Chelsea McCarthy

Practice Areas

Litigation and Dispute Resolution | ERISA Litigation | ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) | Executive Compensation and Benefits | Financial Services Litigation | Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants | Shareholder Rights, Relations and Dispute Resolution | Private Company Business Disputes | Class Action Litigation and Arbitration

Career

Chelsea Ashbrook McCarthy is a partner in Holland & Knight LLP's Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice and member of the ERISA Litigation team. She brings nearly two decades of experience in complex litigation matters with a keen interest in each client's business objectives to create a tailored approach to achieve them. Her experience advocating through all phases of litigation helps ensure that she advises on the best strategy – be it the means for obtaining a quick resolution or driving trial-focused litigation.

With a particular focus on ERISA litigation, Ms. McCarthy defends plan sponsors, company boards of directors, selling shareholders and fiduciaries in ERISA putative class actions involving employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and 401(k) plans alleging claims of breach of fiduciary duty and engaging in prohibited transactions. She also represents clients in regulatory investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for alleged violations of ERISA. Ms. McCarthy is a member of the ESOP Association's Legal and Regulatory Committee, the American Bar Association's (ABA) Labor and Employment Section Employee Benefits Committee and a frequent speaker and publisher on ERISA issues. She is a chapter editor of the Bloomberg ABA Treatise: Employee Benefits Law.

Ms. McCarthy advocates for clients through all phases of litigation, from pre-suit counseling through appeals. She has successfully prevailed on and defended claims for preliminary injunctive relief and has tried cases to verdict in state and federal court. She is a member of the trial bar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association, Employee Benefits Committee; ESOP Association Legal and Regulatory Committee Member

Education