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Supreme Court of the United States › Excessive Fees

The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the United States and is charged with interpreting federal law, including the United States Constitution. The Court's docket is largely discretionary... more +
The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the United States and is charged with interpreting federal law, including the United States Constitution. The Court's docket is largely discretionary with only a limited number of cases granted review each term.  The Court is comprised of one chief justice and eight associate justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to hold lifetime positions. less -
Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Cornell case makes it easier for plan participants to sue

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C. on

For years, I observed that federal courts were growing weary of cases involving fee litigation, but then the Supreme Court changed that perspective....more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

Employee Benefit Plan Fiduciaries: Why Solid Fee Benchmarking Should Be On Your To-Do List

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and... on

Certain transactions between employee benefit plans and “parties in interest” are prohibited under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). ...more

Kilpatrick

The Supreme Court Delivers Troubling Decision for ERISA Excess Fee Cases

Kilpatrick on

On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion that has the potential to make it more difficult for defendants to have excess fee cases for 401(k) or 403(b) plans dismissed at an early stage of...more

Morris James LLP

Supreme Court Affirms Chancery Decision of Near-Record $267 Million Fee Award

Morris James LLP on

In re Dell Techs. Inc. Class V S’holders Litig., No. 349, 2023 (Del. Aug. 14, 2024) - After an appeal of the second-largest fee award in Delaware history, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Chancery had...more

Carlton Fields

The Case of Excessive Fees: Supreme Court to Investigate Pleading Standard in ERISA Excessive Fee Litigation

Carlton Fields on

ERISA class action litigation against retirement plan fiduciaries remains a prominent feature of the legal landscape this year. These lawsuits typically involve allegations that plan fiduciaries acted imprudently in...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Supreme Court Urged to Resolve Split on ERISA Standing Requirements in Excessive Fee Cases

Holland & Knight LLP on

Chavez v. Plan Benefit Services, Inc., 108 F.4th 297 (5th Cir. 2024), began when three employees of a single employer sued the service providers of their health and welfare benefit plan for allegedly charging excessive fees...more

Snell & Wilmer

U.S. Supreme Court Passes on the Chance to Tighten Class Certification Review

Snell & Wilmer on

On April 15, 2024, the United States Supreme Court declined certiorari in the case of National ATM Council, Inc. v. Visa Inc. The central issue raised in the petition was the depth of analysis a court must conduct at the...more

Venable LLP

Supreme Court Considers Whether to Expand Constitutional Takings to Legislative Development Fees

Venable LLP on

When George Sheetz planned to build an 1800-square-foot manufactured home on his California property, he could hardly have thought his routine permit request would end up at the U.S. Supreme Court. But when the County of El...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Northwestern University’s Alternative Explanations Not Strong Enough To Defeat ERISA Excessive Fee Claims

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on

On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit issued its opinion in Hughes v. Northwestern University, concluding that participants in two Northwestern 403(b) plans plausibly pled fiduciary-breach claims based on...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

Fox Rothschild LLP

The Circuit City Landmine (Siegel v. Fitzgerald): Supremes Declare Bankruptcy Fee Hike Under United States Trustee Program...

Fox Rothschild LLP on

While it is becoming increasingly rare for the Supreme Court to speak with a singular voice on virtually anything these days, bankruptcy provides a rare exception. On June 6, 2022, the Supreme Court unanimously held in...more

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

Plan Sponsors on Alert After Recent Supreme Court Decision

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP on

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

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP on

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

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - February 2022

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL on

The February Monthly Minute examines the DOL’s recent focus on mental health parity compliance, the Hughes vs. Northwestern University retirement plan fee litigation, and the latest COVID-19 testing coverage guidance....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

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

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

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial on

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

Goodwin

Hughes et al v. Northwestern University et al – Supreme Court Urges Courts to Undertake a Context-Specific Scrutiny of...

Goodwin on

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, an important ERISA case. Although the Court’s decision vacated a Seventh Circuit victory for plan sponsor...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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on

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

Verrill

Unanimous Supreme Court Overturns Court of Appeals in Northwestern University 403(b) Plans Excessive Fee Case

Verrill on

The United States Supreme Court has agreed with participants in two 403(b) plans sponsored by Northwestern University that their lawsuit, alleging that plan recordkeeping and investment fees were excessive, should not have...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

SCOTUS Revives ERISA Participants’ Excessive Fee Claims Against University

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of participants in the Northwestern University retirement plans, breathing life again to their breach of fiduciary duty claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Supreme Court Vacates Seventh Circuit Decision in Fee Case, But Reiterates Rigorous Pleading Standard Applies

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, No. 19-1401, just one of more than 150 similar class action suits filed around the country in the last few years. The case was...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Supreme Court Struggles to Apply “Twiqbal” in Retirement Plan Fee Cases

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hughes v. Northwestern University, No. 19-1401, just one of about 150 similar class action suits filed around the country in the last few years. The case was brought by...more

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