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Compliance March 25, 2009
Levin Law Casts a Wide Litigation Net
A Houston law firm has cast a wide net looking for participants who want to sue their employers for a breach of their fiduciary duty.
Reported by Nevin E. Adams
According to a press release, Levin Law, which describes itself as a class action law firm, has launched a nationwide investigation on behalf of employees whose employers have breached their ERISA fiduciary duties to participants of the company’s employee retirement, pension, or 401(k) plans. The press release noted that “breaches occur when the company fiduciaries fail to manage the assets of the retirement plan properly by investing in company stock when it is no longer a prudent investment for participants’ retirement savings.”
Now, such so-called “stock-drop’ suits have gotten to be relatively common, as has the process of an “investigation’ of the possibility of the aforementioned fiduciary breach ahead of the actual filing of a lawsuit, ostensibly based on the results of the investigation. Additionally, there are a number of firms that specialize in such ERISA litigation as a significant part of their practice.
However, Levin Law has targeted what appears to be an extraordinarily long list of firms that it describes as “under investigation’ by the firm, many of which are already under investigation by other firms following a precipitous drop in stock price.
Whether anything comes of any of these or not remains to be seen. But Doron Levin, who stated that he “does not represent defendant corporations, insurance companies, or employers,” cited case work in:
the pharmaceutical liability arena that includes the representation of thousands of clients in their various defective drug and product claims;
employment law, including the representation of clients in their class-action pursuit of unpaid overtime and wage claims and layoff notice claims under the WARN Act.
He also noted that his “consumer and securities class action practice includes ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims as well as defective consumer products,’ and that he “also devotes a portion of his practice to representing those affected by hurricanes and other disasters.’
“Current or former employee participants’ in any of the aforementioned retirement or 401(k) plans are encouraged to “contact Levin Law at www.law29.com or toll free at 1.888.93.law29 (or 1.888.935.2929) for answers to questions and information regarding legal rights and options.’
The firms under investigation are listed here.