Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professors Henry Eickelberg and Martha Wagner

LL.M Course 933 | 2 credit hours

This is NOT a book course. This class would more appropriately be titled: “Avoiding Hard and Expensive Lessons in the trenches of ERISA litigation.” It is designed to give you a much better sense of how to handle an ERISA matter from either the participant or employer-sponsor perspective.

In the real world, an ERISA issue can be isolated to a single person or a small group of people, or it can appear to involve just a small amount of money that mushrooms before your very eyes into a class of tens of thousands of angry people. How confidently can you spot that situation?

This class is NOT for you if you can confidently answer the following questions: •Do you know how to provide your client with the maximum amount of protection before the claim arises? At that stage, the protection is essentially free.
•Do you know how to tell if your client is facing a problem that has the potential for a big monetary claim or is simply a nuisance lawsuit?
•What do you tell your client to do once they get sued? Should they answer the complaint? Try and settle? Your client is looking for answers and they want them now! •What’s the claim really worth? How do you figure it out? What things should you consider in trying to decide?
•Can you tell if your client has insurance that may cover any liability or costs? If there is, what can you expect the insurance to do or pay for? When do you need to contact the insurance company and tell them what’s happening?
•If you are interested in Plaintiff’s work, can you tell if the claim that you’re working on “has legs”?

This class will help you hit the ground running and move you from the theoretical to the practical-that is, how it really works out there! You will hear from nationally recognized experts from the plaintiff’s bar and insurance industry. Come join us!

Recommended: ERISA: Participant Rights

JD students who have questions about the course and whether or not it is appropriate for them should email Professor Eickelberg at hce3@law.georgetown.edu.