I am having a fairly major dispute with a past employer on how my future pension will be evaluated. ($100,000 differential). Is there such a thing as a Pension Attorney? If not what type of lawyer should I be looking for? Any suggestions on how I can locate a good one?
The primary pension law in the U.S. is called ERISA (The Employee Retirement and Income Security Act of 19xx), so if you see that word mentioned in the firm’s literature you’re on the right track.
I do not have any advice as to where to look, unfortunately.
–Cliffy
If you can’t find a ‘pension’ attorney search for a tax attorney. I worked with retirement products for about 5 years and never heard of a ‘pension’ attorney but I dealth with tax atorneys every day. Good luck with your dispute.
An ERISA attorney might be worth a shot, but I’m not sure if ERISA attorneys handle disputes. The ERISA attorneys I know evaluate benefit packages for compliance with the law.
It seems to me what you want is someone who handles disputes - i.e. a litigator. More specifically, a litigator who does labor and employment disputes. The yellow pages in your area will probably have a section for such attorneys.
If your dispute is in New York or New Jersey, feel free to drop me an e-mail.
. . .but I’m employed by a public-sector pension fund and can’t take on private clients or provide legal advice outside my agency, so THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE or a substitute for consultation with an attorney.
You’ve got a pension valuation dispute, and I second the suggestion that you need a litigator. A good portion of my practice involves disputes over benefit valuation, and most of my cases end up in administrative tribunals. I don’t know if ERISA cases are arbitrated or go straight to court, but chances are you’ll be telling your story to a judge at some point.
A labor and employment lawyer is probably the best place to start. If the attorney or firm does a lot of L&E work, they’re probably familiar with ERISA and the various ins and outs of pension valuation. But don’t be afraid to ask or shop around. Pension law is a lot like tax law but without all the flash and glitter. You don’t want some hack who does nothing but workers’ comp and union grievances handling your dispute as his first valuation dispute.
Another idea might be to find an attorney who does a lot of domestic relations (i.e. divorce) work. In most cases, a pension is subject to equitable distribution and that involves fixing a value on the income stream from the pension so that the parties can divide it or offset the future income with present assets. In fact, part of my job is helping other attorneys jump through the regulatory hoops so that their clients can attach pensions paid out by my agency.
Anyway, if the labor & employment attorney search isn’t fruitful try to find a firm or lawyer who does a lot of domestic relations work, and within that, see if you can find a boutique that handles a lot of equitable distribution matters.
If you need some guidance, don’t hesitate to call your local bar association-they’re in the phone book. They’ll be able to give you a referral to lawyers in your area who could be able to help.
A third idea is to try to find a pension valuation service, such as Pension Benefit Appraisers or someone of their ilk. These firms aren’t law firms, but they specialize in valuing pensions for equitable distribution purposes. If they don’t have attorneys who can take you on, they might be able to help you find somebody. But try the bar association first.
. . .but I’m employed by a public-sector pension fund and can’t take on private clients or provide legal advice outside my agency, so THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE or a substitute for consultation with an attorney.
You’ve got a pension valuation dispute, and I second the suggestion that you need a litigator. A good portion of my practice involves disputes over benefit valuation, and most of my cases end up in administrative tribunals. I don’t know if ERISA cases are arbitrated or go straight to court, but chances are you’ll be telling your story to a judge at some point.
A labor and employment lawyer is probably the best place to start. If the attorney or firm does a lot of L&E work, they’re probably familiar with ERISA and the various ins and outs of pension valuation. But don’t be afraid to ask or shop around. Pension law is a lot like tax law but without all the flash and glitter. You don’t want some hack who does nothing but workers’ comp and union grievances handling your dispute as his first valuation dispute.
Another idea might be to find an attorney who does a lot of domestic relations (i.e. divorce) work. In most cases, a pension is subject to equitable distribution and that involves fixing a value on the income stream from the pension so that the parties can divide it or offset the future income with present assets. In fact, part of my job is helping other attorneys jump through the regulatory hoops so that their clients can attach pensions paid out by my agency.
Anyway, if the labor & employment attorney search isn’t fruitful try to find a firm or lawyer who does a lot of domestic relations work, and within that, see if you can find a boutique that handles a lot of equitable distribution matters.
If you need some guidance, don’t hesitate to call your local bar association-they’re in the phone book. They’ll be able to give you a referral to lawyers in your area who could be able to help.
A third idea is to try to find a pension valuation service, such as Pension Benefit Appraisers or someone of their ilk. These firms aren’t law firms, but they specialize in valuing pensions for equitable distribution purposes. If they don’t have attorneys who can take you on, they might be able to help you find somebody. But try the bar association first.
I’d love to, but unfortunately I live in South Carolina
I live in a fairly small city and the closest entry to Bar Association is “Bar Bell.”
There’re a lot of attorneys in the yellow pages but none that list “labor & employment” so I guess I’ll probably have to try some larger city. I did find the below listing in Greenville SC which is about 60 miles away.
Do these guys look about right?
The interesting thing about this situation is that I made an employment decision based on what they (the outsourced pension administrator) told me about two years ago (fully documented by my human resources manager) that they are now saying was a mistake. So for all I know this may be a tort-negligence case or something.
It just amazes me that they can look me in the eye, albeit over the phone, and tell me that it’s just my tough luck that I’m out a hundred grand because they made a mistake.
At the risk of displaying my stupidity I just remembered that my brother is a tax attorney, maybe I should also give him a call.
Regardless, thanks for the help guys.
Ooops, I should have mentioned that most local bar associations in the US operate on the county level. Check the phone book for your county seat. I’d be surprised if they didn’t have a listing.
And judging from a quick glance at the website you posted, these guys look like the kind of folks you should talk to.