Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal to host ERISA symposium

Hofstra Law School, Hempstead, N.Y. — The Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal is proudly hosting a symposium titled “The Grand Irony of ERISA?: Intersectionality of ERISA Preemption and Remedial Issues” on Friday, March 13, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The New Yorker Hotel in New York City. 

The keynote speaker is Edward Zelinsky, Morris and Annie Trachman Professor of Law, from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, who will talk on ”Three Decades of ERISA: The Tyranny of Good Intentions and Unintended Consequences.”  Other speakers throughout the day include:

This panel will explore the comprehensive and reticulated nature of remedies under ERISA and how this has led to convoluted systems of awarding relief under the statute.

James A. Wooten, Professor of Law, Buffalo Law School

Debra Davis, Tax Counsel, Union Pacific Railroad

Phyllis Borzi, Research Professor, George Washington School of Public Health

This panel tackles the many issues surrounding ERISA preemption, including state health care reform initiatives, ERISA subrogation, and the availability of common law remedies related to employee benefit plans.

Peter K. Stris, Professor of Law, Whittier Law School

Eric D. Chason, Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School

Donald Bogan, Professor of Law, The University of Oklahoma College of Law

The third panel considers ERISA’s preemption and remedial provisions together and considers the problem of intersectionality: ERISA plaintiffs are preempted out of adequate state remedies, only to be placed into a federal ERISA remedial scheme which has proven largely inadequate.

Paul M. Secunda, Professor of Law, Marquette University Law School

Nell Hennessy, President & CEO, Fiduciary Counselors Inc.

Andrew L. Oringer, Partner, White & Case, LLP

This final panel will consider whether the current system of remedies and preemption under ERISA should be left alone or should be amended to provide for more effective remedies that will protect the employee benefits of participants and beneficiaries.

Elizabeth Pendo, Professor Law, St. Louis University School of Law

Thomas P. Gies, Partner, Crowell & Moring, LLP

Jonathan B. Forman, Alfred P. Murrah Professor of Law, The University of Oklahoma College of Law

The symposium fee is $75.00 per person, which includes breakfast, lunch and 7 CLE credits in professional practice for non-transitional attorneys.  Scholarships are also available.  For more information or to RSVP, call (516) 463-6317 or visit law.hofstra.edu/ERISA.

The Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal, currently in its twenty-sixth volume, publishes a compilation of articles written by some of the nation's most prominent labor and employment law scholars and practitioners.  The Journal is widely regarded as one of the premier authorities in the fields of labor and employment law and as one of the preeminent specialty journals in the U.S.  For more information, visit law.hofstra.edu/LaborLaw.