Bloggers React to LaRue

Written by: Nick Curabba

There has been a deluge of LaRue coverage in the blogosphere since the Supreme Court handed down its unanimous decision last month.  Much of the commentary (including ours) predicts the decision will increase ERISA lawsuits in the future, especially in the small and mid-sized plan space because plaintiffs' attorneys now have a remedy without having to engage in complex class action litigation.

Just a sampling include Workplace Prof Blog; ERISA Law Blog; Pension Protection Act Blog; Pension Risk Matters; Employment Blawg; Womble Carlyle's South Carolina Appellate Law Blog; The National Center for Employee Ownership, and The D&O Diary.  Attorney and reliably insightful blogger Stephen Rosenberg bucks the trend with his agnostic view of the potential for LaRue to result in an avalanche of new litigation.

From our perspective, the decision in LaRue was the only conclusion the Court could have come to without triggering an apoplectic Congressional response.  With Chairman George Miller (D-CA) and others pushing hard this year to enact his breathtaking fee disclosure bill, the "wrong" outcome in the LaRue case would have added fuel to the legislative fire. There is little doubt that if the Court had held that Mr. LaRue was without a remedy under ERISA, Congress would have made sure that there would be in the future, which undoubtedly would have included extra-contractual and consequential damages.