Jeffrey Lewis

Practice Areas

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 Memberships

Member, ERISA Advisory Council to U.S. Secretary of Labor

Elected as a charter fellow of the College of Employee Benefits Counsel; 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

Education