FordHarrison attorney Kate Winslow was quoted in the Law360 article, "Attorneys React to High Court ERISA Reimbursement Ruling."
"Today's ruling is one of timing. This holding effectively allows plan participants to escape reimbursement obligations if the plan fails to enforce its lien on third-party settlement funds before they are dispersed and the participant burns through the windfall. The majority held that once the participant spent the settlement amounts on food and travel, the slow-moving plan sought ‘legal' not ‘equitable' relief to recover the now-‘nontraceable' funds in violation of ERISA Section 502(a)(3). Plans seeking reimbursement would be well advised to move quickly lest [the high court]'s historically narrow interpretation of ‘equitable relief' — or a wanderlust plaintiff — removes the funds from the Plan's ‘equitable' reach."
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