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Recent Developments in Employee Benefits Law (PDF)

10 pages. "This article surveys recent developments in employee benefits law from Fall 2018 through Fall 2019. In particular, this survey reviews six decisions issued by United States Circuit Courts of Appeals during this time frame. Last year, the Circuit Courts provided important analysis regarding ... the 'actual knowledge' standard under Section 413(2), the pleading standard of employer 'stock drop' lawsuits, cross-plan offsetting of overpayments, fee investment litigation, and mandatory arbitration provisions. This article surveys key cases from the last year on these topics."

Recent Developments in Employee Benefits Law (PDF)

"This article surveys recent developments in employee benefits law from fall 2013 through fall 2014.... The first portion of the survey reviews two important Supreme Court cases from last term, Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer and Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co. ... The second portion of the survey reviews eight important decisions issued by the appellate courts during the last year[.]"

Declaration of Independence: Preserving the Role of the Independent Fiduciary Post-Dudenhoeffer (PDF)

"In the wake of Fifth Third v. Dudenhoeffer, a complaint that seeks to hold an ERISA fiduciary liable for failing to divest a plan of employer stock based solely upon publicly available information fails to state a plausible claim. An 'independent' fiduciary -- by the nature of his outside status -- only has access to public information. For this reason, claims that an independent fiduciary breached his ERISA fiduciary duties in connection with publicly traded company stock necessarily fail post-Dudenhoeffer. The plaintiffs' bar may attempt to plead around this fatal flaw by claiming that appointing fiduciaries have some duty to 'disclose' nonpublic information to independent fiduciaries.... To impose such a disclosure obligation upon appointing fiduciaries would violate the securities laws or the 'objectives' of those laws, in direct contravention of the US Supreme Court's reasoning in Dudenhoeffer."

Illinois Supreme Court Affirms Constitutional Protection of Public Pensions (PDF)

"The state's principal argument ... was that a budgetary crisis necessitated the modifications to the pension benefits, thus trumping the protections afforded by the pension protection clause. The state argued that its exercise of the police power was reasonable and necessary in light of the dramatic squeeze on the state's finances due to the recent recession, the poor condition of the economy, and the deterioration of the state's credit rating. In a 7-0 opinion, the court forcefully rejected that defense." [In re Pension Reform Litigation, No. 118585 (Ill. May 8, 2015)]

Proposed Fiduciary Definition Creates More Questions Than Answers (PDF)

15 pages. "A large body of long-standing prohibited transaction exemptions is being displaced by a new series of complicated exemptions that interrelate with the new proposed rule, as well as the relevant statutes, in complex ways. The proposed changes take hundreds of pages to explain and, ultimately, create more questions than answers."

Living on a Prayer? Recent Challenges to the Church Plan Exemption from ERISA Coverage (PDF)

"Within the last year, at least five lawsuits have been filed challenging the application of the exemption to pension plans sponsored by nonprofit hospital systems affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. This article addresses the issues raised by those five lawsuits, recent decisions in those cases, and the potential impact of these lawsuits on the controversial church plan exemption."