401(k) Retirement Benefit Plan Litigation: Recent Cases and Issues for Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
Causes of Action, Defenses, Dismissals and Settlements, Best Practices for Avoiding and Managing Claims
Recording of a 90-minute premium CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will discuss the new wave of retirement plan litigation involving fiduciary conduct relating to 401(k) plans. The program will review the cases filed to date, legal theories raised, defenses, settlements, dismissals, and the current state of the litigation. The panel will also discuss the differences in claims, theories, and causes of action between 401(k) plans and offer techniques for managing lawsuits stemming from investment offerings, fees, what to do to potentially avoid these types of litigation, and more.
Outline
- Overview of litigation trends and developments
- Dismissed claims
- Pending litigation
- Defense perspective
- Theories of liability
- Defenses
- Best practices for counsel and fiduciaries
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- What are the current trends in this wave of retirement fund litigation?
- What are the theories plaintiffs allege to support claims against 401(k) plan fiduciaries?
- What are the most effective techniques for avoiding and managing claims?
Faculty
Ada W. Dolph
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw
With 17 years of experience as a labor and employment litigator with Seyfarth Shaw, Ms. Dolph is an advisor to clients... | Read More
With 17 years of experience as a labor and employment litigator with Seyfarth Shaw, Ms. Dolph is an advisor to clients in the airline, retail, healthcare and manufacturing industries. Her practice focuses on advice and counsel and innovative litigation involving complex procedural defenses, including preemption of state law claims under ERISA, Railway Labor Act, Airline Deregulation Act, Federal Aviation Act, and the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Act (SGLIA); Article III and statutory standing; statute of limitations; and administrative exhaustion requirements, among others; Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) claims, prevailing as lead counsel in the first BIPA case to be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; whistleblower claims under state law, AIR21, Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley; discrimination claims in state and federal jurisdictions across the country, including under Title VII, ADA, Section 1981, and the ADEA, and their state law counterparts, including systemic actions brought by the EEOC; ERISA single, multi-plaintiff and class action matters involving denial of health, disability, life, pension and 401(k) benefits, including defense of high profile “stock drop,” retiree medical and 401(k fee class actions.
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Matthew L. Riffee
Partner
Goodwin Procter
Mr. Riffee is a partner in Goodwin’s Financial Industry group and specializes in ERISA Litigation and Consumer... | Read More
Mr. Riffee is a partner in Goodwin’s Financial Industry group and specializes in ERISA Litigation and Consumer Financial Services Enforcement and Litigation. His practice focuses on ERISA and Consumer Financial Services litigation, class actions, and counseling and representing banks and financial institutions in government investigations and enforcement actions. Mr. Riffee regularly litigates class actions under ERISA, and counsels ERISA-covered retirement plan sponsors and service providers concerning ERISA-related matters. He also counsels and represents financial services companies in enforcement and litigation matters concerning an array of financial services and products, including mortgages, card, and various other lending and investment products.
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Dylan D. Rudolph
Director
Trucker Huss
Mr. Rudolph's practices in the firm’s ERISA litigation practice group, which is ranked in the first tier... | Read More
Mr. Rudolph's practices in the firm’s ERISA litigation practice group, which is ranked in the first tier nationally by the U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings. He represents plan sponsors and fiduciaries in a wide range of employee benefit cases, including complex ERISA class action lawsuits involving 401(k) and 403(b) defined contribution plans and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (“ESOPs”); cases involving individual claims for retirement and medical benefits; and claims for withdrawal liability and delinquent contributions involving multi-employer, “Taft-Hartley” pension plans. Mr. Rudolph's is admitted to practice in all of the federal district courts located in California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.
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