Littler’s Employee Benefits practitioners regularly help clients design, document, review, and operate all types of ERISA and non-ERISA plans and arrangements, including health and welfare, retirement, supplemental retirement, employment, incentive bonus, and severance programs. Our focus is on the strategic importance of an employer’s benefits program to its overall success, and it is our job to ensure that the appropriate plan components are in place so that the client meets its business goals.
Few, if any, firms can match Littler’s experience or range of services. We have built a team of lawyers and other sophisticated benefits professionals with knowledge in every facet of employee benefits, from retirement plan design, administration, and governance to multiple and multiemployer plan issues, ERISA compliance, HIPAA privacy rules, tax rules, fiduciary issues, and litigation defense and avoidance.
ERISA and Benefits Plan Litigation
Employee benefits litigation continues to be a growing area of exposure for those involved in the design, administration, and funding of employee benefit plans. Changes in the applicable laws and case authority, the rising cost of employee benefits, and increases in the number of retirees and layoffs all drive growth in this area. Additionally, plaintiffs’ lawyers continue to press new theories of liability and pursue class-based claims, increasing the complexity—and thus the cost—of employee benefits lawsuits.
Littler’s Employee Benefits Litigation Practice Group is comprised of a core of practitioners experienced in litigating complex employee benefits issues, supported by a group of employee benefits lawyers with a wealth of experience counseling employers and designing benefit plans and programs. Members of the Group are not general litigators who handle ERISA cases when they surface. Rather, they are either litigators who focus their practice on ERISA issues or ERISA advisors who have significant litigation experience. When they are not litigating, our lawyers use their extensive knowledge and understanding of developing trends in ERISA case law to counsel clients on how to minimize the risk of litigation.
Executive compensation includes much more than salary and benefits. It is an executive recruiting and retention tool, which often contains retirement, severance, change of control, and “golden parachute” provisions that can impact an organization’s bottom line. Executive compensation is also a complex area of the law because it encompasses tax concerns, securities issues, and corporate governance matters, among others. Improper treatment of these matters can be enormously expensive to the employer, result in taxes and penalties being imposed on the executive, and create embarrassment in dealing with shareholders and board members. Because Littler practices exclusively in employment related matters, including labor, employment, and employee benefits, our experience in executive compensation is unparalleled.
Littler’s Executive Compensation practitioners have many years of experience developing and reviewing executive compensation plans and programs. A successful program must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, while simultaneously meeting a company’s business goals. With our extensive resources, we can provide employers with comprehensive, sophisticated and efficient services, minimizing time and costs while enhancing the relationship between executive and corporate performance.