Affiliations

• American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section, Employee Benefits Committee; Litigation Section) (past contributor to, and editor of, Benefits Law Treatise)
• Federal Bar Association
   

Representative Engagements

Representative Amicus Engagements

United States Supreme Court

• LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Assoc., No. 06-856 (ERISA remedies) (representation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Financial Services Roundtable)
• Kentucky Association of Health Plans. v. Miller, No. 00-1471 (U.S. S. Ct.) (ERISA preemption) (representation of Society of Human Resource Management)

Courts of Appeals

• Winnett v. Caterpillar, Inc., 553 F.3d 1000 (6th Cir.) (retiree health benefits) (representation of American Benefits Counsel, National Association of Manufacturers, HR Policy Association)

Representative Cases

Selected Class Actions

• Bentley v. Bakers Life & Casualty Co.,No. 99 cv 8262 (N.D. Ill) (ERISA independent contractor claims).
• Bland v. Fiatallis NorthAmerica, Inc., No. 401 F3d 779 (retiree medical benefits)
• Carney v. CNH Health & Welfare Plan, No. 305 Wis.2d 443 (Milwaukee, WI County Cir. Ct.) (retiree life insurance benefits contempt claim)
• Colesberry v. Ruiz Food Products, Inc., 04-5516 (E. D. Calif.) (ESOP claims challenging employer stock sale)
• Delaney v. Jackson Park Hospital, No. 07-6222 (N.D. ILL) (FLSA/state law overtime pay)
• Downes v. Wisconsin Energy Corp. Retirement Account Plan, No. 09-637 (E.D. Wisc.) (cash balance “whipsaw” and other ERISA benefits claims)
• Fletcher v. ZLB Behring, LLC, No. 05-2695 (N.D. Ill.) (ERISA fiduciary breach and Section 510; state law fraud)
• Folck, Smith, Wilson v. Farmers Ins. Group Employees’ Profit Sharing Plan Trust, Nos. 09-2116, 09-8288, 10-5089 (C.D. Calif.) (profit sharing overtime contribution claims)
• Gentile v. Municipality of Anchorage, 922 P2d 248 (Alaska S. Ct.) (public sector retiree health benefit claims)
• Goldiner v. Datex-Ohmeda Cash Balance Plan, No. 10-35523 (9th Cir.) (cash balance benefits upon partial plan termination)
• Martin v. Caterpillar Inc., No. 07-1009 (C.D. Ill.) (401(k) fee and investment claims)
• Mauldin. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85189 (N.D. Ga.) (Title VII and PDA medical benefit plan challenge to non-coverage of prescription contraceptives)
• Ruppert v. Alliant Energy Cash Balance Pension Plan, No. 08-127 (W.D. Wisc.) (cash balance “whipsaw” claim)

Selected Reported Decisions

• Allen v. Baxter International, Inc., 37 Empl. Ben. Cases (BNA) 2843 (N.D. Ill.) (severance benefits)
• Bland v. Fiatallis North America, Inc., 29 Empl. Ben. Cases (BNA) 2527, 2530 (N.D. Ill.) (return of privileged documents/ERISA fiduciary exception to attorney/client privilege); 30 Empl. Ben. Cases (BNA) 1727 (N.D. Ill.) (ERISA preemption; scope of remedies)
• Brach’s Confections, Inc. v. McDougall, 2004 WL 1244036 (N.D. Ill.) (ERISA withdrawal liability disclosure obligations), later decision, 33 Empl. Ben. Cases (BNA) 1945 (N.D. Ill.)
• Brown v. American Life Holdings, Inc., 190 F.3d 856 (8th Cir.) (ERISA disclosure requirements/fiduciary statute of limitations)
• Central States Pension Fund v. Georgia-Pacific LLC, 639 F.3d 757 (7th Cir.) (ERISA Section 4204; withdrawal liability)
• Cheeseman v. Baxter International Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69093 (D. N.J.) (ERISA disability benefits)
• EEOC v. Schneider National, Inc., 481 F.3d 507 (7th Cir.) (ADA coverage issues)
• Feinberg v. Rand McNally & Co. Supplemental Pension Plan, 629 F.3d 671 (7th Cir.) (ERISA SERP and Section 510)
• Flick v. Borg-Warner Corp., 892 F.2d 285 (3d Cir.) (ERISA severance benefits)
• Hakim v. Accenture United States Pension Plan, 2011 U.S. Dist LEXIS 11143; 47 Empl. Ben. Cases (BNA) 2137 and 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83335 (N.D. Ill.) (ERISA Section 204(h) claim); release defense)
• Hickey v. A.E. Staley Manufacturing Co., 995 F.2d 1385 (7th Cir.) (ERISA severance benefits)
• Krauel v. Iowa Methodist Medical Center, 95 F.3d 674 (8th Cir. ) (ADA/Title VII/PDA fertility treatment medical plan exclusion challenge)
• Leahy v. Page Engineering Co., 1992 WL 51710 (N.D. Ill.) (retiree health benefits)
• Librizzi v. Children’s Memorial Medical Center, 134 F.3d 1302 (7th Cir.) (ERISA fiduciary duties/statute of limitations)
• National Metalcrafters v. McNeil, 784 F.2d 817 (7th Cir.) (NLRA/LMRA preemption)
• Ponsetti v. GE Pension Plan,614 F.3d 684 (7th Cir.) (competing ERISA plan beneficiaries)
• Prochotsky v. Baker & McKenzie, 966 F.2d 333 (7th Cir.) (Title VII res judicata/ERISA Section 510)
• White v. Employee Retirement Plan of Amoco Corp., 2000 WL 1221635, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13605 (N.D. Ill.) (pension benefits plan interpretation challenge) 

Publications

• “The Eighth Circuit Makes It Tougher to Mount An ADEA Challenge In Litigation Over Pension Plan Benefits,” workplaceclassaction.com (April 2012)
• “Public Sector Update:  New Hampshire Supreme Court Finds A Constitutional Right To A Pension Based On A Salary At the Point of Hire,” erisa-employeebenefitslitigationblog.com (April 2012)
• “Brave New World After Dukes - Judge Posner Endorses Hybrid Class Actions,” erisa-employeebenefitslitigationblog.com (February 2012)
• “Public Sector Update:  A Vested Right To Retiree Health Benefits May Be Implied From A County Ordinance Or Resolution,” erisa-employeebenefitslitigationblog.com (January 2012)
• “Second Circuit Decides When An ERISA 502(a)(3) Underpayment Of Benefits Claim Accrues And Conditions Class Certification On Individualized Accrual Decisions,” erisa-employeebenefitslitigationblog.com November 2011
• “On Reconsideration, Release Found to Bar ERISA Cutback Claim In Purported Class Action,” erisa-employeebenefitslitigationblog.com (October 2011)
• “Sale of Assets Exclusion from Withdrawal Liability Interpreted,” ifebp.org/exclusive (August 2011)
• "Is It Lawful Under ERISA to Make a Mistake?,” Benefits Law Journal (Winter 2010)
• “Moving to Dismiss ERISA Class Action Claims or Opposing Class Certification with a Section 413 ‘Actual Knowledge’ Defense,” Benefits Law Journal (Winter 2008)
• "Multiemployer Pension Plan Audits: Strategies for Employers During Heightened Auditing Activity," Benefits Law Journal (Summer 2007)
• “Should the Securities Exchange Act be the Sole Federal Remedy for an ERISA Fiduciary Misrepresentation of the Value of Public Employer Stock,” The John Marshall Law Review, Vol. 39 (Spring 2006)

Accolades

• Recognized as a leading lawyer for national ERISA Litigation Law in the 2009 and 2010 Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers; Fellow, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel