The FTC and Connecticut Join Forces for Action Against Nissan Dealer
An In-Depth Analysis of the CFPB’s Proposed Overdraft Rule - The Consumer Finance Podcast
The FTC Takes Initiative to Stop Junk Fees
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: The Biden Admin “Junk Fees” Initiative Continues: What the Latest Actions Mean for the Consumer Financial Services and Rental Housing Industries, Pt 1
AD Nauseam: Junk Fees Will Keep Us Together
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: What the Biden Administration’s “Junk Fees” Initiative Means for the Consumer Financial Services Industry: A Look at the Fees Under Attack, Part II
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: What the Biden Administration’s “Junk Fees” Initiative Means for the Consumer Financial Services Industry: A Look at the Fees Under Attack, Part I
Podcast - Junk Fees: It's a Political Issue
Podcast - Junk Fees: What's the Flap All About
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Close Look at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Credit Card Late Fees Proposal with Special Guest Todd J. Zywicki
Podcast: Supreme Court May Resolve Key ERISA Statute of Limitations and Proprietary Fund Litigation Questions
Podcast: Federal Court Rejects Mutual Fund Fee Claims and Recognizes Market Realities
A Supreme Court decision in April made it easier for plaintiffs to keep ERISA prohibited transaction claims in play longer, and just days later a rare ERISA trial resulted in a huge win for a class of 401(k) plan...more
Excessive fee cases against plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have been on the rise for the last decade. ERISA litigation is expanding with novel theories such as forfeiture litigation....more
For years, I observed that federal courts were growing weary of cases involving fee litigation, but then the Supreme Court changed that perspective....more
Certain transactions between employee benefit plans and “parties in interest” are prohibited under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). ...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion that has the potential to make it more difficult for defendants to have excess fee cases for 401(k) or 403(b) plans dismissed at an early stage of...more
In re Dell Techs. Inc. Class V S’holders Litig., No. 349, 2023 (Del. Aug. 14, 2024) - After an appeal of the second-largest fee award in Delaware history, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Chancery had...more
ERISA class action litigation against retirement plan fiduciaries remains a prominent feature of the legal landscape this year. These lawsuits typically involve allegations that plan fiduciaries acted imprudently in...more
Chavez v. Plan Benefit Services, Inc., 108 F.4th 297 (5th Cir. 2024), began when three employees of a single employer sued the service providers of their health and welfare benefit plan for allegedly charging excessive fees...more
On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit issued its opinion in Hughes v. Northwestern University, concluding that participants in two Northwestern 403(b) plans plausibly pled fiduciary-breach claims based on...more
On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an important decision affecting plan fiduciaries who select investment options available to participants in a self-directed employee retirement plan (such as a 401(k)...more
On January 24, 2022, in a rare, unanimous 8-0 decision (Justice Barrett recused herself from the case), the Supreme Court of the United States (the “Supreme Court”) vacated a Seventh Circuit affirmation of the dismissal of...more
In Hughes v. Northwestern University, current and former participants in Northwestern University's defined-contribution retirement plans filed litigation on behalf of the plans' participants asserting that the University, its...more
The February Monthly Minute examines the DOL’s recent focus on mental health parity compliance, the Hughes vs. Northwestern University retirement plan fee litigation, and the latest COVID-19 testing coverage guidance....more
Since the first round of cases were filed in 2006, plaintiffs’ counsel have raised hundreds of lawsuits challenging the prudence of fees and investments in 401(k) plans. One of the critical issues in those cases is what needs...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this week in Hughes v. Northwestern University will do nothing to stem the rising tide of retirement plan fee litigation. But the ruling doesn’t mean fiduciary breach claims are more likely to...more
KEY TAKEAWAYS - ..Plan fiduciaries have a duty of prudence to independently evaluate on an ongoing basis investments offered in a plan’s menu of options and remove any imprudent ones. ..Plan participants’ ultimate...more
The past 15 years have witnessed a steady stream of lawsuits alleging that employers’ 401(k) or 403(b) plans forced participants into underperforming or overpriced investment options, or that plan participants’ accounts were...more
In recent years, participants in 401(k) and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans have filed class action suits alleging that the plans contain overly expensive investment options. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court...more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of participants in the Northwestern University retirement plans, breathing life again to their breach of fiduciary duty claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ...more
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, No. 19-1401, just one of more than 150 similar class action suits filed around the country in the last few years. The case was...more
Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hughes v. Northwestern University, No. 19-1401, just one of about 150 similar class action suits filed around the country in the last few years. The case was brought by...more
The United States Supreme Court will weigh in on the spate of recent lawsuits filed against colleges and universities related to the schools’ retirement plans. The Court has granted a request for review from participants in...more
Non-Enforcement - Form PF — What Purpose? SEC registered investment advisers with at least $150 million of assets under management in private funds are required to periodically file Form PF with the SEC. The...more
In a highly anticipated decision concerning 401(k) excessive fee litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in Tibble v. Edison, Int’l, No. 13-550, vacating the lower court’s decision that had found...more