Trucker Huss, APC is pleased to announce that Joe Faucher, Robert Gower and Dylan Rudolph will serve as panelists at the American Bar Association’s 47th Annual Midwinter Symposium on Insurance and Life, Health Disability Benefits being held August 18-20, 2022 in Nashville. The program focuses on the latest issues and trends in life insurance, health and disability insurance, employee benefits and ERISA.

Dylan Rudolph will serve on the panel “ERISA Hot Topics.” The session will cover the latest court and regulatory developments affecting ERISA plans and fiduciaries, including but not limited to recent decisions involving the pleading standards for breach of fiduciary duty claims in 401(k) and 403(b) fee litigation, arbitration provisions in plans, and other important updates in the law.

Robert Gower will present on in “Cybersecurity and Privacy.” Panelists will discuss types of data breaches and their consequences. The panel will also address the current state of the law concerning individual participant data as a “plan asset,” recent litigation addressing cyber theft and related fiduciary breach claims, the Department of Labor’s cybersecurity guidance and  steps plan sponsors can take to manage cybersecurity risks and prepare for a potential audit.

Joe Faucher will participate in the panel “Preemption Trends and Impact.” This panel will review efforts in Washington State, California and Texas to legislate health benefits, long-term care benefits and create individual retirement programs, all of which have been or may be challenged on preemption grounds. The panel also will analyze state abortion laws being passed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson,  and discuss how ERISA preemption impacts the effect of those laws on ERISA-governed welfare plans.