ERISA Litigation

The United States District Court for the District of Utah hears a large share of the nation’s ERISA litigation over denied residential treatment and behavioral health benefits. The reason is geographic. Utah holds one of the largest concentrations of residential treatment centers, wilderness therapy programs, and adolescent behavioral health facilities in the country, and claims arising from treatment at those facilities are frequently filed here regardless of where the plan, the employer, or the participant is located.

Manning Curtis Bradshaw & Bednar defends the plan side of those cases, representing plan sponsors, plan administrators, third-party administrators, insurers, and fiduciaries in benefit denial actions under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B) and in related fiduciary and parity claims. The firm’s work in these cases covers medical necessity determinations and plan-defined level of care criteria; the scope of the administrative record and the standard of review, including discretionary clauses and the state statutes that void them; the effect of external and independent medical review on later plan decisions; claims under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act; fiduciary status and delegation among sponsors, insurers, and administrators; exhaustion of plan and state regulatory remedies; successive plan years and allocation of exposure among co-defendants; and preemption, standing, and proper party challenges.

Most of these cases involve a plan or employer outside Utah, and often national benefits counsel who handle the client’s ERISA work elsewhere. Manning Curtis Bradshaw & Bednar works in both postures: as lead defense counsel and as Utah trial and local counsel supporting an out-of-state firm. The firm knows the District of Utah, the judges who hear these cases, and the plaintiff bar that files them.

To speak with an attorney about an ERISA matter, contact Matt Church at mchurch@mc2b.com or 801-303-0045.