These claims, usually brought as class actions, are typically intertwined with labor relations, securities, insurance coverage, and tax issues, and are often pursued in multiple venues, including before the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, and in the federal courts. Defending such claims, at trial and on appeal, requires litigators experienced with complex class suits, with a deep understanding of ERISA, and a sophisticated awareness of the types of ancillary issues that arise in such litigations. Those skills should be integrated within a firm with broad experience across the fields of labor relations, securities, insurance coverage, and tax, and with practitioners respected equally in the federal courts and the relevant governmental agencies.
Mayer Brown brings precisely this set of experience. Our lawyers have deep ERISA experience, with experience in every type of complex ERISA litigation, including claims of breach of fiduciary duty, ERISA "stock drop" claims, claims alleging the miscalculation of pension benefits, retiree welfare benefit claims, and employee benefit claims asserted by non-employees. Our appellate lawyers, many of whom are veterans of the Solicitor General's office, have represented employers and plan sponsors in ERISA cases in the United States Supreme Court and in numerous other appellate courts, and we have represented defendants in a large number of class actions. In addition, Mayer Brown attorneys are alumni of the Department of Labor, including the former Solicitor of the Department of Labor, and a former Solicitor's Office Honors Program attorney. Mayer Brown also has one of the most respected tax controversy litigation practices in the country, one of the fastest growing securities litigation groups in the country (according to Securities Law 360), and a very deep insurance coverage litigation practice. And our litigators work closely with our highly regarded group of employee benefits attorneys, who represent employers, sponsors, and others in non-litigation matters, and who help our litigators navigate the statutory and regulatory scheme governing benefit plans, and to understand the practical implications of arguments made in litigation.
Mayer Brown not only brings a breadth of experience and a depth of talented ERISA litigators, it also brings unparalleled client service. Mayer Brown is experienced in managing relationships with fiduciary liability carriers, and addressing concerns that arise in such cases. Further, our lawyers assist plan sponsors in responding to administrative claims made by plan participants, helping to craft answers that, if they do not dissuade the participant from pursuing the matter further, will at least put the sponsor in the best possible position in any subsequent lawsuit. Given this wide range of experience, we are exceptionally well-qualified to help clients deal with the controversies that ERISA still generates, more than 30 years after it was first adopted.