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Jeffrey G. Huvelle

Senior Counsel

Washington +1 202 662 5526

  • About
  • Representative Matters
  • Credentials
  • About

    Jeffrey Huvelle is a litigator who focuses on ERISA and employment discrimination.  He has won 15 consecutive employment discrimination suits tried to a verdict before a jury or the court.  Consistently ranked by Chambers as one of the nation’s top ERISA litigators, he has represented IBM, Verizon, UTC and GE in major ERISA class actions.  Jeffrey recently secured the first court order correcting a scrivener’s error in an ERISA plan.

    He successfully defended IBM’s cash balance plan against age claims in Cooper v. IBM Personal Pension Plan, 457 F.3d 636 (7th Cir. 2006), perhaps the most significant benefits case in the country in recent years, and he defended Verizon’s cash balance plan against similar age claims in the 2nd Circuit.  He has handled major class actions asserting fiduciary duty claims involving 401(k) plans, including stock drop claims brought against GE and fees/expenses claims against UTC.  He has defended numerous suits seeking plan benefits on behalf of workers classified as independent contractors.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Practices and Industries
  • Representative Matters
    • Young v. Verizon, 615 F.3d 808 (7th Cir. 2010) - lead counsel and argued 7th Circuit appeal, securing court order reforming a $1.7 billion drafting error in pension plan formula.  This was the first court order correcting a scrivener’s error in an ERISA plan.
    • Cooper v. IBM Personal Pension Plan, 457 F.3d 636 (7th Cir. 2006) - served as lead counsel and argued the 7th Circuit appeal in defense of IBM's cash balance formula. This was the first appellate court decision ruling on claims that the cash balance formula violates the age provision of ERISA.  The appellate victory was important to IBM because the parties had stipulated that IBM would pay $1.4 billion in remedies and fees if it did not prevail on appeal.  It was also important because more than a thousand US companies use cash balance formulas.
    • GMU Litigation, C.A. No. 1:09cv752 (E.D. Va. 2010) - secured summary judgment for George Mason School of Law against sexual harassment and other discrimination claims by law school professor.
    • Taylor v. United Technologies Corp., 2009 WL 4255259 (2d Cir.) aff’g 2009 WL 534779 (D. Ct. 2009) - successful defense of UTC against class action claims that plan administrators breached their fiduciary duties by permitting excessive plan expenses, failing to disclose plan expenses and failing to understand the revenue received by record-keepers.
    • Hirt v. The Equitable Retirement Plan, 533 F.3d 102 (2d Cir. 2008) - in one of two cases argued in tandem, served as lead counsel and argued the Second Circuit appeal in the successful defense of Verizon against class action claims that its cash balance formula violates the age provision of ERISA.

    • Keen v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 486 F. Supp. 2d 481 (E.D. Pa. 2007) - successful defense of co-defendant GE on claims for plan benefits by purported class of third-party contractors.
    • Edes v. Verizon Communications, Inc., 417 F.3d 133 (1st Cir. 2005) - successful defense of Verizon on a motion to dismiss claims under ERISA asserting that the company failed to provide benefits to common law employees retained through an employment agency.
    • Cavalieri v. GE, No 06-CV-315 (N.D. New York 2005) - defended GE on “stock-drop” claims relating to its 401(k) plan, in which plaintiffs allege that GE failed to disclose to plan participants material information relating to one of its businesses and that it was imprudent for the plan to continue to hold GE stock.  Resolved for $50 million, of which $30 million represented costs of future plan improvements. 
    • Cook v. UBS Financial Services, Inc., CA No. PJM 06-803 (D. Md. 2006) - successful defense of putative nationwide class action for race discrimination on behalf of financial advisors.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Credentials
    Education
    • Columbia Law School, J.D.
    • Yale Law School
    • Harvard University, B.A.
    Bar Admissions
    • District of Columbia
    • Massachusetts
    Pro Bono
    • Two actions in federal court in Maryland on behalf of African-American employees, asserting FLSA and race discrimination claims in one case and race and retaliation claims in the other.
    • Litigation in the federal court in Georgia on behalf of African-American customers alleging denial of service by a restaurant chain because of their race.
    • Advice to a number of non-profits on employment issues.
    Accolades
    • Recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Employment Law (2007-2019).
    • Ranked among leading ERISA litigators nationwide by Chambers USA (2006-2017).
    • Washington DC Super Lawyers, Employee Benefits (2010-2017) and Employee Litigation (2014-2019)
    • Legal 500 US, “Leading Lawyer” - ERISA Litigation (2014-2019)
    • Legal 500 US, ERISA Litigation (2012-2017)
    • Outstanding Achievement Award from Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights in 2009 for litigation related to Equal Employment Project.

    Areas of Expertise

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