Friday, July 18, 2008
ERISA Reform Legislation Effort
Colleen Medill (Nebraska) writes us:
Professor Colleen Medill at the University of Nebraska College of Law has agreed to help the Amschwand family identify members of Congress who may be interested in sponsoring legislation to amend Section 502(a)(3) of ERISA so that “equitable” relief includes monetary relief designed to make a plan participant or beneficiary whole for injuries caused by a breach of fiduciary duty. For those of you who need an update on the Amschwand and Goeres cases, where the Supreme Court recently denied certiorari, here is a recent news story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080705/ap_on_go_su_co/benefit_battles
As a starting point, Professor Medill is collecting:
1. Names of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives who may be interested in learning more about this issue and possibly sponsoring reform legislation. Please include the full name, state and party affiliation.
2. Law professors and ERISA attorneys who might (not a firm commitment required right now) be interested in working on proposed legislation and educating members of Congress on the need for reform.
Please send replies directly to Professor Medill at cmedill2@unl.edu.
PS
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2008/07/erisa-reform-le.html
I'll be very curious to see if this can get any traction in Congress. I've been doing a lot of work over the past four years on phased retirement programs and what might need to change in ERISA and the Code for such programs to be effective for both employers and employees. The 502(a)(3) issue came up in a tangential way during a cocktail party following one of our meetings on phased retirement. (Gotta love those cocktail parties!) Anyway, it got me thinking about this issue. So, for anyone doing any DC work on this, please add me to your lists: feldblum@law.georgetown.edu.
Thanks!
Chai Feldblum
Professor of Law, Georgetown Law
Posted by: Chai Feldblum | Jul 20, 2008 9:04:05 AM