Euclid Fiduciary

01/09/2024

Daniel Aronowitz summarizes the 2023 Excess Fee and Performance Litigation in our latest blog: ERISA class action litigation remains, as the Chamber of Commerce labeled it in its Home Depot appeal amicus brief, at a “fever pitch.” We counted forty-eight new excess fee and performance lawsuits filed in 2023. This is down from a near-record eighty-nine complaints in 2022, but still reflects the higher filing frequency of the last eight years in which 463 excess fee cases have been filed.

By Daniel Aronowitz, President, Euclid Fiduciary ERISA class action litigation remains, as the Chamber of Commerce labeled it in its Home Depot appeal amicus brief, at a “fever pitch.” We counted forty-eight new excess fee and performance lawsuits filed in 2023. This is down from a near-record e...

12/13/2023

In this new Fid Guru Blog post authored by , we explore three key flaws in the fiduciary imprudence claims in the Tyson Foods Excess Recordkeeping Fee case.

11/30/2023

Most of the focus on the November 14, 2023 decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Cunningham v. Cornell University will be on the pleading standard for prohibited transaction claims. Beyond this important ruling, however, is the question whether the fiduciary imprudence cases that the Schlichter law firm and others brought against Cornell and nineteen other large universities in 2016 and 2017, many of which have settled for substantial sums, were legitimate cases.

By Daniel Aronowitz Most of the focus on the November 14, 2023 decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Cunningham v. Cornell University will be on the pleading standard for prohibited transaction claims. Beyond this important ruling, however, is the question whether the fiduciary imprud...

11/20/2023

The Capozzi Adler law firm has resumed its target practice on corporate America. This time it accuses Whole Foods of fiduciary imprudence by allowing Fidelity to charge excessive recordkeeping fees in the amount of $31 per participant to over 90,000 plan participants.

By Daniel Aronowitz KEY POINTS: (1) A $31 Recordkeeping Per-Participant Fee is Well Below the Average and Median for $1B+ Asset Plans. But plaintiff law firms continue to file fiduciary malpractice claims with intentionally false comparators that are designed to fool federal judges into believing th...

10/31/2023

Has ERISA Class Action Litigation Made a Positive Difference for Plan Participants?

A recent article this month in Pension & Investments asked ERISA lawyers whether class action litigation has made a positive difference for plan participants. The premise of the article was that while many critics issue harsh assessments about class action litigation, plan participants have nevertheless seen positive changes and fee reductions from the litigation.

By Daniel Aronowitz A recent article this month in Pension & Investments asked ERISA lawyers whether class action litigation has made a positive difference for plan participants. The premise of the article was that while many critics issue harsh assessments about class action litigation, plan partic...

10/03/2023

The concerning implication of the Genworth case is that courts that allow discovery of plan fiduciary committee meetings open up plan fiduciaries to unfair mischaracterizations and second-guessing of their fiduciary process.

By Daniel Aronowitz The modern professional baseball player is taught to swing up on the ball to try for home runs. A player that hits for power is valued over a player who hits for a high average. It is all about the splashy three-run homer. To wit, the leadoff hitter for the playoff-bound Philadel...

09/19/2023

The same cadre of plaintiff law firms have filed hundreds of lawsuits alleging excessive recordkeeping fees, but a California firm is trying a new and more brazen tactic: demanding settlements based upon threats of litigation.

By Daniel Aronowitz The same cadre of plaintiff law firms have filed hundreds of lawsuits alleging excessive recordkeeping fees, but a California firm is trying a new and more brazen tactic: demanding settlements based upon threats of litigation. The Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein law firm is se...

09/14/2023

Many excessive fee lawsuits allege fees that overstate what the plan participants actually pay, and then compare the fabricated fee amounts to false and misleading “benchmarks” supposedly paid by other plans. This deceptive playbook by the plaintiffs’ bar was on full display in the Matney v. Barrick Gold case.



https://www.euclidspecialty.com/the-tenth-circuit-in-the-barrick-gold-case-rejects-both-false-claims-of-excess-investment-fees-that-are-contradicted-by-plan-documents-and-the-misleading-comparison-to-the-401k-averages-book-as-a-mean/

08/29/2023

Participants label Intel’s use of hedge funds and alternative investments to hedge volatility as “institutional gambling,” but compare the results to funds with higher-equity allocations that ironically are higher-risk investments. Just because the higher-risk funds did better in a long bull-market is not evidence of fiduciary imprudence, but rather the classic deficiency of ERISA malpractice lawsuits that use outcomes as a proxy for fiduciary imprudence.

08/14/2023

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in Bugielski v. AT&T Services, Inc. that when AT&T contracted with Fidelity in 2012 and 2014 to add managed account and brokerage link services to its participants, it was a prohibited transaction under ERISA because Fidelity was a “party-in-interest” to the plan. Never mind that the managed account and brokerage link investment services had nothing to do with the recordkeeping services Fidelity provided to the plan.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in Bugielski v. AT&T Services, Inc. that when AT&T contracted with Fidelity in 2012 and 2014 to add managed account and brokerage link services to its participants, it was a prohibited transaction under ERISA because Fidelity was a “party-in-interest”...

08/07/2023

Colorado Court Allows Davita Excess Fee Case Brought By Participants With Tiny Accounts Who Each Paid Between 12 Cents and $10.56 in Annual Plan Costs

SUMMARY OF RULING: Colorado Court Allows Davita Excess Fee Case Brought By Participants With Tiny Accounts Who Each Paid Between 12 Cents and $10.56 in Annual Plan Costs By Daniel Aronowitz The excess fee lawsuit brought by the Capozzi Adler law firm against Davita, Inc. complains that three investm...

08/01/2023

In Part 2 of our Mid-Year Review of Excess Fee and Performance Litigation, Daniel Aronowitz will review trends in 2023 court rulings.

By Daniel Aronowitz There is a growing perception in ERISA thought leadership that the pleading standard for excess fee and performance litigation has turned more positive to plan sponsors, but the statistics tell a different story. The actual year-to-date results [through July 31, 2023] reveal that...