Jonathan Rose

Litigation

• First-chair counsel in AAA panel arbitration representing the 401(k) Plan and the fiduciaries of a US subsidiary of Canadian company against record keeper relating to negligence resulting in all participants being put into qualified default investment option because election forms were not sent
• First-chair counsel for global car company in action involving complex executive compensation claims against the company and its top hat plan
• Represented large insurance company against ERISA stock drop case involving issues including class and induvial claims
• First-char counsel for former parent of global rental car company against ERISA control group liability for unfunded pension liabilities after its former subsidiary filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy during the pandemic
• First-chair counsel for Fortune 100 global beverage company in case involving ERISA indemnification claims for withdrawal liability incurred by a national trucking company that distributed its products in the Midwest and California
• First-chair counsel for global consulting company's pension and long-term disability plan against ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims by former senior director
• Represented company plan fiduciaries accused of ERISA criminal violations in a joint task force of the Department of Labor, Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service
• First-chair counsel in matters that included a jury trial involving claims under Section 510 of Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), as well as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and bench trials involving complex ERISA claims on behalf of plan fiduciaries
• Represented clients in ERISA class actions and formal disputes before arbitration panels established to resolve disputes arising under complex class action settlement agreements
• First-chair counsel in defending Fortune 500 and other large plan sponsors in stock drop and retiree health class actions
• Represented clients in matters involving prudence of investment options, fiduciary disclosure issues, medical benefit claims, long-term disability claims and severance benefit claims
• First-chair counsel defending a large prescription benefit management company from breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by a former Fortune 500 health fund client
• Represented fiduciaries in litigation against former fiduciaries in prohibited transactions, as well as fiduciary and non-fiduciary service providers for breaches resulting in large plan losses
• Defended withdrawal liability disputes on behalf of plan sponsors in formal arbitrations
• Represented clients in matters involving the Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on policy and enforcement matters
• Represented plan sponsors, fiduciaries and employers in governmental investigations by the DOL, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), IRS and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
• Advised numerous clients in voluntary compliance filings with the DOL and IRS
• Negotiated favorable terminations with the PBGC, reducing liability for plan sponsors and control groups
• Represented clients in multiemployer withdrawal situations and negotiated mergers of underfunded plans to avoid the imposition of withdrawal liability and excise taxes on employers through negotiations with the PBGC and IRS
• Resolved numerous whistleblower cases on behalf of government contractors
• Defending employers in litigation involving discrimination claims based on race, gender, age, religion, pregnancy, sexual orientation and retaliation
• Defended numerous employers in litigation involving federal wage-and-hour claims including joint employer issues and obtained a defense verdict for his client in the District of Maryland
• Represented clients in more than 100 claims related to governmental investigations by the DOL and EEOC; in each case, the claim was dismissed or settled on favorable terms

Title I Counseling

• Advised the structuring and operation of onshore and offshore private equity funds focused on an array of vehicles and strategies, including real estate development, crypto currency, cannabis, mining precious metals, timber and renewable energy
• Advised strategic issues and compliance matters to qualify as "a venture capital operating company" or "real estate operating company" and issue initial qualifying and annual opinions or certificates
• Advised the structuring of investment vehicles to maximize flexibility for Benefit Plan Investors under other statutory or DOL plan asset exemptions to avoid fiduciary and potential prohibited transactions, including master-feeder funds and QPAMs
• Advised real estate investment manager that assumed fiduciary duty for separately managed accounts for Fortune 100 master pension trust clients on the myriad of issues regarding new transactions and joint venture arrangements
• Advised negotiations with investors in connection with fund raising activities
• Advised CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, GCs and internal financial teams led by VPs on the establishment of new investment products and ongoing operations
• Advised registered and unregistered REITs on initial and ongoing ERISA compliance
• Advised large financial institutions on ERISA disclosures and representations for warehouse master repurchase and servicing agreements, credit and loan agreements, and collateralized loan obligations

• "Supreme Court opens the door to increased ERISA litigation," Employee Benefit Plan Review, September 2025
• "ERISA Estoppel as a Basis for Recovery for Misrepresentation; and Amendment and Termination of Pension Plans," Bloomberg ERISA Litigation Treatise, Sixth Edition, 2017
• "Summer, Circuit Courts and Successor Withdrawal Liability," Law360, September 2015
• "Recent Developments in Employee Benefits Law," Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, Vol. 50, No. 2, Winter 2015
• "City and State Pensions Need to Bend Before They Break," Law360, February 2014
• "Recent Developments in Employee Benefits Law," Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, Vol. 49, No. 1, Fall 2013
• "Recent Developments in Employee Benefits Law," Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, Vol. 48, No. 1, Fall 2012
• "When the Presumption of Prudence Applies," Law360, June 2012