Jonathan G. Rose

Jonathan Rose is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.

Areas of Practice

Jonathan Rose’s practice is focused on the representation of plan sponsors and fiduciaries involved in ERISA and related litigation.  In addition, Mr. Rose advises plan sponsors and fiduciaries of qualified and non-qualified pension and welfare benefit plans on compliance with the wide range of fiduciary duties required in the administration and investment of plan assets, including the prudent selection and oversight of investment and other service providers, disclosure obligations, and prohibited transaction issues.  Mr. Rose also advises plan sponsors and fiduciaries on issues involving plan design and maintenance of tax qualified status.  In addition, Mr. Rose provides advice and handles litigation in many areas of labor and employment law, including the negotiation of employment and severance agreements, as well as the negotiation of employee benefit issues for collective bargaining agreements.

Mr. Rose served four years as an attorney in the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s ("PBGC") Office of General Counsel where he handled the PBGC’s special litigation projects involving unique legal issues and difficult law enforcement cases.   Mr. Rose gained extensive experience at the PBGC handling ERISA issues relating to bankruptcy liquidations and reorganizations.  Thereafter, prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Rose was affiliated with a large international law firm where he handled a broad range of ERISA and related employment matters on behalf of large plan sponsors and fiduciaries.

Mr. Rose has substantial first-chair trial experience, including a successful jury trial involving claims under Section 510 of ERISA (and ADEA), as well as successful bench trials involving complex ERISA claims on behalf of plan fiduciaries. Mr. Rose also has significant first-chair litigation experience handling ERISA class actions, and formal disputes before arbitration panels established to resolve disputes arising under complex class action settlement agreements.  Mr. Rose has first-chaired the defense of large plan sponsors in "stock drop" and retiree health class actions.  Mr. Rose also has substantial first-chair experience litigating cases involving prudence of investment options, fiduciary disclosure issues, medical benefit clams, long-term disability claims, and severance benefit claims.   In addition, Mr. Rose has significant first-chair experience successfully representing fiduciaries in litigation against former fiduciaries in connection with prohibited transactions, as well as fiduciary and non-fiduciary service providers for breaches resulting in large plan losses.  Mr. Rose also has significant experience handling withdrawal liability disputes on behalf of plan sponsors in formal arbitrations.

During his time at the PBGC, Mr. Rose had significant experience dealing with the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service on policy and enforcement matters.  Mr. Rose has substantial experience representing plan sponsors, fiduciaries and employers in governmental investigations including the Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and has successfully advised numerous clients in voluntary compliance filings with the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service.  Mr. Rose also has significant experience with the myriad issues involved in plan terminations and has successfully negotiated favorable terminations with the PBGC, reducing plan sponsor or control group liability.  In addition, Mr. Rose has substantial experience in multi-employer withdrawal situations, and has negotiated mergers of underfunded plans to avoid the imposition of withdrawal liability and excise taxes on employers through negotiations with the PBGC and Internal Revenue Service.

Mr. Rose has significant experience counseling clients on the design, implementation, maintenance and termination of employee benefit plans.   In particular, Mr. Rose has advised plan sponsors in connection with qualified and non-qualified pension and welfare benefit plans, including single and multiemployer defined benefit plans, cash balance plans, 401(k) plans, money purchase, profit sharing plans and health savings plans.  Mr. Rose has also designed and implemented early retirement incentive plans for large corporations, including unique arrangements such as a knowledge transfer plan created a Fortune 500 oil company to ensure that its senior engineers at facilities throughout the United States pass along their expertise and institutional knowledge to their successors.  Mr. Rose regularly advises fiduciaries and plan sponsors with respect to ongoing administrative and investment responsibilities, including the negotiation of investment management and service provider agreements. 

Education

• J.D. Catholic University of America, School of Law, 1992
• B.A. Western Maryland College, 1986

Admissions

• District of Columbia, 1995
• Pennsylvania, 1992
• U.S. Court of Appeals
• 2nd and 4th Circuits
• U.S. District Courts in the Northern and Eastern Districts of New York, the District of Columbia, the District of Maryland, and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Memberships

• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association's Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
• Chair, American Bar Association's Torts, Trial and Insurance Practice Section’s Employee Benefits Committee
• Co-Chair, American Bar Association's Labor Section’s Employee Benefits Committee, Subcommittee on Ethics
• Member of the Editorial Board, American Bar Association's Torts, Trial and Insurance Practice Law Journal
• Member, District of Columbia Bar Association
• Member, Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Senior Editor, The Legal Legislative Reporter, published by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, 1999 through September 2003
• Member, American Academy of Trial Counsel

Articles

• ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Employee Benefits Law Committee Newsletter Chair, 2006, 2007 and 2008
• TIPS Law Journal Editorial Board 2002, 2004, 2008 "Recent Developments in Employee Benefits"
• Mr. Rose is co-author of a chapter in the treatise ERISA Litigation on Estoppel as a Basis for Recovery for and Non-Disclosure, published by the Bureau of National Affairs (2003, 2005 and 2008 Editions) and the 2004 and 2006 Supplements.
• Mr. Rose is a contributor and chapter editor for the second edition of the treatise, Employee Benefits Law, also published by the Bureau of National Affairs.
• Mr. Rose has written numerous articles for national legal publications.

Speeches

• JCEB Program Vice-Chair - Opening Reception Speaker, ABA JCEB Government Invitational, April 2007
• TIPS Employee Benefits Committee ERISA Update - 2007 and 2008 Moderator at 34th Annual TIPS Mid Winter Symposium
• Co-Chair, JCEB Government Invitational 2008
• 2008 Annual JCEB TIPS Employee Benefits Committee Chair, and Co-Chair of Wage & Hour and Severance Litigation committee