our Benefits Litigation attorneys regularly:

• Litigate and arbitrate benefit claims, fiduciary and tax matters, funding disputes, plan terminations and mergers and bankruptcy-related benefit matters
• Design, draft and work with clients to implement benefit plans and equity-based and non-equity-based executive compensation programs
• Counsel clients on employee benefit and executive compensation arrangements in anticipation of changes in control, including employment and severance agreements and advice regarding "golden parachute" issues
• Advise ERISA fiduciaries, plan sponsors and plan service providers concerning the ERISA requirements with respect to fiduciary conduct, prohibited transactions, reporting and disclosure
• Assist ERISA fiduciaries, plan sponsors and plan service providers in resolution, and litigation of fiduciary controversies, prohibited transactions and related matters

Recent representations have included:

• Defending one of the nation's leading providers of health, dental, group, life, disability and long-term care benefits in numerous ERISA and benefit claims against it
• Acting as lead counsel in a class action (800 class members) pending in Tennessee against a large manufacturing operation that alleges ERISA and retiree medical benefits as the thrust of the complaint
• Successful defense of an ERISA lawsuit in the N.D. Ga. relating to severance benefits for a global advanced technology systems manufacturer
• Successful defense of a long term disability case through the discovery period for a large chemical corporation and dismissal against our client before the case proceeded to trial

This is only a representative list of our case work. If you have a specific issue relating to benefits litigation, please contact our office