Kimberly Jones

Prior to joining Willkie, Kim was a partner at another international law firm where she was co-leader of the firm’s ERISA litigation team.

• Best Lawyers® — Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, 2023-2025
• Illinois Super Lawyers — Rising Star, 2012-2017; Super Lawyers, Employee Benefits, 2021-2024
• Five-time recipient of CALI Excellence Award
  
   

• Co-Chair, American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section — Employee Benefits Committee; Benefits Claims Subcommittee 
• Chair, DRI Life Health and Disability Committee — Disability Subcommittee 
  
   

• Contributing Editor, Employee Benefits Law (4th ed. Bloomberg BNA), 2017 to present
• Co-Author, The Handbook on ERISA Litigation (4th ed. Wolters Kluwer), 2020
• Co-Author, “Fourth Circuit Endorses Rule 52 for Resolving ERISA Benefit Claim Cases with Factual Disputes,” DRI’s The Brief Case, March 2023
• Co-Author, “Second Circuit Court of Appeals Holds Disability Benefit Claim Must Be Fully Determined on Internal Appeal Review Within 45 Days,” Employee Benefit Plan Review, January 2023
• Co-Author, “Florida Federal District Court Compels Individual Arbitration of ERISA Class Action,” Employee Benefit Plan Review, August 2022
• Co-Author, “Federal District Courts Disagree on Compelling Individual Arbitration of ERISA Class Action,” American Bar Association, May 9, 2022
• Speaker, “Civil (Procedure) Unrest: The Circuits' Approach to ERISA Fact-Finding,” 2022 DRI Life, Health, Disability and ERISA Seminar, May 18, 2022
• Speaker, “Plan Progress: Lessons From Litigation,” PlanSponsor webinar, May 20, 2021
• Speaker, “ERISA Litigation Update,” Qualified Plan Fiduciary Summit, October 14, 2020
• Speaker, “ERISA Fee Litigation,” SageView Advisory Group, September 8, 2020
• Speaker, “Current Trends in Disability Benefit, Life Insurance Plan and AD&D Litigation,” American Bar Association Employee Benefits Committee Midwinter Meeting, February 6, 2020
• Speaker, “Best Practices for Developing and Training Fiduciaries,” 17th National Forum on ERISA Litigation, November 21, 2019
  
   

• Obtained dismissal of an ERISA class action filed against a global engineering and consulting firm alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and mismanagement of the firm’s 401(k) plan
• Obtained favorable resolution for multinational fast food restaurant chain in connection with ERISA class action alleging COBRA violations
• Achieved summary judgment for the subsidiary of a large manufacturing and engineering company in connection with the denial of retiree medical benefits under ERISA
• Achieved summary judgment for large food and beverage company in purported class action alleging improper reduction of retiree medical benefits
• Achieved summary judgment for numerous life, health disability, severance, and pension claim administrators and insurers in lawsuits alleging improper denials of benefit claims and breaches of fiduciary duty brought by plan participants and beneficiaries
• Obtained appellate court victory for large, multinational electronics company in class action lawsuit alleging improper reduction of retiree medical benefits
• Achieved summary judgment for a large multiemployer employee health and welfare trust fund in an ERISA fiduciary breach claim against a vision services provider that had improperly withheld more than $400,000 in fund assets
• Obtained numerous dismissals of duplicative fiduciary breach claims brought by plan participants against disability insurers and administrators in lawsuits involving the denial of ERISA disability claims
• Achieved several dismissals of benefit claim denial lawsuits as untimely under contractual or statutory limitation periods
• Represented life insurance companies and self-funded plans in interpleader matters involving competing claims for death benefits
• Defended large insurers in breach of contract and bad faith claims

*_{Kim advised on some of these matters prior to joining Willkie.}