This edition of our ERISA litigation newsletter focuses largely on our plan sponsor clients. First, we discuss the Supreme Court’s April 16, 2013 decision in US Airways v. McCutchen. The decision clarifies the law relating to plans’ rights to reimbursement from their plan participants, and our article provides practical advice that plan sponsors should consider in light of the decision.

Our next two articles tackle two separate issues that were the subject of the recent decision by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Tibble v. Edison International. The first is the need to consider share classes of the investment options that are offered to plan participants. The second involves the practice of "revenue sharing."

Our last article is geared toward benefit plan service providers, and gives some practical pointers about things to do – and not do – when service providers discover they may have made a mistake in handling a client’s plan.

We are proud to announce that Theodore M. Becker has joined our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice Group. Ted, who is based in our Chicago office, has established a national practice in ERISA and Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) litigation and earned a reputation as a "big case"litigator. He has been involved in a number of multi-million dollar cases on both sides of the aisle.

Ted represents corporate plan sponsors and ERISA plan fiduciaries, both in litigation matters and regulatory agency investigations. He has handled some of the highest profile lawsuits involving ESOPs and has also defended health care companies and insurers in actions under ERISA and other federal and state laws, including claims for breach of fiduciary duty and prohibited transactions, improper plan termination, denial of benefits, breach of contract, securities fraud, and unfair competition. Ted has also defended companies and their directors and officers in litigation involving noncompetition covenants, alleged misappropriation of customer lists and trade secrets, and confidential and proprietary information, including actions for injunctions.