An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a defined contribution pension plan that invests primarily in shares of stock issued by the sponsoring employer. Though fiduciaries of pension benefit plans generally must diversify...more
The Illinois Receivership Act (the Act) creates a comprehensive statutory framework for commercial receiverships, effective January 1, 2026, that in practice functions as a "mini bankruptcy."
The Act modernizes and...more
1/30/2026
/ Automatic Stay ,
Borrowers ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Real Estate Market ,
Consent ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Creditors ,
Default ,
Lenders ,
New Legislation ,
Receivership ,
State and Local Government
A new trend in Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) class actions is targeting employers and benefits consultants over voluntary benefit programs, such as accident, critical illness, cancer and hospital...more
1/19/2026
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Insurance Brokers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Risk Management
Large pension plans have been facing a wave of lawsuits from participants since 2018 relating to whether the qualified joint and survivor annuities (QJSA) and other forms of annuities provided by the plans are the "actuarial...more
10/28/2025
/ Actuarial Values ,
Annuities ,
Appellate Courts ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Pending Litigation ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Statutory Interpretation
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Daniel Aronowitz as assistant secretary of labor, placing him in charge of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the arm of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) responsible for...more
9/23/2025
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ERISA Litigation ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retirement Plan
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 17, 2025, issued a greatly anticipated decision in which the justices unanimously held that plaintiffs alleging a prohibited transaction under Section 1106(a)(1)(C) of the Employee Retirement...more
4/23/2025
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Cost-Shifting ,
Cunningham v Cornell University ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Pleading Standards ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rule 11 ,
Sanctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing
A recent wave of cases has attempted to apply the theory of liability for retirement plan excessive fee cases to health plans – specifically, arrangements with pharmacy benefit managers.
Though the cases thus far have...more
4/11/2025
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standing
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Jan. 16, 2025, released its long-awaited proposed regulation interpreting the definition of "adequate consideration" as applied to private company stock acquired or sold by an employee...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) prohibits employers who offer health and welfare benefit plans from discriminating against plan participants on the basis of a health status-related factor, such as a...more
12/3/2024
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fiduciary ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Pending Litigation ,
Plan Participants ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Tobacco ,
Tobacco-Cessation ,
Wellness Programs
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted a petition for a writ of certiorari to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's decision in Cunningham v. Cornell University, 86 F.4th 961 (2d Cir. 2023). In doing so,...more
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas issued its written decision in Shipp v. Central States Manufacturing, Inc. on July 5, 2024, declining to dismiss the case against Central States Manufacturing Inc....more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its decision in Matney v. Barrick Gold of North America, et al. on Sept. 6, 2023, finding that participants in an employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plan...more
9/27/2023
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Benchmark Pricing ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Trust Companies ,
Pleading Standards ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Retirement Plan
In Plutzer v. Bankers Trust, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed dismissal by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York de novo; and emphasized that a plaintiff must allege concrete,...more
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, courts around the country continue to articulate the pleading requirements for a breach of duty of prudence claim under the Employee Retirement...more
9/23/2022
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Colleges ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fees ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Management Fees ,
Plan Participants ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Transaction Fees ,
Universities
Courts around the country continue to approach the enforceability of class-action waivers and arbitration provisions in ERISA plan documents differently. This alert discusses recent decisions addressing these issues in ERISA...more
In Halperin v. Richards, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit considered whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempted certain state-law corporate liability claims against officers...more
8/24/2021
/ Breach of Duty ,
Business Valuations ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Liability ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary ,
Financial Adviser ,
Preemption ,
State Law Claims
Courts have struggled through the years when considering the enforceability of mandatory class action waivers and arbitration provisions contained within Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) plans and other...more
4/1/2021
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contract Terms ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Contract ,
ERISA Litigation ,
ESOP ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion to Compel ,
Split of Authority ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has dismissed a putative class action lawsuit brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) by a participant of 401(k) plan against the...more
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California entered summary judgment on July 6, 2020, in favor of defendants who sold stock to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and faced liability under the Employee...more
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that Kronos Inc., a vendor of biometric time clocks that allow employees to sign in and out using a fingerprint or handprint, could be liable for violations...more
In an opinion issued in Smith v. Rockwell Automation, Inc., et al., No. 19-C-0505 (E.D. Wis.) on Feb. 10, 2020, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman denied Rockwell Automation's motion to dismiss a putative class action complaint...more
In a pair of opinions issued on Aug. 20, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit expressly overruled its 35-year precedent that Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) disputes were not arbitrable. The...more
8/27/2019
/ 401k ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Charles Schwab ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
NLRA ,
Plan Documents ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia has awarded the Sentry Equipment & Erectors Inc. Employee Store Ownership Plan (the ESOP) $6.5 million for the ESOP's overpayment for the founding shareholder's 52...more
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirms a District Court's holding that Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. was not a fiduciary with respect to its stable value fund, even though it announced the fund's...more
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed a U.S. District Court's application of deferential standard to the review of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) administrator's decision based on broad...more
9/5/2018
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Accrued Benefits ,
Appeals ,
Death Benefits ,
Denial of Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ESOP ,
Plan Administrators ,
Preemption ,
Standard of Review ,
Summary Judgment