Jeffrey Lewis
Oakland
180 Grand Avenue, Suite 1380
Oakland, CA 94612
Jeffrey Lewis has specialized in ERISA and employee benefits law since 1975.He currently serves as a representative of the general public on the ERISA Advisory Council to the Secretary of Labor. He has successfully litigated individual, group, and class action claims on behalf of hundreds of thousands of employees, retirees, and the disabled. He was a founding partner of Lewis, Feinberg, Lee & Jackson, one of the first firms in the nation to specialize in ERISA litigation on behalf of plaintiffs. Among his major successes was serving as one of the appointed counsel for employees of WorldCom, Inc. in a class action that resulted in a settlement that paid more than $47 million to participants in WorldCom’s 401(k) plan. He recently recovered over $40 million for retirees after a lengthy trial in which he served as lead counsel. Mr. Lewis serves as a mediator for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and in private practice, and has served as an arbitrator and expert witness in ERISA cases. He has also advised employee groups and benefit plan fiduciaries, is a fiduciary of two large employee benefit plans, and has served as an independent fiduciary of employee benefit plans.
In addition to his litigation and advisory activities throughout the U.S., Mr. Lewis has testified before Congressional committees regarding pension issues and served as one of the Co-Chairs of the Senior Board of Editors of the Employee Benefits Law treatise. He has also taught employee benefits law at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, as well as pension law courses at several other law schools.
Professional & Civic Involvement
ERISA Advisory Council to U.S. Secretary of Labor, Member
College of Employee Benefits Counsel, Charter Fellow, former Member of Board of Governors
American Bar Association, Member, Labor & Employment Section, former Plaintiff Co-Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee
AC Transit Retirement Board, Chair, Board of Trustees
Goodyear Retiree Health Care Trust, Member of the Plan Committee
Honors & Awards
Ranked in Chambers and Partners USA Guide, 2023 and 2024 - ERISA Litigation: Mainly Plaintiffs
Selected to Super Lawyers list in Super Lawyers – Northern California, 2005-2024
Selected to Top 100 Lawyers in Super Lawyers - Northern California, 2010-2016
Top Attorney for ERISA Plaintiffs in the San Francisco Bar Area, The Recorder
Forty Top Benefits Attorneys, The National Law Journal, 1998
Articles & Presentations
Panelist, ERISA Advisory Council, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Employees Benefits Committee 2024 Midwinter meeting, San Diego, California (2024).
Panelist, Are You Ready for a DOL Cybersecurity Audit or to Defend Against Hacks? ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Employee Benefits Committee 2023 Midwinter meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana (2023).
Co-Chair of the Board of Senior Editors of Lewis, et al., Employee Benefits Law (3d and 4th eds. Bloomberg BNA).
Board of Senior Editors, Employee Benefits Law (2d ed. BNA).
Former editor of the Discrimination Claims Under ERISA chapter of Employee Rights Litigation: Pleading and Practice (Matthew Bender, 1991).
Frequent speaker on ERISA topics such as preemption, fiduciary duty, and benefit claims at seminars sponsored by the American Bar Association, the Bureau of National Affairs, the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), and other organizations.
Representative Matters
Tatum v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 392 F.3d 636 (4th Cir. 2004).
Dobson v. Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., 389 F. 3d 386 (2d Cir. 2004).
Canseco v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust, 93 F.3d 600 (9th Cir. 1996).
Sonoma County Ass’n of Retired Employees v. Sonoma County, 708 F.3d 1109 (9th Cir. 2013).
Trotter v. Perdue Farms, Inc., 168 F. Supp. 2d 277 (D. Del. 2001).
Vivien v. Worldcom, Inc., 2002 WL 31640557 (N.D. Cal. July 26, 2002).
Mertens v. Kaiser Steel Retirement Plan, 829 F. Supp. 1158 (N.D. Cal. 1992).
Practice Emphasis
Education
Yale UniversityB.A., 1970
University of California at Berkeley School of LawJ.D., 1975, Order of the Coif
Bar and Court Admissions
1975, California
1976, California Supreme Court
1976, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
1981, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
1985, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
1991, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
1993, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
1995, Supreme Court of the United States
1999, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit
2001, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
2001, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
2004, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
2005, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
2007, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
2015, U.S. District Court of Colorado
2018, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
