Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Jim Baker's practice focuses on ERISA litigation and in providing practical advice concerning ERISA and other laws regulating employee benefit arrangements. He has provided counsel or handled litigation under ERISA or other statutes for a broad range of clients on a vast array of issues, and he is co-chair of the Firm's Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice.

Mr. Baker has acted as lead attorney in four ERISA stock drop class action cases resulting in consecutive client victories using four different legal theories. In re Dell ERISA Litigation, 563 F. Supp. 2d 681 (W.D. Tex. 2008); Spivey v. The Southern Company, 427 F. Supp. 2d 1144 (N.D. Ga. 2006); In re Administrative Committee ERISA Litigation, 2005 WL 3454126 (N.D. Cal. 2005); and Ogden v. Americredit Corp., 225 F.R.D. 529 (N.D. Tex. 2005). He appears regularly in federal district and appellate courts throughout the country.

Mr. Baker is co-chair of the ABA's ERISA and Pension Litigation Subcommittee of the Committee on Business and Corporate Litigation. He is a contributing editor for the Benefits Law Journal, which is published quarterly. He also acts as a mediator for ERISA cases for the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California and is a volunteer attorney for the AIDS Legal Referral panel.

Areas of Practice

• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
• ERISA & Other Employee Benefits Litigation
• Labor & Employment
• Employee Benefits Counseling & Litigation

Representative Cases

• In re Dell Inc. ERISA Litigation, 563 F. Supp. 2d 681 (W.D. Tex. 2008)
• Braden v. LSI Logic Corp., 340 F. Supp. 2d 1066 (U.S.D.C. N.D. Cal. 2004)
• Chao v. Mazzola, et al., Case No. 04-4949 (N.D. Cal. 2007)
• Chapman v. ACF Industries, LLC, 430 F. Supp. 2d 570 (S.D. W. Va. 2006)
• Cisco Systems, Inc. v. California WCAB, 2001 WL 34780587 (N.D. Cal. 2001); aff'd, 2002 WL 972172 (9th Cir. 2002)
• City of Eugene v. State Public Employees Retirement Board, 339 Or. 113 (2005)
• Cline v. TIMEC, 200 F.3d 1223 (9th Cir. 2000)
• Henderson v. State of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Board (D. Or. 2004), Case No. CV-74-538 (class action); aff'd sub nom., Wicker v. State of Oregon, ____ F.3d ____, 2008 WL 4224949 (9th Cir. 2008)
• Hopkins v. Seagate, 30 F.3d 104 (10th Cir. 1994)
• In re Administrative Committee ERISA Litigation, 2005 WL 3454126 (N.D.Cal. Dec. 16, 2005)
• Jones v. Chevron Corporation, 2005 WL 3676786 (N.D. Cal. 10/14/05)
• Lewis v. Saint Mary's HealthFirst, 402 F. Supp. 2d 1182 (D. Nev. 2005)
• Matz v. Household International Tax Reduction Incentive Plan, 265 F.3d 572 (7th Cir. 2001)
• McDonald v. Entergy Operations, Inc., 2004 WL 3398451 (S.D. Miss.)
• McNeff v. Bechtel-Bettis, Inc., 2004 WL 716711 (W.D. PA. 2004.)
• Ogden v. Americredit Corp., 225 F.R.D. 529 (N.D. Tx. 2005)
• Patelco Credit Union v. Sahni, 262 F.3d 897 (9th Cir. 2001)
• Retail Industry Leaders Ass’n v. Fielder, 475 F.3d 180 (4th Cir. 2007)
• Spivey v. The Southern Company 427 F. Supp. 2d 1144 (N.D. Ga. 2006)
• Strunk v. Oregon Public Employee Retirement Board, 338 Or. 145 (2005)
• Sullivan v. Capgemini, 518 F. Supp. 2d 983 (N.D. Ohio 2007)
• Sullivan v. Capgemini, 573 F. Supp. 2d 1009 (N.D. Ohio 2008)

West Practice Categories

Affirmative Action -- Employee, Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employee, Collective Bargaining, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) -- Employee, Employee Rights -- Employee, Employment Contracts -- Employee, Employment Discrimination -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employee, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Employee, Federal Employer,'s Liability Act (FELA) -- Employee, Labor Arbitration, Labor Disputes, Labor Law, Labor Legislation, Labor Relations Boards & Proceedings, Municipal Employment -- Employee, Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) -- Employee, Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employee, Sexual Harassment -- Employee, Unfair Labor Practices, Unions, Wage & Hour Laws, Wage & Hour Laws -- Employee, Whistleblower -- Employee, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act -- Employee, Wrongful Termination -- Employee

Bar Admissions

• California
• District of Columbia

Education

• Santa Clara University

Published Works

• Only In San Francisco?, 2009
• A Fiduciary by Any Other Name…Thoughts on Properly Delegating Fiduciary Duties, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1,, 2009
• Retiree Medical Litigation's Dirty Little Secret—"Location, Location, Location!", Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1,, 2009
• The Decline and Fall of Temporary "Stock Drop" Claims, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 21, No. 4,, 2008
• Analyzing Recent Cases from an ERISA Attorney's Perspective, 2008
• A Constant State of Exhaustion? LaRue v. DeWolff Revisited, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2008
• A Constant State of Exhaustion? LaRue v. DeWolff Revisited, 2008
• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About a Public Employer's Ability to Modify Retiree Benefits but Were Too Afraid to Ask, 2008
• Metlife v. Glenn: How Much did The Supreme Court Change the Standard of Review in ERISA, 2008
• San Francisco All Over?, 2008
• ERISA Section 404(c) Meets "The Real World", Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2008
• Fairy Tale Ending? The EEOC Takes a Second Look at the ADEA and Retiree Medical Benefits, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 20, No. 4, 2007
• ERISA Litigation Chapter, Business Law Section, 2007 Annual Review of Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation, ABA, 2007
• Future Imperfect? Cash Balance Plans in the New Millennium, 2007
• Future Imperfect? Cash Balance Plans in the New Millennium, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2007
• How Much Is Too Much? A Primer on the 401(k) "Feegate" Litigation, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2007
• Is Coordinating Medicare-Based Benefits with Retiree Medical-Plan Benefits a Form of Age Discrimination?, 2007
• Who Killed Yard-Man?, 2007
• Making Employer Stock Safe for Your 401(k) Plan: Managing the Risk, 2007
• Follow the Money, 2007
• Finally Good News: Court Rejects Lawsuit Over Temp Drop in Employer Stock, Benefits Law Journal, Vol 19, No. 3, 2006
• Follow the Money, Benefits Law Journal, Vol 19, No. 3 - PDF, 2006
• Can Maryland Make Employers "Pay or Play"?, Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2006
• Can Maryland Make Employers "Pay or Play"?, 2006
• ERISA Litigation Chapter, Business Law Section, 2006 Annual Review of Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation, ABA, 2006
• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation: Another ERISA Fiduciary Duty Wake-Up Call, 2005
• ERISA Litigation: The Law of Unintended Consequences, 2005
• Pensioners Receive Protection from Retroactive Plan Change, San Francisco Daily Journal, 2004
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Delegating fiduciary responsibility After Enron, Employee Relations Law Journal,. 30, No. 1, 2004
• Posner Proposes ERISA Plan 'safe harbor' language, The National Law Journal, 2001
• Get Serious - 9th Circuit Announces New Doctrine Regarding Plan Amendments, Los Angeles Daily Journal, 1999
• Microsoft's Misclassifications, Los Angeles Daily Journal, 1999
• Equal Pay for Equal Work: The Law of Domestic Partner Benefits, ABA, The Labor Lawyer, 1998
• Retired Care Still Cuttable, D.C. Legal Times, 1998
• Contributing Editor to the Benefits Law Journal, 1900
• Editorial Board member for the ERISA Law Journal, 1900
• Christmas Comes Early to Microsoft's Permatemps, Daily Journal, 1900

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