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Updated: April 29th, 2022 | St Louis | Lawyer List D | Korein Tillery LLC | Appellate Practice, Class Actions, Commercial Litigation
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Address: 505 North 7th Street, Suite 3600, st-louis, MO, 63101
Law Firm: Korein Tillery LLC
Phone: 314-241-4844
Fax: 314-241-3525
Email:
Website: http://www.koreintillery.com
| Title | Member |
| First Year of Call | |
| Areas of Practice | Commercial Litigation, Appellate Practice, Class Actions |
| Description | Author: Missouri Civil Rights Handbook, Wash. 1997, West Publishing Company. Mr. Sprong concentrates his work in various class actions, primarily in ERISA claims filed in federal courts throughout the United States including Williams v. Rohm & Haas Pension Plan, 497 F.3d 710 (7th Cir. 2007); Cooper v. The IBM Pers. Pension Plan, 2005 WL 1981501, 35 Employee Benefits Cas. 2488 (S.D. Ill. 2005); Berger v. Xerox Retirement Income Guar. Plan, 231 F.Supp.2d 804 (S.D. Ill. Sep. 30, 2002), aff’d 338 F.3d 755 (7th Cir. Aug. 1, 2003); and Esden v. Bk. of Boston, 229 F.3d 154 (2nd Cir. 2000). In the last eight years, Mr. Sprong has acted as court-appointed counsel in numerous pension fund class actions, recovering over $1 billion in judgments and settlements on behalf of retirees and employees. Representative Matters: Berger v. Xerox Retirement Income Guar. Plan, 231 F.Supp.2d 804 (S.D .Ill. Sep. 30, 2002), aff’d, 338 F.3d 755 (7th Cir. Aug. 1, 2003). Korein Tillery attorneys contested the legality of Xerox’s cash balance pension plan on behalf of a class of its retirees and obtained a $255 million judgment for the class. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the trial court’s judgment, holding that Xerox’s cash balance plan violated ERISA by, among other things, failing to include the value of future interest credits up through a plan participant’s normal retirement date in valuing the participant’s lump sum pension benefit. The case eventually settled, and more than 15,000 Xerox retirees will share in the $239 million settlement fund Korein Tillery lawyers negotiated for the Class Judgment obtained on behalf of the Class. Berkowitz v. National Westminister Bancorp Ret. Plan, 2000 WL 852451 (D. Conn. March 30, 2000). Connecticut District Court pension miscalculation case resulting in approximately $4 million to the putative class. Call v. Ameritech Mgt. Pension Plan, 475 F.3d 816 (7th Cir. 2007). When a participant in a defined-benefit pension plan is given a choice between taking pension benefits as an annuity or in a lump sum, the lump sum must be so calculated as to be the actuarial equivalent of the annuity. Plaintiff brought this class action alleging that Ameritech’s plan amendment, specifying two options for calculating lump-sum distribution amounts, violated the plan’s own anti-cutback provision. Korein Tillery attorney Douglas R. Sprong obtained a judgment on behalf of the Plaintiff Class in excess of $31 million. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment on January 9, 2007. Ameritech’s appeal to the United States Supreme Court was denied on June 9, 2008. City of University City v. AT & T Wireless Services, Inc., 203 S.W.3d 197 (Mo. 2006). Class case on behalf of Missouri municipalities to recover license taxes owed by wireless carriers. Current settlement recoveries exceed $150 million. Clevenger v. Dillards, Inc., 2007 WL 764291 (S.D. Ohio March 9, 2007). The Plaintiff in this case accrued substantial benefits under a benefit plan that was terminated the year her employer was sold to Dillards. Represented by Korein Tillery, she claimed the manner in which lump sum benefits were calculated under the plan and its late amendments violated ERISA. Defendants filed a third party complaint against the company that calculated the annuities and lump sum distributions. Korein Tillery attorneys defeated motions to dismiss and motions for judgment on the pleadings. Subsequently, Korein Tillery obtained a settlement of $35 million in additional benefits for the class. Cooper v. IBM Personal Pension Plan, 274 F.Supp.2d 1010 (S.D. Ill. 2003), rev’d in part on limited appeal following settlement, 457 F.3d 636 (7th Cir. 2006). Representing a class of IBM retirees, Korein Tillery challenged IBM’s pension equity plan on the grounds that it violated ERISA’s prohibition against age discrimination. The trial court entered summary judgment for the Plaintiff Class on the issue of liability. After obtaining class certification and summary judgment in favor of the class, Korein Tillery obtained a $324 million settlement for the class. This case, along with Berger, received an enormous amount of national media attention and is a watershed in ERISA litigation. Esden v. Bank of Boston, 229 F. 3d 154 (2d Cir. 2000). The first case to successfully challenge case balance type defined benefit plans, this matter required Korein Tillery attorneys Douglas R. Sprong and Steven A. Katz to navigate the complex parallel statutory provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA and its regulations to remedy the improper reduction of pension benefits by the defendant. This groundbreaking ERISA class action formed the basis for reinstatement of hundreds of millions of dollars in retirement benefits in matters litigated throughout the country. The Second Circuit decision has become a watershed case in ERISA law as it clarifies how retirement benefits must be calculated in cash balance pension plans. The case ultimately settled for approximately $7 million. Graf v. Automatic Data Processing, 00-694-GPM (S.D. Ill. Jun. 18, 2001). More than 5,000 former employees of ADP whose pensions were miscalculated shared in a settlement of $7 million. Laurenz ano v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc. Ret. Income Trust, 134 F. Supp. 2d 189 (D. Mass. 2001). Under the benefit plan at issue in this class action, a participant’s normal retirement benefit was a life annuity beginning at age sixty-five, increased every year to include a cost-of-living adjustment payment that reflected changes in the Consumer Price Index. Rather than receive a life annuity, the Plaintiff elected to receive the present value of his pension in a single, lump sum distribution. When the Plaintiff received his lump sum distribution, however, it did not include the present value of the projected cost-of-living adjustment payments. Korein Tillery attorneys Douglas R. Sprong and Steven A. Katz served as class counsel and successfully obtained class certification and pressed a motion for judgment on the written record while successfully defeating the defendant’s same motion. KT recovered approximately $18 million for BCBS retirees. Malloy v. Ameritech, 2000 WL 35525477 (S.D. Ill. Feb. 7, 2000). Korein Tillery attorneys Douglas R. Sprong and Steven A. Katz challenged the mortality table used by the plan to calculate payments to those plan participants who, upon termination of employment, elected to receive their pension benefits in the form of a lump sum distribution rather than a monthly annuity benefit as violative of ERISA. Plaintiffs claimed that the plan was required by its terms to use a different mortality table than that which it in fact used. KT recovered approximately $185 million in pension benefits for 17,000 former Ameritech employees whose pension benefits were miscalculated. Class members each received an average of $8,000.00 in additional pension benefits. Mangone v. First USA Bank, 206 F.R.D. 222 (S.D. Ill. 2001). Korein Tillery represented 18.5 million class members seeking redress for improper late charges on credit card statements. Korein Tillery’s efforts resulted in a $40 million settlement fund. May v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 97-L-1230 (Ill. Cir. Ct.). Korein Tillery negotiated a $20 million settlement for the class in a case involving improper laboratory testing charges. Dunn v. BOC Group Pension Plan, 01-CV-382-DRH (S.D. Ill. Dec 11, 2003). A $69 million settlement was reached for former employees whose pension benefits were miscalculated. Medeika v. SNET Pension Plan, 97CV01123 (D. Conn. Aug. 9, 1999). A $13.5 million settlement was obtained for several thousand former Southern New England Telephone employees whose pension benefits were miscalculated. Patterson v. Nations Bk., 99-481-PER (S.D. Ill. July 29, 1999). Korein Tillery’s efforts resulted in a $9 million settlement for the class in a case involving a class of persons who incurred insufficient funds or overdraft charges as a result of the defendant’s misconduct. Rice v. Nat’l Steel, 98-L-98 (Ill.Cir.Ct. Jun. 30, 1999). Korein Tillery’s efforts resulted in a $1.4 million settlement recovery in this class action involving underpayment of profit sharing plan bonuses. Seifert v. May Department Stores Pension Plan, 96-1029-GPM (S.D.Ill. May 3, 1999). Korein Tillery recovered approximately $28 million in pension benefits for retirees whose lump sum distributions were miscalculated. Tullock v. KMart Corp. Employee Pension Fund, 183 F.Supp.2d 1094 (S.D. Ill. 2001). Korein Tillery represented participants in K-Mart’s employee retirement plan who alleged that lump sum distributions from the plan violated ERISA because they were computed using the wrong interest rate. KT successfully obtained class certification and prevailed on summary judgment with respect to the question of ERISA liability. The case settled for $1.25 million. In re MCI Non-Subscriber Tel. Rates Litig., MDL 1275 (S.D. Ill. Apr. 19, 2001). MDL proceeding in the Southern District of Illinois that resulted in one of the largest telecom class action settlements ever, with a settlement fund of $90 million. Williams v. Rohm and Haas Pension Plan, 497 F.3d 710 (7th Cir. 2007). The Plaintiff Class, represented by Korein Tillery attorney Douglas R. Sprong, alleged that the Rohm and Haas Pension Plan violated ERISA by failing to include a cost-of-living adjustment in lump sum distributions from the Plan. Following class certification, Korein Tillery obtained summary judgment in favor of the class. On August 14, 2007 the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s order granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and denying the pension plan’s cross-motion for summary judgment. The Seventh Circuit agreed that the pension plan violated ERISA by failing to include the value of a cost-of-living adjustment in the class members’ lump sum distributions. The Court remanded the case to the district court so that class members’ lump sum benefits could be recalculated to include the value of the cost-of-living-adjustment. The Plan’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court was denied in May 2008. Additional pension benefits for the class may exceed $300 million. |
Reputation for aggressively and successfully pursing a wide variety of complex cases.Korein Tillery’s class action practice spans a wide variety of cases across the country, including insurance, securities, antitrust, pension funds, products, environmental, tobacco, computer technology and consumer fraud cases. Although many law firms ‘handle’ class actions, very few have the resources and experience to prosecute class actions as vigorous…
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