Howard Shapiro is a principal in the New Orleans, Louisiana, office of Jackson Lewis P.C., and is co-leader of the firm’s ERISA Complex Litigation group. Howard focuses his practice on the defense of large, sophisticated ERISA class actions.

Howard defends “bet-the-company” litigation where damages are potentially material. His cases involve the defense of Defined Benefit plans, 401(k) Plans, and 403(b) Plans. He also defends litigation involving health and welfare plan issues. His practice is nationwide, and throughout his career, Howard has appeared as counsel across the entire country. Typically, his cases involve damage allegations in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars. Howard has defended cases involving: breach of fiduciary duty; breach of the duty of loyalty; Prohibited Transactions; 401(k) Plan asset performance, fees, and expense issues; 403(b) Plan asset performance, fees, and expense issues; defined benefit plan asset issues, accrual issues, and cut-back issues; Cash Balance Plan issues; ESOP litigation; fiduciary misrepresentation claims; sophisticated preemption issues; Executive Compensation litigation, both pension and welfare claims; Directed Trustee claims; retiree rights litigation; severance plan class actions; Section 510 cases; and complex benefit claim cases. He has appeared in federal courts from coast to coast while maintaining an active national ERISA litigation practice.