Fox Rothschild LLP congratulates José M. Jara, who was named chair of the Employee Plans and Executive Compensation Group of the American Bar Association’s Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law for the 2023-2024 term.

Comprised of more than 200 attorneys with an “interest in or focus on employee benefits, ERISA and executive compensation issues,” the group helps “businesses, their workers and other individuals understand and solve issues that arise in the operation of employee benefit plans and compensation arrangements.”

Formerly Vice-Chair for the Group, Jara will now oversee its six substantive committees: Fiduciary Responsibility, Administration, and Litigation; Welfare Benefit Plans; Plan Transactions and Terminations; Qualified Plans; Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation; and IRAs and Plan Distributions.

Counsel in the firm’s Labor and Employment Department, Jara focuses his practice on ERISA and employment litigation and counseling.  He has defended fiduciaries and boards of directors against ERISA class action litigation alleging breach of fiduciary duty, including imprudent investments, excessive fees, and valuation issues in Employee Stock Ownership Plans. Jara’s practice also includes representing clients under investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) regarding civil and/or criminal violations of ERISA.  

He was previously a claims director for a major international insurance company and a senior pension law specialist and investigator with EBSA.

Jara earned his LL.M. from the Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his B.S. from Manhattan College.