News & Analysis as of

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) 401k Supreme Court of the United States

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Industry Coalition Unites to Support Dismissal of ERISA Fiduciary-Breach Claims Related To BlackRock Target Date Funds

The filing of a new 401(k) plan “excessive fee” or “investment underperformance” complaint is hardly “news” these days given the proliferation of suits that have been filed over the past several years. In fact, hardly a week...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Wisconsin District Court Rulings Signal Potential New Trend Favoring the Defense of ERISA Fee and Investment Performance Lawsuits

In a striking reversal of approach beginning in the summer of 2022, the District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin went from denying, in whole or in part, virtually every motion to dismiss ERISA lawsuits targeting...more

McDermott Will & Emery

A Light in the Dark: Seventh Circuit Helps Clarify New Pleading Standards for 401(k) Fee Cases

McDermott Will & Emery on

A recent US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit case supplies answers to many questions left open in 401(k) fee litigation cases after the US Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year in Hughes v. Northwestern University....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

7th Circuit Ruling Sheds Light Into the post-Hughes 401(k) Litigation Era

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Since the Supreme Court’s January ruling in Hughes v. Northwestern University, circuit courts throughout the country have issued varying rulings regarding 401(k) fee litigation cases. These include the Ninth Circuit in Trader...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Seventh Circuit Provides Hope for ERISA Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries Defending Investment Fee & Performance Litigation

The Seventh Circuit recently provided a ray of sunshine in what has largely been a gloomy stretch for plan sponsors and fiduciaries defending ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims based on allegedly excessive investment and...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of ERISA Stock-Drop Case

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, courts around the country have overwhelmingly rejected ERISA fiduciary-breach claims by 401(k) plan participants seeking relief related to investments...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Supreme Court backs plan participants in big ERISA case

The Supreme Court told defined contribution sponsors Monday that they have to monitor all investments in plans’ lineups rather than leave the analysis to participants....more

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

Plan Sponsors on Alert After Recent Supreme Court Decision

On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an important decision affecting plan fiduciaries who select investment options available to participants in a self-directed employee retirement plan (such as a 401(k)...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

SCOTUS ERISA Fee Litigation Update: Hughes et al. v. Northwestern University

On January 24, 2022, in a rare, unanimous 8-0 decision (Justice Barrett recused herself from the case), the Supreme Court of the United States (the “Supreme Court”) vacated a Seventh Circuit affirmation of the dismissal of...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Supreme Court Stresses Importance of Ongoing Monitoring of All ERISA Plan Investment Options

Holland & Knight LLP on

In Hughes v. Northwestern University, current and former participants in Northwestern University's defined-contribution retirement plans filed litigation on behalf of the plans' participants asserting that the University, its...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Supreme Court Give Plaintiffs a Narrow Win in 401(k) Fee Case

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

Since the first round of cases were filed in 2006, plaintiffs’ counsel have raised hundreds of lawsuits challenging the prudence of fees and investments in 401(k) plans. One of the critical issues in those cases is what needs...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Hughes v. Northwestern University: Lessons for Retirement Committees and Other Fiduciaries

The Supreme Court recently handed down its much-anticipated decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University. The question before the Court is whether the petitioners – current and former participants in two retirement plans...more

Burns & Levinson LLP

ERISA Fiduciary Prudence Does Not Necessarily Reflect Modern Portfolio Management - ERISA Prudence And Hughes V. Northwestern...

Burns & Levinson LLP on

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in Hughes v. Northwestern University, in which the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals had rejected claims that the fiduciaries of two defined contribution retirement plans at...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Private Equity Investments In 401(K) Plans – The DOL Says Not So Fast

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Hot button ERISA fiduciary issues remain a focus for investment committees of 401(k) plans in 2022. From “excessive” fee litigation – including litigation over the duty to monitor the fees charged by various mutual funds...more

McAfee & Taft

Unanimous Supreme Court holds retirement plan fiduciaries must monitor and remove all imprudent investment options

McAfee & Taft on

Last week, on January 24, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, unanimously holding that retirement plan fiduciaries have a duty to continuously monitor retirement...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

The Tide is High…Keep Holding On For More Retirement Plan Fee Litigation

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this week in Hughes v. Northwestern University will do nothing to stem the rising tide of retirement plan fee litigation. But the ruling doesn’t mean fiduciary breach claims are more likely to...more

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP

Supreme Court Issues Opinion In Hughes V. Northwestern University ERISA Case

On Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important decision dealing with defined contribution retirement plans. These plans, which include 401(k) plans, provide an array of investment choices from which...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

What Does the Supreme Court’s Newest Fee Decision Mean for Retirement Plans?

On January 24, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a short unanimous opinion in Hughes v. Northwestern University. The importance of the opinion will likely be modest. At a basic level, all the Supreme Court did was reinstate a...more

Miller Canfield

Important Reminder from the U.S. Supreme Court - Just Giving Plan Participants Options Is Not Enough to Satisfy the Duty of...

Miller Canfield on

KEY TAKEAWAYS - ..Plan fiduciaries have a duty of prudence to independently evaluate on an ongoing basis investments offered in a plan’s menu of options and remove any imprudent ones. ..Plan participants’ ultimate...more

Clark Hill PLC

Supreme Court Declines to Close Floodgates on 401(k) and 403(b) Fee Litigation

Clark Hill PLC on

The past 15 years have witnessed a steady stream of lawsuits alleging that employers’ 401(k) or 403(b) plans forced participants into underperforming or overpriced investment options, or that plan participants’ accounts were...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Says Retirement Plan Must Scrutinize Expenses Even if It Offers Lower-Fee Options

In recent years, participants in 401(k) and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans have filed class action suits alleging that the plans contain overly expensive investment options. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court...more

Troutman Pepper

U.S. Supreme Court Decision Potentially Opens Floodgates for ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims

Troutman Pepper on

On January 24, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, ruled in Hughes v. Northwestern University that offering an array of allegedly prudent investment choices within the plan does not serve as a categorial defense...more

Snell & Wilmer

More is Not Always Better: Supreme Court Reexamines Fiduciary Duty of Prudence

Snell & Wilmer on

In what may be one of the shortest decisions this term, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous six-page opinion on January 24, 2022 in Hughes v. Northwestern University. Vacating the Seventh Circuit’s decision, the Court...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

The Supreme Court’s Northwestern Decision – A Win for Plaintiffs but a Possible Turn In the Tide?

On January 24, 2022, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court in Hughes v. Northwestern reinstated the long-running case against Northwestern University by sending the case back to the lower courts for further review. ...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Weighs in on ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim in Hughes v. Northwestern University

Ballard Spahr LLP on

Summary - The U.S. Supreme Court this week unanimously decided an ERISA fiduciary duty case, Hughes v. Northwestern University, which will impact dozens of similar cases currently pending against fiduciaries of section...more

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