Nevin E. Adams
By Nevin E. Adams, JD 10/27/2022
Yet another excessive fee suit has been dismissed for failing to make a “plausible” case.
The plaintiff in this case is Kaila Gonzalez, a participant in the Northwell Health 403(b) Plan, who filed suit against Northwell Health, Inc., the Northwell Health 403(b) Plan Committee, and 10 other...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 10/13/2022
Fiduciary defendants are pressing for a reconsideration of their motion to dismiss an excessive fee suit, citing new precedent and its higher threshold to bring suit.
The Suit
Here participant-plaintiff Glick had argued (in August 2020) that ThedaCare, Inc. and its Board of Directors violated the...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 10/12/2022
The fiduciaries of a relatively small retirement plan have come to relatively smaller terms in an excessive fee suit.
First and foremost, the settlement proposed provides $330,000 in the form of a “Settlement Fund.”
This litigation was initially commenced on Sept. 3, 2020, alleging that the...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 10/12/2022
Claiming that “granting Defendants’ Motion would invite a brave new world of agency lawlessness,” the ForUsAll plaintiffs that have sued the Labor Department based on the impact of the latter’s position on cryptocurrency investments in retirement plans, have moved to dismiss their motion to dismiss...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 10/7/2022
The latest excessive fee suit targets “wildly excessive compensation,” an allegedly imprudent stable value offering, and the unmonitored use of “float” income.
More specifically, the participant-plaintiffs of Miami, Florida-based Lennar Corp. are raising issues with the recordkeeping/...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 10/7/2022
A recent development regarding a rule by the Employee Benefits Security Administration suggests that we could have a final regulation from the Labor Department by year-end.
The regulation, submitted for review on Oct. 6 to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget as “Prudence and Loyalty...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 9/30/2022
A trio of Republican legislators have introduced a bill that would widen the acceptable investment classes in defined contribution plans to, well, pretty much anything—including “digital assets.”
The Retirement Savings Modernization Act was just introduced by U.S. Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Tim...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 9/23/2022
We don’t know all the particulars yet, but a number of pending excessive fee suits have announced settlements.
In a case of good news, bad news, the pace of excessive fee settlements seems to be accelerating (that would be the bad news), but the size of those same settlements seems to be declining...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 9/15/2022
Having been sued for issuing its Compliance Assistance Release on cryptocurrency by cryptocurrency recordkeeping platform provider ForUsAll, the Department of Labor (DOL) is pushing back.
In fairness, ForUsAll describes itself a little differently — as a “modern” 401(k) provider that also offers...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 9/7/2022
A case that hinged on the determination of fiduciary status based on control of plan assets—has been decided—again—in favor of the defendants.
The original suit (Rozo v. Principal Life Ins. Co., S.D. Iowa, No. 4:14-cv-00463-JAJ-CFB, 5/12/17), was brought by plaintiff Frederick Rozo[1] on behalf...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 9/6/2022
A federal appellate court took another look at an excessive fee case it had dismissed—and found nothing in a recent Supreme Court decision to change its mind.
It was, in fact, the same appellate court (the Seventh Circuit) that had its judgement in the Hughes v. Northwestern University decision in...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/31/2022
A lawsuit challenging the Labor Department’s subsequent guidance/application of the so-called fiduciary rule has some support from the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI).
As noted in the filing, the ACLI was one of the lead plaintiffs in the Fifth Circuit decision that vacated the 2016...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/23/2022
A federal judge has affirmed a $1.5 million judgment against Schlichter Bogard & Denton LLP and Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP for their role in bringing a “reckless” excessive fee suit.
Back in September 2020, determining that the decision to pursue litigation was “objectively...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/23/2022
A federal appellate court says that the Labor Department is allowed to pursue its inquiry into the cybersecurity practices at a large recordkeeper.
Judge Michael B. Brennan (joined in the opinion by Judges Frank H. Easterbrook and Ilana D. Rovner) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/16/2022
Despite surveys to the contrary, a new study finds that overall interest in ESG strategies by participants is “relatively weak” and “driven by naïve diversification.”
The difference may, of course, be attributed to the difference between what individuals say—and what they actually do. Unlike...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/16/2022
As if there wasn’t enough to worry about regarding retirement—a new research paper suggests we’re not worrying about the “right” things.
More precisely, that paper, published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, was titled, “How Well Do Retirees Assess the Risks They Face in...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 8/5/2022
Capozzi Adler and Miller Shah have wrested another settlement in an excessive fee suit—in record time.
This time it’s the $1.2 billion Rush University Medical Center 403(b) plan—sued by four former workers just a few months ago (Jan. 21, 2022) who has agreed to settle for $2.95 million—as well as...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 7/26/2022
By some accounts, I just spent the past week in “retirement”—driving around sightseeing, reading some good books, hanging out with family, and yes—even walking on a beach.
And I have to tell you—if that was retirement, I don’t know how I’m going to afford it.
Now, I realize that isn’t the stuff...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 7/25/2022
A recent appellate court decision warrants a rethink of an excessive fee suit decision—at least that’s the argument being made by the plan fiduciaries.
The suit in question was filed by a group of participant-plaintiffs in the $5.354 billion Humana Retirement Savings Plan (represented by the law...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 7/20/2022
After nearly a year of negotiations (though that’s a pretty short turnaound by some measures), the parties in an excessive fee suit have asked for the court’s approval on a settlement agreement struck by the parties.
The plan in question—more specifically the plan fiduciaries—involved are those of...
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