The main kinds of ERISA cases
The federal law known as ERISA governs most private-sector employee benefit plans, including retirement plans, pensions, and many health and disability plans. Some cases are claims for benefits by a participant or beneficiary. Others are fiduciary breach cases, where participants claim that the people running a plan failed to act prudently or loyally, for example in choosing investments or monitoring fees; these are often brought as class actions on behalf of the plan. There are also claims about interference with benefits and retaliation, and disputes between plans and service providers. Government plans and most church plans are generally outside ERISA, and those disputes follow different rules.
How ERISA cases are different from ordinary lawsuits
ERISA largely displaces state-law claims related to covered plans, so a case that looks like breach of contract or bad faith is often treated as an ERISA claim instead. Remedies are more limited than in many civil cases, and jury trials are generally not available. In benefit cases, the plan's internal appeal is usually required first, and the court often reviews the plan's decision based on the record assembled there. In fiduciary cases, the plan documents, committee minutes, and investment policy statements tend to be the core evidence, and plan sponsors facing claims should preserve those materials immediately and notify any fiduciary insurance carrier.
Where we start
For participants, we ask for the plan document, the summary plan description, account statements, and any correspondence with the plan. You have a right to request many plan documents, and the plan has to respond. For plan sponsors and fiduciaries, we review governance records, the service provider arrangements, and the demand or complaint, then consider whether a response to the claims, a review of plan practices, or both is warranted. In either role, the first conversation sets out what kind of claim this really is, because that determines the forum, the standard of review, and how long the matter may take.
