David Preminger is a practiced advocate for employees, retirees, and beneficiaries. The resident partner in the firm’s Complex Litigation Group New York office, David focuses on Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) fiduciary breach class action cases as well as individual benefit claims. He has been litigating ERISA cases for nearly 40 years, since the Act’s passage in 1974. David has been the lead counsel or co-counsel on numerous ERISA cases alleging misconduct in connection with the investment of retirement plan assets, including Hartman et al. v. Ivy Asset Management et al., a case involving fiduciary breach related to Madoff investments that resulted in a $219 million settlement with consolidated cases. He has been involved in ERISA cases against Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Colonial BancGroup and Marsh & McLennan, resulting in multi-million dollar settlements on behalf of class members.
David’s familiarity with the changes to and nuances of ERISA law allows him to artfully and efficiently interpret the statute and regulations and analyze issues on behalf of his clients. He has handled over 100 trials and in addition to his ERISA experience has extensive experience litigating and negotiating antitrust, real estate, civil rights, family law, and general commercial and corporate matters.
Prior to joining Keller Rohrback, David was a partner at Rosen Preminger & Bloom LLP, where his successes included the In re Masters Mates & Pilots Pension Plan and IRAP Litigation. He was previously a Supervisory Trial Attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a Senior Attorney with Legal Services for the Elderly Poor, and a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow with Brooklyn Legal Services. He is a charter fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, a senior editor of Employee Benefits Law (Bloomberg BNA), and Chair of the Board of Mabou Mines, an experimental theater company in New York City, for the past 20 years.
Bar and Court Admissions
1973, New York
1973, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
1974, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
1974, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
1976, United States Supreme Court
1991, U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
1993, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
1995, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
2001, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
2006, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Honors & Awards
Named to New York Super Lawyers list, 2007-2019.
Education
Rutgers University – B.A., 1969, Mathematics
New York University School of Law – J.D., 1972, New York
Professional and Civic Involvement
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Member, Committee on Employee Benefits, 1993-1996; 1996-1999; 2002-2005; Committee on Legal Problems of the Aging, 1985-1988
New York State Bar Association, Member
American Bar Association, former Co-Chair, Fiduciary Responsibility Subcommittee; Committee on Employee Benefits, Labor and Employment Section; former Co-Chair, Subcommittee on ERISA Preemption and the Subcommittee on ERISA Reporting and Disclosure
American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, Member and Charter Fellow
Articles & Presentations
Mr. Preminger regularly speaks at conferences on ERISA and employee benefits litigation and lectures at New York University School of Law, Saint John’s University School of Law, and Rutgers University, and has testified before Congress on proposed amendments to ERISA and participated in New York State Attorney General’s hearings on protection of pension benefits.
Senior Editor, Employee Benefits Law (BNA), (2008 – present).
Chapter Editor, Employee Benefits Law (BNA), Chapter 10, Fiduciary Responsibility (1998 – present).
Aspects of Federal Jurisdiction Under Sections 301(c)(5) and 302(e) of The Taft-Hartley Act – The “Sole and Exclusive Benefit Requirement,” 4 Tex. S. U. L. Rev. 1 (1976).
David S. Preminger, E. Judson Jennings & John Alexander, What Do You Get With the Gold Watch? An Analysis of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. 17 Ariz. L. Rev. 426 (1975).