| Biography:
Robert Rachal's work has included traditional labor and employment law work,
with a focus on complex ERISA litigation. He has handled numerous class actions
under ERISA, including claims involving challenges to 401(k) or ESOP investments
in employer stock, claims against cash balance pension plans, claims that plans
discriminated on the basis of sex or age, claims that plans illegally cut back
benefits or engaged in prohibited transactions, claims that employers failed
to properly fund plans, claims that insurers mishandled plan funds, and claims
that fiduciaries breached their duties to inform of plan benefits.
Mr. Rachal is a member of the American Bar Association's Labor & Employment
Law Section and Co-Chair of the Employee Benefits Subcommittee on Preemption.
He co-chairs Glasser's annual program on fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA
and was co-chair of the Glasser/Fordham University and the ABA Joint Committee
on Employee Benefits' Cash Balance Pension Plan Seminars. Mr. Rachal has also
spoken at Glasser, the ABA, LEI, and other organizations on fiduciary and other
issues under ERISA.
Mr. Rachal is Contributing-Author, BNA Employee Benefits Law (2nd ed.
2000); Chapter Editor (2002 & 2003 Cumulative Supplement); and Chapter Co-Author,
BNA ERISA Litigation (1st ed. 2003 & 2004 Supp.) Chpt. 20, Fiduciary
Duty as a Basis for Recovery for Misrepresentation and Nondisclosure. He
also has published numerous articles involving labor law and ERISA issues, including
the "Report on the Growing Tension Between the First Amendment and Harassment
Law," 12 The Labor Lawyer 475 (Winter/Spring 1997); "Machinists
Preemption Under the NLRA: A Powerful Tool to Protect an Employer's Freedom
to Bargain," 58 La. L. Rev. 1065 (Summer 1998); "The Duty to
Inform and Fiduciary Breaches: The 'New Frontier' in ERISA Litigation,"
14 The Labor Lawyer 503 (Winter/Spring 1999); "Litigation Issues
in Cash Balance Plans" in 17 Benefits Law Journal 66 (Spring 2004 &
Summer 2004) and 30 Journal Pension Planning & Compliance 1 (Spring
2004); and the "Fifth Circuit Symposium 1999 - Labor and Employment Law,"
46 Loy. L. Rev. 187 (Spring 2000).
Mr. Rachal received his J.D., summa cum laude, from Tulane Law School, where
he graduated as valedictorian. He received his B.S. from the University of New
Orleans.
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