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Traps for the Unwary when Laws Collide–RLA, ERISA and Retaliation Claims


Product Code - LGAU02
Speaker(s): Greta E. Cowart, Haynes and Boone, LLP; Douglas W. Hall, Ford & Harrison LLP; Dean J. Schaner, Haynes and Boone, LLP
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The faculty for this program will discuss how employment law retaliation claims, ERISA and the Railway Labor Act all collide and how acting without considering the other laws and the consequences of actions may present traps for the unwary and cause problems for your client. Alternatives will be discussed as well as the ethical issues related to representing employers who may also be acting as plan fiduciaries. Inadvertent advice to an employer acting as an ERISA plan fiduciary could leave the advice discoverable under the fiduciary exception to the attorney client privilege.

Educational Objectives:

• Understand that an action that may be permissible under one statute may carry consequences under a different law if the employer is subject to the Railway Labor Act.

• Understand the areas of the law in ERISA and employment law which may overlap and have consequences when an employer is subject to the Railway Labor Act beyond just negotiations over benefits and terms and conditions of employment.

• Understand how some disputes may be handled as a grievance under the collective bargaining agreement and how others may be able to be brought in other venues such as the ERISA claims procedure or in court and some may be brought in both and the potential consequences.

• Understand how it is key to know your client as well as their collective bargaining agreements and work as a team with the lawyers in other areas that are related to an issue to ensure that a choice made in one area will not adversely impact the client in another area.

• Understand that in ERISA what may appear to be a representation of an employer could be the representation of an employer acting as a fiduciary and how that may impact whether or not your communications and advice to your client are privileged or discoverable.

• Understand the importance of understanding the role in which your client may be acting with respect to an employee benefit plan and how that may impact whether your advice to that client is privileged.

• Understand the importance of identifying the client and the capacity in which you are advising the client in the engagement letter as well as understanding the current status of a claim and how that may impact attorney client privilege.

Who would benefit from attending this program?

• Labor attorneys working with disputes under the Railway Labor Act

• Employment attorneys working with disputes with clients subject to the Railway Labor Act

• ERISA attorneys advising clients subject to the Railway Labor Act or who may be handling employment based retaliation claims

• Persons handling employee relations for employers subject to the Railway Labor Act

• Persons handling employee benefits for employers subject to the Railway Labor Act

• Persons needing to understand the fiduciary exception to the attorney client privilege and how it can convert advice you thought was privileged into discoverable advice

• Attorneys needing to understand the impact of the recent U.S. Supreme Court’s decision recognizing the fiduciary exception and Circuit Court decisions related to the work product doctrine and how that may impact how you advise a client and the importance of understanding in what role your client is acting

Program Level: Advanced

Greta E. Cowart, Haynes and Boone, LLP; Douglas W. Hall, Ford & Harrison LLP; Dean J. Schaner, Haynes and Boone, LLP

Greta E. Cowart, Partner / Haynes and Boone, LLP
Greta Cowart is known for fixing complex employee benefit plan issues and has secured significant results in Internal Revenue Service employee plans team audits and in U.S. Department of Labor audits of employee benefit plans. During her 24-year career, Ms. Cowart has also resolved significant employee benefit compliance issues through the various voluntary compliance programs. Through her work on the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, she has worked with the technical provisions governing retirement plans and executive compensation. She has worked extensively with Code section 409A and the regulations under such section governing nonqualified deferred compensation, and other employee benefits issues in depth and provided recommendations to the government for its use in rule making. Ms. Cowart is a former Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association's Section of Taxation. Her extensive knowledge of employee benefits and executive compensation provides her with the background to assist corporations quickly with plan design and administration issues, including litigation of benefit disputes.

Ms. Cowart earned both a B.S. in Accounting with high distinction and a J.D., cum laude, from Indiana University. She is a contributor to Haynes and Boone's Practical Benefits Lawyer blog, which discusses issues and developments in the areas of employee benefits and executive compensation.

Douglas W. Hall, Partner / Ford & Harrison LLP
Doug Hall concentrates his practice on representing employers in labor and employment matters with a specific focus on the airline industry and the Railway Labor Act. His work includes responding to and litigating issues involving union organizing drives, collective bargaining, and contract interpretation, and in the mediation and arbitration of grievances. Mr. Hall represents management before federal and state courts and administrative agencies in matters involving rights and obligations arising under federal, state and local labor and employment statutes, including RLA, NLRA, Title VII, ADEA, ADA, ERISA and AIR21. He counsels clients on compliance with such laws and on the labor and employment issues engendered by contemplated corporate transactions, as well as on efforts by employers in bankruptcy to reject their collective bargaining agreements. He sits on the Senior Editorial Board of The Railway Labor Act (BNA), the leading treatise on that statute.

Mr. Hall has spoken at and/or moderated various conferences on matters relating to issues arising under the RLA, the FMLA, and other employment laws. He earned a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he graduated magna cum laude. During law school at Georgetown, Mr. Hall was awarded Order of the Coif and served on the staff of the Georgetown Law Journal.

Dean J. Schaner, Partner / Haynes and Boone, LLP
Dean Schaner has exclusively practiced employment and labor litigation for more than 23 years, representing employers in all aspects of unfair competition, discrimination, retaliation, whistleblower, ERISA, wrongful termination, and tort/contract claims arising out of the employment relationship. He has tried a wide variety of cases in the federal and state courts, including the successful defense of an energy company in a class action case in which plaintiffs sought $30 million in damages. He is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization as a labor and employment law specialist. Mr. Schaner has been named as a Texas Super Lawyer in the Super Lawyer issues of Texas Monthly in Employment Litigation Defense (2003-2011). Mr. Schaner is the Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Employment Law Desk Reference, 5th Edition. He earned a B.A. from Texas Tech University, graduating with honors, and a J.D from the Creighton University School of Law in, where he also graduated with honors and served as Student Articles Editor for the Creighton Law Review.

This program is CLE-credit eligible.

If you have further questions regarding a specific state or how to file for CLE credit, please contact Bloomberg BNA customer service at 800-372-1033 and ask to speak to the Legal and Business CLE Accreditation Coordinator.

Hardship Policy
Bloomberg BNA offers a hardship policy for any attorney earning less than $30,000 per year. If an attorney wishes to take advantage of this option, he or she must do so in writing and also provide proof of hardship. If approval is granted, a discount of 50% off the full registration price of the program will be awarded.

Questions
For more information about Mandatory or Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) requirements, visit the American Bar Association website at http://www.abanet.org/cle/mandatory.html.

• Bloomberg BNA Subscriber - OnDemand format $199

• Non-Subscriber - OnDemand format $249

• CD recording of program $199 (Subscriber and Non-Subscriber)

 

Registration for Legal & Business programs is simple. You may either visit the registration page to register -or- call 1-800-372-1033, Option 6, and refer to the date and title of the program. Lines are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.