Looking Closely at Operational Competence : ERISA Litigation Moves Away from Doctrine and Towards a Careful Review of Plan Performance

The author discusses how doctrinal shifts related to remedies available to participants in ERISA plans have expanded the range of potential liabilities and exposure in offering, and running, a benefit plan. The author further discusses how these developments have, to a significant degree, given rise to an increased focus in ERISA litigation on the actual facts concerning the plan's activities, as the lynchpin of the liability determination, as opposed to a prior focus on doctrine