LaRue and Its Implications: The Next Wave of ERISA Fiduciary Breach Litigation

The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in LaRue v. Dewolf Boberg & Assoc holds that participants in account-based plans have the right to sue plan administrators for damages caused by fiduciary breaches affecting their individual accounts. The plaintiff in LaRue claims that the employer’s 401k plan had mishandled his request to change investment options in his individual plan account. The LaRue decision signals a significant expansion in ERISA benefit plan litigation; it expands the remedies potentially available to plan participants in a variety of circumstances that implicate ERISA’s fiduciary duty rules.

Crowell & Moring represents the employer in LaRue. Please join a panel of Crowell & Moring ERISA, specialists, joined by Karen Handorf of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, a prominent ERISA plaintiff’s lawyer, as they review the Court’s decision in LaRue. The session will examine the implications for various types of ERISA litigation against employers, plan sponsors, and service providers to ERISA plans.

Additional Reading:

• "Ensuring Retirement Security," Los Angeles Daily Journal (December 14, 2007). Co-Authors: Thomas P. Gies and Jane Foster.
• Implications of LaRue: Recent and Pending Cases

Click for Panel Bios:
Tom Gies [PDF]
Karen Handorf [PDF]
Bill Flanagan
Jane Foster