Employee Benefits & ERISA Litigation

OUR GOALS ARE TO ASSIST OUR CLIENTS IN FULFILLING THEIR FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITIES, SERVING THEIR EMPLOYEES WELL, AND AVOIDING LITIGATION OR EXPENSIVE DISPUTES.

Glankler Brown’s attorneys have years of expertise in the design, funding, and administration of various types of employee benefit plans, including health and welfare benefit plans, pension plans, defined contribution and 401(k) plans, and cafeteria plans.

When litigation or disputes are imminent, our ERISA attorneys are well prepared to engage in a multiple types of litigation falling under ERISA’s broad reach. Our ERISA attorneys have represented employers, employees, plans, plan sponsors, third party administrators, insurers, providers, and others in a variety of ERISA related matters, including:

• Claims for health benefits under an ERISA qualified health plan regarding covered or non-covered health care and experimental procedures
• Claims for disability benefits under an ERISA qualified disability plan
• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Wrongful denial of benefits
• Claims involving prohibited transactions
• Breach of third party administrator services agreement
• Misrepresentation and nondisclosure claims
• Managed Care litigation
• Retiree welfare benefit claims
• Interference with protected rights
• Spousal rights
• COBRA Litigation
• Employee stock ownership plan disputes
• Spousal rights and qualified domestic relations orders

Our attorneys are intimately familiar with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), which is one of the largest and encompassing statutes ever passed by the federal government. We advise employers, plan sponsors, plan trustees, fiduciaries, third party administrators, insurers, financial institutions, mutual fund companies, and investment professionals on ERISA compliance and legal issues, including:

• Compliance with ERISA fiduciary duties
• Provider contract negotiation and preparation
• Third party administrator contract negotiation and preparation
• Drafting of employee benefit plans and Summary Plan Descriptions
• Amendment and termination of benefit plans
• Benefit Claims
• ERISA reporting and disclosure requirements
• ERISA recordkeeping requirements
• Negotiation and preparation of agreements with third party administrators for employee benefit plans
• Trust agreements and custodial arrangements
• Use of plan assets
• Selection and monitoring of service providers, such as trustees, recordkeepers, investment consultants and investment managers
• Negotiation and preparation of agreements with service providers
• Fiduciary audits
• HIPAA Compliance

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