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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    ERISA

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Thursday, May 29, 2025

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length
Credit Information
$347.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will provide counsel to employers that contribute to multiemployer pension plans with an in-depth examination of several recent trends related to multiemployer plan withdrawal liability. The panel will discuss recent court rulings, tips for handling withdrawal liability issues in corporate transactions, and developments related to recent legislation and associated rule-making.

Faculty

Michael G. Congiu
Shareholder
Littler Mendelson PC

Mr. Congiu's practice focuses on ERISA and benefit plan litigation, international employment law, leaves of absence and disability accommodation, business and human rights, and class actions. His broad litigation practice includes specific expertise regarding multi-employer pension plans. He regularly counsels and represents employers with issues involving the interplay between collective bargaining, multi-employer pension plan obligations, and withdrawal liability touching on ERISA, The Taft-Hartley Act, The Pension Protection Act and The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act.

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Patrick W. Spangler
Shareholder
Vedder Price

Mr. Spangler works with in-house counsel and management to provide advice related to litigation, major business changes, and compliance issues. He has defended a wide range of employment-related cases and has significant experience defending ERISA claims, including breach of fiduciary, retiree health and multiemployer fund litigation. Mr. Spangler is a frequent author and lecturer on employment law topics.

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Description

Employers that contribute to underfunded multiemployer pension plans face significant assessments if they withdraw from such plans. Further, corporate transactions--mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and facility closures--can all result in triggering a partial or complete withdrawal liability assessment. Adding to that risk, under ERISA, each controlled group member is jointly and severally responsible for withdrawal liability.

Recent developments in withdrawal liability legislation and litigation can instruct employers and their counsel and can serve to clarify employer and plan liabilities as well as the propriety of certain methodologies that plans have historically used to calculate employer liabilities.

Listen as our authoritative panel shares their experiences with multiemployer pension plans and explains how these recent developments can impact liability and litigation strategy for contributing employers.

Outline

  1. Overview of multiemployer pension plans
  2. Partial and complete withdrawals
  3. Controlled group and successor liability
  4. Developing litigation issues
  5. Collective bargaining strategies
  6. Arbitration and settlement approaches

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • How can employers obtain information about their multiemployer fund exposure and analyze these liabilities?
  • How can employers address wages and other conditions of employment in the context of potential pension liabilities?
  • How do businesses consider withdrawal liability in the context of an anticipated corporate transaction?
  • How can employers assess and deal with potential withdrawal liability exposure in the short and long term?