ACS Recovery Services, Inc. v. Griffin

2 Analyses of this case by attorneys

  1. “Enbancworthy” – Fifth Circuit Weighs in on Whether Company Can Recover Funds from Special Needs Trust

    Alston & Bird LLPBeth VaughanMay 16, 2013

    To what extent, in other words, does ACS’s suit seek ‘appropriate equitable relief’ to enforce the Plan’s reimbursement provision?” Thus begins the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in ACS Recovery Services, Inc. v. Griffin, No. 11–40446, 2013 WL 1890258, at *1 (5th Cir. May 7, 2013), the Fifth Circuit’s first opportunity to consider what is “appropriate equitable relief” under ERISA after the Supreme Court’s ruling in McCutchen v. US Airways, 133 S. Ct. 1537 (U.S. 2013). The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in McCutchen, which was in “two parts, one favoring US Airways, the other McCutchen,” held that, in an action brought under Section 502(a)(3) of ERISA based on an equitable lien by agreement, the terms of the ERISA plan govern.

  2. Structuring a Settlement to Fund a Special Needs Trust May Not Work to Block ERISA Plan’s Recovery

    Bryan Cave LLPSarah SiseJune 26, 2013

    In ACS Recovery Services, Inc. v. Griffin (2013 CA5), the Fifth Circuit recently allowed fiduciaries of an ERISA group health plan to seek reimbursement from a special needs trust established for a participant through a personal injury settlement. The key to this decision was the court’s interpretation of the leading Supreme Court cases in this space – Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. v. Knudson, 534 U.S. 204 (2002) and Sereboff v. Mid-Atlantic Medical Services, Inc. 547 U.S. 356 (2006).