Emily Seymour Costin is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office, where she focuses her practice primarily on the defense of employee benefits disputes and counseling employers, plan sponsors, and fiduciaries on litigation avoidance strategies.
Emily represents plan sponsors, insurers, and fiduciaries in individual, mass action, and class action litigation over claims for benefits and breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA.
She has experience litigating various types of ERISA disputes, including those involving 401(k)/employer stock, employee stock ownership plans (ESOP), benefit termination, fees, and health care matters.
In addition, Emily has defended clients against a variety of other types of disputes, including employment, securities, insurance, breach of contract, health care, and government contracts/FCA-related claims, and has extensive experience guiding clients through regulatory and internal investigations. Emily is the chair-elect of the ABA’s Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB), a member of the editorial advisory board of the Benefits Law Journal, and a contributing author to the BNA treatise ERISA Litigation.
Bar Admissions:
- District of Columbia
- California
Education:
- The George Washington University (J.D., 2005)
- University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 2000)
Memberships:
- American Bar Association, Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, chair-elect
- American Bar Association, TIPS Employee Benefits Committee
- National Association of Women Lawyers
EXPERIENCE:
- Defending the country’s largest professional employee organization in a putative class action brought in the Northern District of Georgia alleging various claims for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA arising from investment selections and fees in its 401(k) plan.
- Representing a health insurance company in various disputes with out-of-network providers across the country claiming entitlement to benefits based on patient assignments.
- Represented four NBA teams and sponsors of the American Basketball Association Players’ Retirement Plan in a class action alleging various violations of ERISA arising from administration of the plan, as well as other individual claims for benefits under the ABA plan.
- Represented former fiduciaries of an ESOP in class action litigation in the Middle District of North Carolina alleging breaches of fiduciary duty arising from the company’s stock redemption offer to shareholders.
Cost
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