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Joseph E. Clark is a senior counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group where he focuses on complex employee benefits litigation.

Joe represents a diverse range of clients from the time a claim is asserted through trial or arbitration, whether it is defending plan fiduciaries against class action claims of fiduciary breach or prohibited transactions or in connection with government investigations, or defending employers against multiemployer pension plan claims for withdrawal liability.  These clients include financial service providers, investment managers, Fortune 500 corporations, and benefit plan committees.

Outside of the context of litigation, Joe also advises fiduciary clients regarding their fiduciary responsibilities and employers regarding various withdrawal liability issues.

Co-editor and a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation blog, Joe has authored pieces on employee stock ownership plans, excessive fee claims, fiduciary breach, investigation and determination of benefits claims, and best practices for plan drafting. He has also published several articles regarding these issues in BNA Insights.

The Sixth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s dismissal, and order requiring arbitration of, a proposed class action alleging fiduciary breaches in connection with the Kellogg Company 401(k) plan.  Fleming v. Kellogg Co., 2024 WL 4534677 (6th Cir. Oct. 21, 2024).  In so ruling, the Sixth Circuit added to the list of recent decisions