The ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Employee Benefits Committee continues to adapt to the continued curve balls COVID-19 throws our way. Just when we expected things to be back to normal, another variant emerged, and the difficult decision was made to postpone the 2022 Employee Benefits Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans. Thankfully, the dedicated Co-Chairs of the Employee Benefits Committee organized a series of CLE webinars to cover some of the material that would have been discussed at the Midwinter Meeting. We hope we will be able to present the 2023 Midwinter Meeting in person. With these changes and the continued effects of COVID-19, your Co-Editors felt it best to take a quarter off from publication until we could provide our readers with more substantive legal developments of interest in the employee benefits field. We know absence makes the heart grow fonder, and we are proud to bring you the following offerings in the Spring 2022 Edition of the Employee Benefits Committee Newsletter:
May 09, 2022
About This Issue
- Bruce Perlin takes the opportunity to introduce himself to readership since assuming his position as Public Co-Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee on September 1, 2021;
- Christina Hennecken, at Goodwin Procter LLP covers the Supreme Court’s decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University and its potential impact on pleading standards in excessive fee litigation with up-to-date analysis of how the decision is being applied by lower courts;
- Jeffrey Swyers and Kristina Salamoun at Slevin & Hart, P.C. discuss recent updates to successor liability in connection with withdrawal liability through the Second Circuit’s New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund, et al. v. C& S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.;
- Michael Stoyanovich, Vice President at CDPSE and Senior Consultant at Segal provides us with an overview of the U.S. Department of Labor’s guidance regarding vendor cybersecurity best practices for plan sponsors;
- Kimberly A. Jones and Stephanie L. Gutwein at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP discuss recent court decisions addressing the enforceability of arbitration provisions in ERISA plans and provide guidance to plan sponsors that are considering including arbitration provisions in their plans; and
- Paul M. Hamburger and Andrea Ewalefo at Proskauer graciously allowed the Co-Editors to reprint an article concerning the updated advice from the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration’s guidance advising plan fiduciaries to tread cautiously when considering allowing cryptocurrency and other digital assets as an investment option.
We would like to introduce the newest EBC Newsletter co-editor to the team: Claire W. Bushorn Danzl, plaintiff-side sole practitioner in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Employee Benefits Committee Newsletter is always seeking contributions from Committee members about recent developments, upcoming books or opportunities, and other news of interest. Because the Committee represents all perspectives, we are looking for thoughtful articles from a balanced perspective. Please submit new articles or ideas to the EBC Newsletter Co-Editors for consideration.
Finally, on the off-chance you are reading this from the ABA website, please remove any restrictions on your email preferences on your ABA Member account settings if you would like to receive the Newsletter and other notices directly from the Section via email when they are published.
EBC Newsletter Co-Editors:
Claire W. Bushorn Danzl
Michael N. Khalil
Richard E. Nowak
Douglas M. Selwyn