Add a bookmark to get started

Jonathan Rose

Partner
About

Jonathan Rose focuses his practice advising on matters related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and related employment litigation. He advises plan sponsors and fiduciaries of qualified and non-qualified pension and health benefit plans in compliance with a wide range of fiduciary duties required in the administration and investment of plan assets. He has also successfully represented clients in over a hundred government investigations by the Department of Labor, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the Internal Revenue Service, among others.

Jonathan also represents financial advisors, investment funds and service providers on Title I issues involving the structuring and marketing of investment funds, including venture capital and real estate operating companies, qualified plan asset managers, issuers and borrowers of credit and loan agreements, and issuers warehouse financing and administration agreements.

He has extensive experience litigation in many areas of labor and employment law, including whistleblower claims against government contractors, federal and state wage-and-hour claims, and federal and state discrimination claims. He also regularly advises employers in the negotiation of employment and severance agreements and collective bargaining agreements.

Some of Jonathan's notable experience includes representing clients in complex ERISA-related class action disputes in US district courts and other complex litigation matters; serving as first-chair counsel for Fortune 500 sponsors in stock drop and retiree health class action cases, as well as executive compensation litigation cases; and negotiating mergers of underfunded plans to avoid the imposition of withdrawal liability and excise taxes on employers through negotiations with the PBGC and IRS.

Bar admissionsDistrict of ColumbiaPennsylvania
CourtsSupreme Court of the United StatesUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fourth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia CircuitUnited States District Court for the District of MarylandUnited States District Court for the District of ColumbiaUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of PennsylvaniaUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Northern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Central District of IllinoisUnited States District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Central District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Western District of MichiganUnited States District Court for the District of Minnesota

EXPERIENCE

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 weren't 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
  • Advise on the structuring and operation of onshore and offshore private equity funds focused in an array of vehicles and strategies including: real estate development, crypto currency, cannabis, mining precious metals, timber and renewable energy.
  • Advise on 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.
  • Advise in 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.
  • Advise on negotiations with investors in connection with fund raising activities.
  • Advise CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, GCs and internal financial teams led by VPs on the establishment of new investment products and ongoing operations.
  • Advise registered and unregistered REITs on initial and ongoing ERISA compliance.
  • Advise large financial institutions on ERISA disclosures and representations for warehouse master repurchase and servicing agreements, credit and loan agreements, and collateralized loan obligations.
Education
  • J.D., The Catholic University of America
  • B.A., McDaniel College

Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America: ERISA Litigation and ERISA Counseling, 2014 - Present
  • Super Lawyers: Washington, DC - ERISA Litigation and ERISA Counseling, Thomson Reuters, 2012 - 2019

Publications

  • Bloomberg, ERISA Litigation Treatise (6th Edition, 2017), Author of Chapters on ERISA Estoppel as a Basis for Recovery for Misrepresentation; and Amendment and Termination of Pension Plans
  • "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
  • "Recent Developments in Employee Benefits Law," Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, fall 2012
  • "When the Presumption of Prudence Applies," Law360, June 2012

Seminars

  • Moderator of Panel with Keynote Speaker, Chief Counsel to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 2016 International Employee Benefits Association Annual Conference, Chicago
  • Moderator on Panel with Assistant Secretary of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, 2015 ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Annual Program
 

Prior Experience

  • Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Office of General Counsel, 1992 - 1996

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Chair, American Bar Association, Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, 2012 - 2013
  • Board Member, American Bar Association, Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, 2005 - 2013
  • Chair, American Bar Association, Torts and Insurance Practice Section, 2006 - 2008
  • Fellow, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
  • American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section, Employee Benefits Committee 

Connect