fiduciary liability

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Alexander Hopkins

One of the most important developments in the business, economic and financial arenas has been the recent emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The advent of the AI era has also presented novel legal issues and has presented regulators with a host of potential challenges. In the following guest post, Alexander Hopkins takes a look at the developing efforts of a variety of governmental regulators to address the issues that AI presents, and considers the implications of these regulatory developments for the liabilities of corporate directors and officers. Alex is Of Counsel at the Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. law firm. I would like to thank Alex for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site.Continue Reading Guest Post: Global AI Regulations: D&O Liability Implications in a Changing Legal Landscape

Sarah Abrams

In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams, Head of Claims Baleen Specialty, a division of Bowhead Specialty, takes a look at President Trump’s recent Executive Order designed to expand the investment options available in 401(k) and other defined-contribution retirement plans, and considers the Order’s potential implications for ERISA liability and insurance. I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post contributions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Sarah’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Will I Ever Retire?

Larry Fine

In the following guest post, Larry Fine takes a look at the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 2025 decision in the Cornell University ERISA fiduciary liability case. Larry is Management Liability Coverage Leader, Willis FINEX. A version of this article previously was published as a WTW client alert. I would like to thank Larry for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Larry’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Why the Supreme Court’s Cornell Decision May Not Have a Major Effect on ERISA Fiduciary Exposure

Just a few years ago, ESG was one of the most important themes in the corporate and securities world. Companies were under pressure to demonstrate their sustainability qualifications and otherwise establish their ESG credentials. But then came the ESG backlash, and many companies found (and, indeed, continue to find) themselves attacked for their ESG efforts. The backlash has taken the form both of legislation and litigation. And while the ESG backlash litigation claimants have not always done well, there have also been some notable recent successes.

The most recent ESG backlash litigation success is in the ERISA liability action that an American Airlines pilot filed against American Airlines and its Employee Benefits Committee. In a January 10, 2025, post-trial decision (here), the court ruled, following a four-day evidentiary hearing, that the defendants had violated their duties of loyalty by encouraging employee 401(k) investment in BlackRock ESG funds. The court’s opinion is harsh in its criticism of the airline for advancing its corporate interest in ESG over the interests of the plan participants and for failing to examine and address the company’s conflicted relationship with BlackRock.  Continue Reading Plan Fiduciaries’ ESG Efforts Breached ERISA Duty of Loyalty, Court Holds

One of the more notable fiduciary liability trends in recent years has been the wave of employer-sponsored retirement account excess fee litigation. In the following guest post, Neil R. Morrison, Lars Golumbic, and Kara Petteway Wheatley take a look at a possible new fiduciary liability trend – health plan fee litigation. Neil is an Associate Vice President and Claims Counsel at Sompo, North America in Morristown, N.J., and Lars Golumbic and Kara Petteway Wheatley are Principals at Groom Law Group, Chartered in Washington, D.C. This article was originally published by Mealey’s Litigation Report: ERISA.  I would like to thank the authors for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the authors’ article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Health Plan Fee Litigation: The Next Wave of ERISA Litigation?

The current disruption to normal business operations across the country means that many businesses will soon be under significant financial pressure, if they are not there already. As their companies edge toward insolvency, directors are going to have to make significant decisions about the companies and their operations. Boards may be concerned, as they make critical and difficult decisions, that creditors or others may later attempt to claim that they violated their legal duties.  This concern in turn leads to the question about exactly what duties directors face as their companies approach insolvency.
Continue Reading Cash-Crunched Companies Face Insolvency; Will Directors Face Claims?

sup ct 5ERISA plan fiduciaries have a continuing duty to monitor selected plan investments and to remove imprudent investment selections, according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous May 18, 2015 opinion in Tibble v. Edison International. Although the Court affirmed the fiduciary duty to monitor, it otherwise left the development of the duty’s contours to be delineated…

dolAccording to a June 23, 2014 Wall Street Journal article entitled “U.S. Increases Scrutiny of Employee-Stock Ownership Plans” (here), the federal government is “stepping up scrutiny of how U.S. companies are valued for employee-stock ownership plans.” This increased scrutiny includes increased litigation activity, often alleging that ESOP share valuations are flawed. The targets …