AlexisBates

In an article for Law360, Partner Alexis Bates and Associates Michael Linden and Erin Murphy examined the evolving landscape for private equity investments in 401(k) plans following a new executive order which directs federal agencies to encourage alternative investments in retirement plans.

In an article for Law360, Partner Alexis Bates and Associates Andy Osborne and Erin Murphy examine the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) retirement plans, and the potential challenges of including these assets among 401(k) offerings because of the fiduciary risks they present under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (NDIL) and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association will honor a Jenner & Block team with the 2025 Pro Bono and Public Interest Award for Excellence on May 1 during a ceremony. The award recognizes lawyers who have made significant contributions to NDIL and the community through pro bono representation and advocacy.

Jenner & Block elevated nine lawyers to the partnership and seven lawyers to special counsel, promoting 16 individuals overall in the firm’s Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC offices.

In an article for Employee Relations Law Journal, Partner Joseph Torres and Associates Alexis Bates and Amanda Walsh examine how excessive fee litigation is aiming for employer-sponsored prescription drug benefit plans. The authors discuss Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the principles that retirement plan fiduciaries must uphold, the beginnings and recent developments in excessive fee litigation, alleging excessive prescription drug fees, and more.

Associate Alexis Bates will moderate a panel that will delve into the thorny issues of potential conflicts surrounding prior representation of a client and establishing effective screens. Alexis will guide the conversation among a judge, magistrate judge, and law firm ethics officer.

On June 29, a Cook County Circuit Court judge granted our client’s name change petition, waiving the requirement that the change be published based on her testimony that she was at risk of harm and discrimination.

In 2023, we continued our collaboration with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund and corporate partners Abbott Laboratories, Conagra, and JPMorgan Chase & Co., to operate the Name Change Project. The program provides pro bono legal name change serves to low-income transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people. To date, name changes have been granted to 12 individuals.

Should cases under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty be allowed before a jury trial?

A team of Jenner & Block lawyers partnered with Abbott Laboratories to assist a transgender client in changing his legal name to ensure his legal identity would match his lived experience. The team was introduced to the client through the firm’s partnership with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) and its Name Change Project, which provides pro bono legal name change services to low-income transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people.

In this article, Jenner & Block Partner Joseph J. Torres and Associate Alexis E. Bates explore the delicate balance in providing plan sponsors with just enough—and not too much—discretion in severance plans under ERISA. The authors call attention to two cases where the transparency of the language, eligibility requirements, and discretionary scope laid out by plan sponsors in plan documents gave sponsors discretion to provide or withhold benefits that the courts ultimately upheld under ERISA.

The International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) recognized a firm team with its Amicus Service Award for their work crafting an amicus brief in a major appeal by the City of Evanston, Illinois and the US Conference of Mayors, challenging limits on federal grants for so-called “sanctuary cities.” In the appeal, the City of Evanston and the US Conference of Mayors urged the Seventh Circuit to affirm a ruling that the federal government can't impose immigration-related conditions on a public

The sixth edition of Jenner & Block’s ERISA Litigation Handbook provides a primer on the issues presented and procedures followed in litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Updated to reflect the latest developments in ERISA case law, the Handbook addresses such topics as Supreme Court decisions defining ERISA’s preemption of state laws, bringing a claim against an ERISA fiduciary, remedies available for breach of ERISA fiduciary duties, and many more.

In this article, Jenner & Block Partner Joseph J. Torres and Associate Alexis E. Bates highlight the US Supreme Court’s decision in Thole v US Bank, which addressed when participants in benefit plans have standing to sue under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The article assesses the “early returns on the extent to which lower courts have applied Thole’s holding to other ERISA claims.”