ERISA litigation is not for beginners. Jones Day's ERISA Litigation Team includes partners with more than 90 years of combined ERISA litigation experience who have argued before federal district and federal circuit courts of appeal throughout the United States. The three partners who lead this practice, Jim Baker, Evan Miller, and Steve Sacher, have successfully litigated a number of cases that established basic precedent on ERISA fiduciary duties. Chambers USA (2008) ranked Jones Day's ERISA Litigation Practice as one of the top ten practices in the United States. We emphasize prevention at Jones Day. Keeping our clients out of court is our priority. We try to keep our clients safe by providing them with practical advice as to scenarios that most likely will trigger litigation, how courts interpret complicated employee benefits laws, and best practices a company can employ to reduce its risk of liability. But when litigation looms, we have the experience, skill, and bench strength to protect our clients.

• We are full-time litigators with solid ERISA procedural and substantive experience. We are not benefits lawyers throwing advice at general civil litigators nor general civil litigators who, from time to time, are dragooned into handling an ERISA case.
  
• In representing our clients in employee benefit litigation, we work closely with our colleagues in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group, over 50 lawyers focused solely on this area in one of the largest employee benefits practices in the United States.
  
• Our team includes former U.S. Department of Labor attorneys, including partner Steve Sacher, a former Associate Solicitor (ERISA) of the U.S. Department of Labor, and Sara Pikofsky, a former trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor.
  
• We have a track record of successfully winning these cases through motions or reaching favorable settlements.

Coverage

• Class action ESOP and 401(k) plan employer "stock drop" cases.
  
• 401(k) "excess" service provider fee cases.
  
• Imprudence and prohibited transaction claims under ERISA.
  
• Cash balance and other qualified retirement plan controversies.
  
• U.S. Department of Labor fiduciary investigations.
  
• Preemption controversies.
  
• Benefit claims.
  
• Federal agency investigations.
  
• Executive compensation disputes involving Rabbi Trusts, "Top Hat" plans, equity compensation, and other kinds of deferred compensation arrangements.
  
• Class action and multi-district litigation.
  
• Disputes involving claims against plan service providers.
  
• Amicus curiae briefs on employee benefit issues of general importance to plan fiduciaries, plan sponsors, service providers, and trade associations.