Paul Ondrasik is a partner in Steptoe's Washington, where he practices primarily in the employee benefits field, with a particular emphasis in ERISA litigation and the fiduciary responsibility area.
He is the head of the firm's ERISA, Labor, and Employment Group, which recently received Number 1 rankings for National ERISA Litigation in Chambers USA 2014 America's Leading Business Lawyers, a position which it has enjoyed since Chambers began ranking law firms in this category in 2005. The firm also received a first ranking for National ERISA Litigation in the 2007-2013 US editions of Legal 500.
Mr. Ondrasik has more than 30 years of experience in the employee benefit plan field, and has served as lead counsel in numerous ERISA actions, including class actions and cases arising from complex corporate transactions. Representative cases include: In re BP ERISA Litig., 566 F. Supp. 2d 709 (S.D. Tex. 2012) (successfully argued motion to dismiss putative class action charging that plan’s investment in employer stock violated ERISA’s fiduciary responsibility provisions), In re American Express ERISA Litig., 762 F. Supp. 2d 614 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) (obtained dismissal of putative class action alleging breach of fiduciary duty in connection with plan’s holding of employer stock), Albrecht v. Comm. on Employee Benefits of the Federal Reserve Employee Benefits System, 357 F.3d 62 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (successfully defended claims of fiduciary breach based on failure to eliminate plan’s mandatory employee contribution feature), Flanigan v. General Elec. Co., 242 F.3d 78 (2d Cir. 2001) (successfully defended ERISA fiduciary and statutory claims arising from complex corporate transaction involving, among other things, trust-to-trust transfer of assets exceeding $1 billion), and Cal. Ironworkers Field Pension Trust v. Loomis Sayles & Co., 259 F.3d 1036 (9th Cir. 2001) (successfully defended fiduciary breach claims based on investment of plan assets in complex mortgage derivatives). In addition, Mr. Ondrasik has had lead defense roles in a number of major class actions challenging the investment of 401k plan assets in company stock, including the Enron, Dynegy, Williams and Bear Stearns cases, as well as cases involving allegedly excessive fees in 401k plans.
Mr. Ondrasik also was the principal ERISA attorney involved in Steptoe & Johnson LLP's successful representations of petitioners before the Supreme Court of the United States in two important decisions dealing with the scope of remedies available in ERISA actions - Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Russell, 473 U.S. 134 (1985) (holding that punitive damages are not available under ERISA in benefit claim cases) and Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Dedeaux, 107 S. Ct. 1549 (1987) (holding that ERISA preempts state common-law remedies in cases involving claims under an employee benefit plan).
He has served as an Advisory Director of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. He also serves as a co-chair of the Annual ERISA Litigation Conference, sponsored by Thomson Reuters, which recently concluded its twenty-fifth anniversary. He is a frequent lecturer and author on fiduciary responsibility, preemption, and other ERISA matters for a variety of educational organizations.
