To the extent that com plex pension laws can be called “hot,” ERISA class actions are sizzling. The Great Recession, with its plethora of failed companies and plummeting 401(k) plans, has caused the biggest spike in pension litigation that most lawyers can remember.
A large chunk of the increased claims are ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) stock-drop class action cases. These suits started about ten years ago, after the Enron Corporation debacle, says Howard Shapiro, a partner in Proskauer Rose’s ERISA group, but the economic collapse ushered in a new surge of filings. Most financial institutions caught in the subprime meltdown, including Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., have been slapped with multimillion-dollar suits. “When companies are in distress, with sharp stock declines, these suits will follow,” Shapiro says.
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