Angel represents plan sponsors, fiduciaries, and service providers in ERISA class action and single plaintiff lawsuits nationwide.  She has a broad range of experience in employee benefits law and fiduciary breach matters.

Angel has counseled and defended clients in matters involving employer stock option plans, employee stock valuation, inclusion of employer stock in retirement plans, investment of plan assets, management and recordkeeping fees, executive compensation arrangements, disability claims, and church and governmental plans.  She has managed employee benefits and ERISA cases in all stages of litigation in state and federal courts, and before arbitration panels and administrative agencies.

Along with defending her clients in litigation, Angel counsels public and private employers and non-profit organizations on a variety of issues, including those related to fiduciary responsibility, prohibited transactions, benefit claims, disclosure obligations, and qualified domestic relations orders. She also represents plan fiduciaries in Department of Labor investigations.

With her legal and business background, Angel is able to provide practical advice for clients that does not inhibit business operations and consequently helps minimize the need for costly and potentially unnecessary litigation.

Angel has received the 2021 Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award, and has been recognized as a 2015 and 2016 “Rising Star”, and as a “Super Lawyer” by the Northern California Super Lawyers publication since 2019.  She is admitted to practice in California and Michigan. Angel is also fluent in Mandarin and Taiwanese.

Speaking Engagements & Presentations

• “Administering Benefits Claims: Avoiding Mishaps and Litigation, Compliance Challenges for ERISA Counsel,” Strafford Webinars, February 2020
• “Ethics in the Technology Age,” AABA, January 2020
• “Corporate Strategies to Advance D&I: The Intersection of Law and Tech,” The Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession’s (IILP), Silicon Valley Symposium, November 2019
• “ERISA Claims and Procedures –Mastering the Full and Fair Review,” Trucker Huss Webinar, November 2019
• “The Solo/Small Firm Mobile Lawyer Toolkit: What You Need to Know to Practice On-The-Go,” National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), Annual Convention, November 2019
• “ERISA Preemption: Understanding the Fundamental Principles of ERISA Preemption and the Impact It Has on Other Legislation Related to Employee Benefit Plans,” American Bar Association (ABA), ERISA Basics Annual Conference, June 2019
• “Getting the 411: Navigating Civil Discovery,” AABA, October 2015

Publications

• “Arbitration Clause: Include or Not?,” 401(k) Advisor: The Insider’s Guide to Plan Design, Administration, Funding & Compliance (a Wolters Kluwer publication), December 2019
• “Taking a Closer Look at the Latest Wave of Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial Equivalence Lawsuits,” 401(k) Advisor, October 2019
• “The Two Year Wait Continues: How USC’s Attempt to Compel Arbitration Fails Before the Ninth Circuit, but Hope Remains for An Appeal to the Supreme Court,” ABA Annual Review of Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation, 2019 (Co-authored with Emily Garcia)
• Chapter 14, Liability Issues Unique to Welfare Plans, Employee Benefits Law (BNA), 2014 (Contributing Author)
• “Tibble v. Edison International: What Does it Mean For Plan Fiduciaries?,” Conferno magazine, Vol. 3, 2013
• Chapter 11, ERISA Preemption and Effect on Other Laws, Employee Benefits Law (BNA), 2008-2010 (Contributing Author)

RECENT AND UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS

• Long-Anticipated Supreme Court Decision on Excessive Fee Pleadings Standards Sends Case Back to the Seventh Circuit — Hughes v. Northwestern University
• The Importance of Including Exhaustion Requirements in Plan Documents: Taking a Closer Look at the Sixth Circuit’s Decision in Wallace v. Oakwood Healthcare, Inc.
• Defined Benefit Plan Actuarial Equivalence Litigation — A Formidable Threat or An Unfounded Theory?
• The Saga Continues: An Update on University Plan Lawsuits with NYU’s Victory at Trial
• New Section 83(i) of the Internal Revenue Code — Qualified Equity Grant Programs Permit Employees to Elect to Defer Income Taxes on Stock Options or RSUs
• Case Update: Ninth Circuit Revisits Tibble v. Edison International
• Buyers Beware!  Ninth Circuit Holds that a Company May Be Subject to Withdrawal Liability as a Successor Employer under the “Successorship Doctrine”

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

• TRUCKER HUSS WEBINAR: Developments in 401(k) Fee Cases, DOL Cybersecurity Investigations, and Cryptocurrency
• TRUCKER HUSS WEBINAR: Litigation Lessons and Minimizing Risks
• TRUCKER HUSS WEBINAR: ERISA Claims & Procedures — Mastering the Full and Fair Review