Caroline has a robust litigation practice and heads our ERISA and Managed Care Litigation practice team.
Caroline boasts an impressive resume of legal counseling and litigation. She litigates traditional ERISA fiduciary and benefits cases, as well as managed care disputes arising under both federal and state laws. Caroline handles administrative appeals and litigation with respect to both pension plans and health and welfare plans. She represents a variety of parties including medical service providers, major employers, and fiduciaries. With respect to managed care litigation and health and welfare benefits, Caroline provides advice and counseling as well as litigation services with respect to commercial payer disputes and a myriad of issues that arise for medical providers and group health plans under ERISA, the ACA, COBRA, FEHB, the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, and various state laws. Cases that she has handled involving pension plans range from defending challenges to cash balance plans to “stock drop” cases and other claims for breach of fiduciary duty with respect to 401(k) plans and ESOPs. Caroline’s work has also extended to include DOL investigations and handling inquiries from the IRS. Additionally, Caroline has prominent experience in bankruptcy litigation, including the representation of a nationally renowned company that insured hundreds of millions of dollars of Detroit’s municipal bonds in connection with the city’s $18 billion Chapter 9 bankruptcy — the largest municipal bankruptcy in history. Her trial work in Detroit was featured in national publications, including CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Caroline’s work in the bankruptcy area has also included representation of the Official Committee of Retired Employees in the Kodak bankruptcy, a group of auto dealerships in the Chrysler bankruptcy, and an indenture trustee and majority bondholder in the United Air Lines bankruptcy. She has litigated numerous adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court, and has represented debtors, creditors, and official committees of unsecured creditors with respect to issues such as challenges to pre-petition liens, preference actions, executory contract rejection, assumption, and assignment, asset sales, and challenges to debtor-in-possession financing. Given Caroline’s extensive work in benefits litigation, she also has a unique familiarity with the overlap of benefits issues and bankruptcy law.
Caroline’s experience has covered a large variety of clientele and substantive areas of the law in addition to those described above. She has represented both large and small businesses, as well as individuals. Finally, Caroline has represented indigent clients and nonprofit entities in a plethora of cases she has handled pro bono, including two death penalty cases.
