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Practice Area
As a firm of choice for many major businesses, we represent employers, fiduciaries, boards of directors, benefit plans, and plan administrators in all aspects of ERISA litigation, including claims relating to fiduciary liability, plan investments, excessive fees, plan qualification, plan termination, reversion of excess assets, retiree medical benefits, severance and employment contract matters, tax liability matters, and retirement and welfare benefit claims.
Practice Area
Securities, M&A & Corporate Governance Litigation
In today’s market, litigators with experience in securities, corporate governance, and M&A-related (collectively, “securities litigation”) matters need to leverage their broad experience to serve as both advocate and as counsel and strategist, focused on helping clients to overcome not just a legal issue but a collective business problem. Given the frequent interplay between things such as corporate-control transactions, public offerings, activist shareholders, the use of complex derivatives and other financial instruments, bad news impacting stock performance, regulatory inquiries and investigations, and insurance coverage, strategic and tactical litigation decisions can have a wide-ranging impact on the success of a given transaction, as well as on companies, their boards, senior management, and advisors.
Practice Area
Our Labor & Employment Practice is one of the largest and most experienced practices among the country’s multi-disciplined law firms. Our attorneys represent global employers of all types and sizes—ranging from the Fortune 100 to privately held startups—often serving as national, regional, or preferred counsel to many of these major employers.
Insights & News 213 results
Benefits Blast
|March 19, 2025
|2 Min Read
Department of Labor Increases Civil Penalties for Noncompliance
Effective January 15, 2025, the United States Department of Labor increased its ERISA health and welfare civil penalties for noncompliance.
Benefits Blast
|March 13, 2025
|2 Min Read
Since late 2023, there has been a surge in litigation challenging the use of forfeitures in retirement plans.
In the Media
|March 10, 2025
|2 Min Read
Erin Weber Highlights Two Employee Benefits Cases for Attorneys to Watch in March with Law360
Winston & Strawn partner Erin Weber was quoted in a Law360 article analyzing two appellate arguments happening in March that employee benefits attorneys should watch for. Erin discussed a Johnson & Johnson case presenting arguments to a Third Circuit panel, and a case where the Second Circuit will hear arguments from pensioners at IBM.
Other Results 15 results
Law Glossary
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is a federal law from 1974 that governs how employers provide benefit plans to employees. ERISA is administered in part by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Labor. The law establishes requirements and guidelines for employers and benefit plan managers, trustees and certain other service providers. ERISA ensures minimum standards are set for the majority of private industry pension and health plans, as well as other benefit plans such as life insurance. Under ERISA, employees must be notified of benefit plan terms, including funding, coverage, and costs. Employees are also offered protections against fiduciary wrongdoing. Plan participants or the DOL may be able to sue plan fiduciaries if plans are mismanaged or if plan fiduciaries engage in conduct prohibited under ERISA, and plan participants may sue for unpaid benefits.
Law Glossary
What Is a Qualified Retirement Plan?
A qualified retirement plan is a retirement plan established by an employer that is designed to provide retirement income to designated employees and their beneficiaries, which meets certain IRS Code requirements in terms of both form and operation. Common plan types are 401(k) plans, pension plans, and profit-sharing plans. A qualified retirement plan may allow for both employer and employee contributions. Employers must follow procedures to ensure participants and beneficiaries are able to receive their benefits. They must also stay apprised of changes in retirement plan laws and regulations. Qualified retirement plans provide certain tax advantages to employers and tax deferral advantages to employees who are contributing. Taxes on earnings from the contributions are also deferred until the employee withdraws them from the plan.