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How Morgan Lewis Proved That Capozzi's Purported 'Excessive' Fee Case Was Implausible

"[There are] lessons that can be learned from Morgan Lewis's masterful dismissal motion. These defense tactics apply to many of the illegitimate purported excessive fee lawsuits based on exaggerated and inaccurate data.... The only potentially legitimate excessive recordkeeping claim is if it is based on the rule 408b2 or 404a5 fee disclosures, and compared to the accurate fee disclosures of other companies with similar recordkeeping services. But the vast majority of lawsuits use deceptive Form 5500 inflated data." [Morales v Capital One Fin. Corp., No 21-1454 (E.D. Va. May 27, 2022)]

Morgan Lewis on ESOPs, November 2005 Edition (PDF)

6 pages. This edition covers: Best Plan Practices for Retirement Plans Holding Company Stock; and, Mckesson Revisited Yet Again – District Court Applies a Bright-Line Test to Exempt ESOP Fiduciaries from Liability for Failure to Diversify.

Morgan Lewis on ESOPs –- September 2005 (PDF)

5 pages. Excerpt: The issue contains articles titled: IRS issues proposed regulations denying deduction for redemption of stock held by an ESOP; A growing split among federal courts on the right of participants in individual account plans to recover losses from fiduciary breaches; The Delaware chancery court rejects Disney shareholders' claims; Mckesson revisited; and, New SEC rules may benefit public ESOP companies.

ISS Releases Four Sets of FAQs, Glass Lewis Provides an Update, and FASB and IASB Make Certain Decisions Relevant to Equity Compensation Plans (PDF)

"ISS [has] issued additional frequently asked questions on 'Selected Topics,' which ... are effective for annual meetings after February 1, 2015.... Glass Lewis [has] announced ... certain 'enhancements' to performance metrics that it uses in its US and Canadian pay-for-performance models and its US equity plan model ... FASB [has] added to its agenda a project to improve and simplify accounting for stock compensation under FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 718.... [And IASB has] proposed changes to also address the classification of share-based payment transactions where a portion of the shares are withheld for taxes.... Each of these accounting developments is likely to have some impact on equity awards and/or equity compensation plans."

These Top Law Firms Got the Most ERISA Class Action Biz

"The law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius tops the list of law firms getting the most business from large employers hit with ERISA class actions in the past year. Since November 2015, Morgan Lewis has been hired to represent employers in 19 [ERISA] class actions, according to Bloomberg BNA's research.... O'Melveny & Myers LLP closely follows."

The Ultimate FBAR Due Date Chart (PDF)

Given the number of extensions that have been provided to potential FBAR filers, [Morgan Lewis has] created the Ultimate FBAR Due Date Chart. [Editor's note: the article was revised January 4, 2013. This link, originally posted on June 21, 2011, has been revised to point to the revised version.]

Supreme Court Endorses Governing Standard for Mutual Fund Fees Cases Under Investment Company Act: An ERISA Perspective (PDF)

5 pages. Excerpt: On March 30, in Jones v. Harris Associates L.P., No. 08-586, __ U.S. __, 2010 WL 1189560 (Mar. 30, 2010), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the Second Circuit's analysis in Gartenberg v.Merrill Lynch Asset Management, Inc., 694 F.2d 923 (2d Cir. 1982), as the standard by which the fees mutual funds pay to their investment advisers should be evaluated under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ICA). On March 31, Morgan Lewis's Investment Management Practice issued an analysis of the case from a fund management perspective, 'Supreme Court Affirms Gartenberg Standard in Unanimous Decision in Jones v. Harris Associates L.P.' This LawFlash focuses instead on the implications the Jones case may have under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008: Impact of the Historic New Law

Morgan Lewis provides a summary and practice-specific comments as useful resources on the Act.

Multiemployer Pension Relief Expected by March 14

"The US Senate on March 6 passed the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (EPPRA) ... Because the Senate made some last-minute changes to EPPRA, the bill now moves back to the House, where it will be revoted on March 9. The Biden administration hopes to have the package signed into law before March 14."

2013 Proxies and Compensation: Managing the Risk of Litigation and Evaluating Best Practices (PDF)

Webinar slides. Topics include: Selecting the best practices that will most effectively convey your company's message; Managing executive compensation litigation concerns; Addressing Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis 2013 policies; and Evaluating compensation committee independence and compensation consultant conflicts of interest.