Benefits & ERISA Law

The Case of the Billion Dollar Typo

Well, I'm getting ready for a trial, so I certainly don't have time to read a 105 page ruling on reformation of ERISA governed benefit plans, and I suspect you don't either. Fortunately for both of us, here's a great one page article on a new major decision finding that a scrivener's error - one worth $1.6 billion to the plan participants - can be reformed out of a plan, years after the plan was written and put into effect.

Only question I have, is if the lawyers can't always get it right when they write plans- and the lawyers in this case appear to freely admit that the pension plan was simply so large and complicated that an oversight simply and understandably occurred - should we rethink ERISA doctrines that assume plan participants can read and understand a plan's terms?

Full post as published by Boston ERISA Law Blog on November 05, 2009 (boomark / email).