A federal appellate court has determined that a lower court “abused its discretion” in assessing a $1.5 million sanction against the Schlichter Bogard law firm.
The Suit
The suit—which was... Read More
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Litigation
BY David Levine, JD | 11/2/2023
An advisor is well served to evaluate how they can provide support for the unique health plan ecosystem.
I live in Washington, D.C. It’s well known that Washington can be an echo chamber, where... Read More
BY Bonnie Treichel, JD, and Nevin E. Adams, JD | 11/2/2023
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) litigation continues at a rapid pace and with massive settlement numbers. Most recently, General Electric agreed to pay a settlement of $61 million (... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/26/2023
A group of 26 “red state” attorneys general has filed a notice of their appeal of a federal court’s judgement rejecting their challenge to the Labor Department’s ESG rule.
The notice of appeal (... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/20/2023
Two more suits in two different California federal district courts have just challenged the use of plan forfeitures to offset company contributions as not being in the best interests of plan... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/12/2023
The nation’s highest court has decided not to decide the applicability of an arbitration clause in fending off an ERISA suit.
The case that had been appealed to the United States Supreme Court was... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/10/2023
The parties in a suit that claimed a $7.3 billion plan “stocked the Plan’s investment menu with their own proprietary index funds”—while “participants got the short end of the stick” have come to... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/9/2023
In what is said to be “the largest ever in an ERISA case alleging a retirement plan improperly offered proprietary funds,” the parties have struck a settlement.
The suit—filed back in 2017—was... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/6/2023
For the second time in a month, a law firm has brought suit challenging the use of forfeitures in a 401(k) plan.
The lawyers are from Hayes Pawlenko LLP, a South Pasadena, CA-based duo (who met in... Read More
BY Robert Richter | 10/5/2023
Many (if not most) defined contribution plan documents provide that the plan administrator may use forfeitures to reduce contributions, pay plan expenses, or allocate to participants as additional... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/3/2023
Another in the series of suits alleging that plan fiduciaries “chased low fees” and ignored investment performance has been dismissed—though there was a unique twist here.
Like most of the roughly... Read More
BY John Sullivan | 10/3/2023
On Tuesday, an explanation and history of fiduciary liability insurance occurred at the ERISA 403(b) Conference in Washington, D.C.
The panel discussion titled “Fiduciary Liability Insurance”... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/2/2023
Noting that "the settling parties agreed to the proposed settlement only after vigorous arm's-length negotiations between counsel experienced in ERISA class actions and under the auspices of … a... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/28/2023
Another federal judge has weighed the assertions made in an excessive fee suit—and found them lacking both in terms of a “meaningful benchmark,” and specificity of the claims made.
The Suit
The... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/27/2023
A suit alleging a breach of fiduciary duty has been filed because the plan fiduciaries offset employer contributions with forfeitures, rather than using them for the “exclusive benefit” of... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/26/2023
The ERISA litigation field in recent years has seen copycat filings, plagiarism in pleadings, factual flaws, and misleading assertions—but to my eyes, we’ve just hit a new low.
I’m speaking of... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/26/2023
The federal government wants to make sure that the judge in a Wisconsin case involving the Department of Labor’s ESG rule knows about its recent victory in a federal court in Texas.
In a “notice... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/25/2023
A class action suit involving a data hack of participant data at a consulting firm has reached a $7.75 million cash settlement.
The suit arose from a November 2021 cyber security “incident”... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/22/2023
“Having considered the motions, pleadings, and relevant law,” a federal court judge has backed the Labor Department in a suit brought by 26 red state Attorneys General challenging the so-called ESG... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/21/2023
A four-year old case in which participants accused plan fiduciaries of “stuffing cash into a mattress” while at the same time forcing participants “to play the fool’s game” by offering only “high-... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/20/2023
Plaintiffs have had their appeal of a district court’s dismissal of their excessive fee suit rejected by the appellate court.
Appellants Cole Matney and Paul Watts[i]—participants in the Barrick... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/19/2023
The plaintiffs in one of the dozen or so cases involving the BlackRock Lifepath target-date funds (TDFs) have made it past the motion to dismiss stage.
In this case (Trauernicht et al. v. Genworth... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/18/2023
Noting that “a fiduciary breach cannot exist where no fiduciary duty applies,” American Airlines has pushed back on a participant-plaintiff’s amended claims regarding ESG-biased investments in his... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/15/2023
Summer may be winding down, but there’s been a LOT going on in the retirement world. In this episode, Nevin (Adams) and Fred (Reish) run down the hot topics, and the implications behind these trends... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/15/2023
Just days after The New York Times reported[i] on the impact of a corporate bankruptcy on 401(k) accounts, litigation has been filed against the plan fiduciaries.
Plaintiffs Paul Harvey and Lela... Read More
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