ERISA Litigation
Experienced advocacy in complex employee benefit disputes
Nelson Mullins represents plan sponsors, fiduciaries, service providers, executives, and companies as well as employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) trustees, investment funds, fund sponsors, and investment managers in complex disputes involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and related employee benefit laws. These matters often involve not only technical benefits issues, but also significant business, financial, operational, and reputational considerations.
Our attorneys bring together ERISA litigation experience, practical benefits counseling, and a clear understanding of how employee benefit disputes affect employers, fiduciaries, plans, and participants. We regularly handle fiduciary breach claims, excessive fee and prohibited transaction litigation, withdrawal liability disputes, benefits claims, and class action matters involving retirement, health, and welfare plans. Our practice also includes disputes involving ESOPs and ERISA issues arising from the investment and management of plan assets through investment funds.
We work closely with clients to understand the plan governance, business, and administrative facts underlying each dispute. Our approach is practical and results-oriented, with a focus on developing litigation strategies that reflect both the legal issues and the client’s broader business objectives.
ERISA Litigation
Nelson Mullins guides clients through complex disputes under ERISA and, in the case of governmental and church plans, related federal and state laws. Our attorneys represent clients in a wide range of matters, including:
- Breach of fiduciary duty claims involving plan sponsors, fiduciary committees, trustees, public retirement systems, and service providers.
- Claims for benefits under retirement, health, disability, life insurance, and welfare plans.
- Withdrawal liability and multiemployer pension plan disputes.
- Excessive fee litigation and prohibited transaction claims.
- ESOP disputes involving stock valuation, transactions in employer securities, trustee responsibilities, and alleged fiduciary breaches or prohibited transactions.
- Investment fund disputes involving ERISA plan assets, fiduciary status, investment management, fees, conflicts of interest, and prohibited transactions.
- Class action lawsuits involving ERISA-covered plans and non-ERISA benefit arrangements.
- Disputes involving plan interpretation, administrative claims procedures, fiduciary governance, and plan operations.
- Litigation involving governmental and church plans, including disputes arising under state law, constitutional provisions, sovereign immunity principles, and statutory benefit protections.
Our attorneys understand the unique features of ERISA litigation, including ERISA preemption, standards of review, administrative exhaustion, fiduciary status, available remedies, class certification, and the limits of equitable relief. We also understand that many benefit disputes are shaped by plan governance, committee process, vendor relationships, transaction history, and administrative practices. We use that perspective to help clients develop defenses that are both legally sound and factually grounded.
Fiduciary Litigation and Class Action Defense
Nelson Mullins defends fiduciaries, plan sponsors, committees, trustees, and service providers in litigation involving alleged breaches of ERISA’s duties of prudence and loyalty. These matters may involve investment selection and monitoring, plan fees and expenses, prohibited transactions, employer stock, administrative practices, claims procedures, participant communications, and fiduciary governance.
We assist clients at each stage of litigation, including early case assessment, motion practice, discovery strategy, expert development, mediation, settlement evaluation, trial preparation, and appeal. We also help clients evaluate the collateral business and fiduciary implications that may arise during active litigation.
ESOP Litigation
Nelson Mullins represents ESOP sponsors, trustees, fiduciaries, and companies in disputes involving ESOP transactions and administration. These matters may involve the valuation of employer securities, stock purchase and sale transactions, transaction financing, alleged overpayment, prohibited transactions, and the selection and oversight of valuation and other service providers.
ESOP disputes often require close examination of the transaction process, financial projections, valuation assumptions, and the information available to fiduciaries when decisions were made. Our litigators and employee benefits attorneys work together to evaluate those issues, develop litigation strategies, and address the implications for the ESOP, the sponsoring company, and ongoing business operations.
Investment Funds and ERISA
Nelson Mullins advises and represents investment funds, fund sponsors, investment managers, and plan fiduciaries in ERISA matters involving investments by employee benefit plans. Our work includes counseling and disputes concerning plan asset status, fiduciary responsibilities, prohibited transactions and applicable exemptions, investment management arrangements, fees and expenses, and conflicts of interest.
We assist clients in evaluating ERISA considerations in fund structures, offering and subscription documents, investment management agreements, and transactions involving benefit plan investors. When disputes arise, we bring together litigation, employee benefits, and investment fund experience to address the fund’s structure, the parties’ respective roles, and the investment decisions or transactions at issue.
Benefits Claims Litigation
Nelson Mullins represents clients in disputes involving claims for benefits under retirement, health, disability, life insurance, severance, and other employee benefit plans. We assist clients with litigation involving plan interpretation, claim denials, administrative record issues, exhaustion requirements, standards of review, remedies, and preemption.
We also counsel clients on how plan documents, summary plan descriptions, claims procedures, committee records, and administrative practices may affect the defense of benefit claims. That experience allows us to help clients address both the immediate dispute and the underlying process issues that may create future litigation risk.
Withdrawal Liability and Multiemployer Plan Disputes
Nelson Mullins represents employers in withdrawal liability and multiemployer pension plan disputes, including matters involving withdrawal liability assessments, controlled group liability, successor liability, alter ego claims, partial withdrawals, mass withdrawal issues, arbitration, and settlement negotiations.
These disputes often require a practical understanding of ERISA, corporate structure, transactions, collective bargaining relationships, pension plan funding, and business operations. We work with clients to evaluate both the legal defenses and the economic realities of the dispute.
Governmental and Church Plan Litigation
Nelson Mullins also represents clients in disputes involving governmental plans, church plans, and other benefit arrangements that may be exempt from ERISA but subject to other statutory, contractual, constitutional, or fiduciary standards. These matters may involve state law claims, constitutional protections, sovereign immunity defenses, public retirement system issues, benefit accrual disputes, and challenges to plan amendments or administrative determinations.
Our attorneys understand that non-ERISA benefit disputes can present a different litigation framework from ERISA-covered plans. We help clients identify the applicable statutory and common law standards, evaluate available defenses, and develop litigation strategies tailored to the plan and the governing legal framework.
Fiduciary Counseling and Litigation Risk Management
In addition to defending active disputes, Nelson Mullins advises boards, committees, fiduciaries, and plan sponsors on strategies to reduce litigation risk. This includes counseling on:
- Fiduciary committee structure and governance
- Benefit committee charters and fiduciary policies
- Investment oversight and service provider review processes
- ESOP fiduciary processes, trustee selection and oversight, and documentation of valuation and transaction decisions
- ERISA considerations for investment funds, including plan asset monitoring, prohibited transaction exemptions, and management of conflicts of interest
- Plan document and summary plan description issues
- Claims procedures and administrative record practices
- Participant communications and plan amendment processes
- Indemnification and fiduciary liability insurance considerations
Our goal is to help clients build and document prudent fiduciary processes before disputes arise, while also positioning them to defend those processes effectively if litigation occurs.
Our attorneys bring together ERISA litigation experience, practical benefits counseling, and a clear understanding of how employee benefit disputes affect employers, fiduciaries, plans, and participants. We regularly handle fiduciary breach claims, excessive fee and prohibited transaction litigation, withdrawal liability disputes, benefits claims, and class action matters involving retirement, health, and welfare plans. Our practice also includes disputes involving ESOPs and ERISA issues arising from the investment and management of plan assets through investment funds.
We work closely with clients to understand the plan governance, business, and administrative facts underlying each dispute. Our approach is practical and results-oriented, with a focus on developing litigation strategies that reflect both the legal issues and the client’s broader business objectives.
ERISA Litigation
Nelson Mullins guides clients through complex disputes under ERISA and, in the case of governmental and church plans, related federal and state laws. Our attorneys represent clients in a wide range of matters, including:
- Breach of fiduciary duty claims involving plan sponsors, fiduciary committees, trustees, public retirement systems, and service providers.
- Claims for benefits under retirement, health, disability, life insurance, and welfare plans.
- Withdrawal liability and multiemployer pension plan disputes.
- Excessive fee litigation and prohibited transaction claims.
- ESOP disputes involving stock valuation, transactions in employer securities, trustee responsibilities, and alleged fiduciary breaches or prohibited transactions.
- Investment fund disputes involving ERISA plan assets, fiduciary status, investment management, fees, conflicts of interest, and prohibited transactions.
- Class action lawsuits involving ERISA-covered plans and non-ERISA benefit arrangements.
- Disputes involving plan interpretation, administrative claims procedures, fiduciary governance, and plan operations.
- Litigation involving governmental and church plans, including disputes arising under state law, constitutional provisions, sovereign immunity principles, and statutory benefit protections.
Our attorneys understand the unique features of ERISA litigation, including ERISA preemption, standards of review, administrative exhaustion, fiduciary status, available remedies, class certification, and the limits of equitable relief. We also understand that many benefit disputes are shaped by plan governance, committee process, vendor relationships, transaction history, and administrative practices. We use that perspective to help clients develop defenses that are both legally sound and factually grounded.
Fiduciary Litigation and Class Action Defense
Nelson Mullins defends fiduciaries, plan sponsors, committees, trustees, and service providers in litigation involving alleged breaches of ERISA’s duties of prudence and loyalty. These matters may involve investment selection and monitoring, plan fees and expenses, prohibited transactions, employer stock, administrative practices, claims procedures, participant communications, and fiduciary governance.
We assist clients at each stage of litigation, including early case assessment, motion practice, discovery strategy, expert development, mediation, settlement evaluation, trial preparation, and appeal. We also help clients evaluate the collateral business and fiduciary implications that may arise during active litigation.
ESOP Litigation
Nelson Mullins represents ESOP sponsors, trustees, fiduciaries, and companies in disputes involving ESOP transactions and administration. These matters may involve the valuation of employer securities, stock purchase and sale transactions, transaction financing, alleged overpayment, prohibited transactions, and the selection and oversight of valuation and other service providers.
ESOP disputes often require close examination of the transaction process, financial projections, valuation assumptions, and the information available to fiduciaries when decisions were made. Our litigators and employee benefits attorneys work together to evaluate those issues, develop litigation strategies, and address the implications for the ESOP, the sponsoring company, and ongoing business operations.
Investment Funds and ERISA
Nelson Mullins advises and represents investment funds, fund sponsors, investment managers, and plan fiduciaries in ERISA matters involving investments by employee benefit plans. Our work includes counseling and disputes concerning plan asset status, fiduciary responsibilities, prohibited transactions and applicable exemptions, investment management arrangements, fees and expenses, and conflicts of interest.
We assist clients in evaluating ERISA considerations in fund structures, offering and subscription documents, investment management agreements, and transactions involving benefit plan investors. When disputes arise, we bring together litigation, employee benefits, and investment fund experience to address the fund’s structure, the parties’ respective roles, and the investment decisions or transactions at issue.
Benefits Claims Litigation
Nelson Mullins represents clients in disputes involving claims for benefits under retirement, health, disability, life insurance, severance, and other employee benefit plans. We assist clients with litigation involving plan interpretation, claim denials, administrative record issues, exhaustion requirements, standards of review, remedies, and preemption.
We also counsel clients on how plan documents, summary plan descriptions, claims procedures, committee records, and administrative practices may affect the defense of benefit claims. That experience allows us to help clients address both the immediate dispute and the underlying process issues that may create future litigation risk.
Withdrawal Liability and Multiemployer Plan Disputes
Nelson Mullins represents employers in withdrawal liability and multiemployer pension plan disputes, including matters involving withdrawal liability assessments, controlled group liability, successor liability, alter ego claims, partial withdrawals, mass withdrawal issues, arbitration, and settlement negotiations.
These disputes often require a practical understanding of ERISA, corporate structure, transactions, collective bargaining relationships, pension plan funding, and business operations. We work with clients to evaluate both the legal defenses and the economic realities of the dispute.
Governmental and Church Plan Litigation
Nelson Mullins also represents clients in disputes involving governmental plans, church plans, and other benefit arrangements that may be exempt from ERISA but subject to other statutory, contractual, constitutional, or fiduciary standards. These matters may involve state law claims, constitutional protections, sovereign immunity defenses, public retirement system issues, benefit accrual disputes, and challenges to plan amendments or administrative determinations.
Our attorneys understand that non-ERISA benefit disputes can present a different litigation framework from ERISA-covered plans. We help clients identify the applicable statutory and common law standards, evaluate available defenses, and develop litigation strategies tailored to the plan and the governing legal framework.
Fiduciary Counseling and Litigation Risk Management
In addition to defending active disputes, Nelson Mullins advises boards, committees, fiduciaries, and plan sponsors on strategies to reduce litigation risk. This includes counseling on:
- Fiduciary committee structure and governance
- Benefit committee charters and fiduciary policies
- Investment oversight and service provider review processes
- ESOP fiduciary processes, trustee selection and oversight, and documentation of valuation and transaction decisions
- ERISA considerations for investment funds, including plan asset monitoring, prohibited transaction exemptions, and management of conflicts of interest
- Plan document and summary plan description issues
- Claims procedures and administrative record practices
- Participant communications and plan amendment processes
- Indemnification and fiduciary liability insurance considerations
Our goal is to help clients build and document prudent fiduciary processes before disputes arise, while also positioning them to defend those processes effectively if litigation occurs.
Our ERISA litigation team brings together:
- Attorneys who regularly defend fiduciary, benefits, and withdrawal liability claims in federal courts and arbitration proceedings.
- Employee benefits attorneys with deep experience advising plan sponsors, fiduciaries, executives, and service providers on ERISA compliance, governance, and transactions.
- Trial lawyers, tax and benefits practitioners, and regulatory counsel who collaborate to address the legal, factual, and business issues that often arise in employee benefit disputes.
- A practical, business-focused approach to resolving disputes efficiently while protecting the client’s legal and strategic interests.
