NONSUBSCRIPTION, ERISA LITIGATION AND ARBITRATION

Sarles & Ouimet has experience in working with insurers who back occupational injury plans and in implementing and using alternative dispute resolution programs to resolve any disputes that may arise with beneficiaries.

To protect its nonsubscriber clients from the often unreasonable and unnecessary costs of litigation, Sarles & Ouimet has developed state-of-the-art arbitration agreements that are implemented through the nonsubscriber’s voluntary occupational injury ERISA plan. “ERISA,” the acronym for the federal “Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,” protects employers who sponsor benefit plans (both pension and welfare plans) by limiting rights and remedies of an employee dissatisfied with the handling of a claim for benefits under the employer’s plan. Under ERISA, an aggrieved employee who is determined to have had his or her benefits improperly denied is entitled only to the denied benefits and, perhaps, the hourly-fee attorneys’ fees incurred to prove that the denial was improper.

Sarles & Ouimet attorneys have over 25 years of experience representing nonsubscribing employers in litigations and arbitrations by current or former employees seeking common-law damages, challenging ERISA plans and arbitration agreements, and seeking denied ERISA benefits. We are unaware of any law firm in the world with more experience in this unique field than we have.

If you have any questions about becoming a nonsubscriber to the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, or about enforcing your ERISA Plan or defending against unwarranted claims, please contact Gary Sarles or Paul Dunagan.