Theodore (Ted) M. Becker

He has represented public and private companies that sponsor employee benefit, health and welfare, and retirement plans governed by ERISA, and their directors and officers and plan fiduciaries, as well as service providers to ERISA plans and plan sponsors. He has extensive experience in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and has defended some of the highest profile lawsuits involving ESOPs, helping to define the landscape of the evolving law relating to ESOPs.

Ted has a considerable experience in trial and appeals courts, including arguing before the United States Supreme Court and several United States Circuit Courts of Appeals. He also has represented clients in arbitration proceedings. He has represented clients across the full spectrum of litigation, from avoidance, dispute resolution and pre-litigation planning, through dispositive motions, discovery, trial and appeal.

Ted’s clients include a number of Fortune 500 companies. He represents both public and private organizations, as well as non-profit organizations.

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• Neil et al. v. Zell, et al. (The Tribune Company ERISA Litigation)

Co-lead counsel defending a national trust company in a class action brought by participants of a retirement plan of Tribune Company, alleging that the trust company approved a prohibited transaction and breached its fiduciary duty under ERISA in connection with a transaction in which the company went from a publicly held corporation into one of the largest, wholly employee-owned companies in the country.*

• Allen, et al. v. GreatBanc Trust Company

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a case brought by participants of a retirement plan claiming that the trust company engaged in prohibited transactions and committed breaches of fiduciary duty in violation of ERISA.*

• Armstrong v. LaSalle Bank, N.A Bank of America

Lead counsel representing one of the largest US banks in a class action brought by participants of a retirement plan of one of the largest wholly employee-owned companies in the country, claiming over $300 million in damages and alleging that the bank as ESOP Trustee breached its fiduciary duty under ERISA in connection with the company’s allegedly improper leveraged acquisition of a large competitor and by approving an allegedly improper valuation of the company’s stock.*

• Solis, Secretary of Labor v. GreatBanc Trust Company

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a case brought by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, alleging that the trust company engaged in a prohibited transaction and committed breaches of fiduciary duty under ERISA.*

• Kaplan, et al. v. Houlihan, et al.

Lead counsel defending two former directors of Houlihan Smith & Co., Inc., in a case brought by participants of a retirement plan, alleging that the directors violated ERISA by engaging in a transaction as part of the liquidation of the company.*

• In re Life Associates, Debtor / Trustee v. Principal Mutual

Lead counsel defending Principal Life Insurance Company in a case brought by a Bankruptcy Trustee alleging improprieties in the distribution of “demutualization” proceeds. *

• Fish, et al. v. GreatBanc Trust Company, et al.

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a case brought by participants of a retirement plan and its successor trustee, alleging that the trust company committed breaches of fiduciary duty under ERISA.*

• Miller, Special Litigation Trustee v. Lee Morgan, et al.

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a case brought by a Bankruptcy Litigation Trustee alleging that the trust company aided and abetted a breach of fiduciary duty under Ohio state law by company directors and officers in approving a transaction.*

• Johnson, et al. v. Couturier, et al. / Secretary of Labor v. Couturier, et al.

Counsel defending a director of a company in an action brought by former and present participants of a retirement plan alleging breach of fiduciary duties under ERISA and state law in connection with the setting of compensation and grants of options and synthetic equity and a transaction in which all the assets of the company were sold.*

• Douglin, et al. v. GreatBanc Trust Company

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a class action brought by participants of a retirement plan claiming that the trust company engaged in a prohibited transaction and committed breaches of fiduciary duty in violation of ERISA.*

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm.

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• Who’s Who in the World
• Who’s Who in America
• Who’s Who in American Law
• Leading Lawyers: The Top Business Lawyers in Illinois, Commercial Litigation, Employee Benefits Law, 2008–2022

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• Illinois State Bar Association
• Chicago Bar Association
• Employee-Owned S Corporations of America, Advisory Committee
• The ESOP Association, Board of Directors, Board of Governors, Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee on Fiduciary Issues (Past Chair), Legislative & Regulatory Committee, DOL / EBSA Subcommittee, Chair
• The Employee Ownership Foundation, Board of Trustees
• National Center for Employee Ownership
• Russell Sage Fellow, Yale Law School
• Fellow, Northwestern University Program in Law and the Social Sciences

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