Benjamin S. Reilly

Ben Reilly is counsel in Goodwin’s Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Financial Services Litigation practices and focuses his practice on a wide array of complex commercial litigation, primarily in the areas of ERISA and securities litigation. He joined the firm in 2015.

Representative Experience Includes:

• Throughout his Goodwin tenure, Ben has represented numerous plan sponsors in nationwide ERISA class actions alleging that investment options in employee retirement plans had excessive fees and/or poor performance and/or that plans were paying unreasonable service fees. Ben has particular expertise in defending companies in the asset management and insurance businesses in defending ERISA suits concerning the use of proprietary investments and products;
• Represented one of the leading insurance companies providing 401(k) recordkeeping and other services in putative class action brought on behalf beneficiaries of its plan clients alleging breaches of ERISA fiduciary duties in connection with the distribution of qualified pre-retirement survivor annuities;
• Ongoing representation of a leading provider of independent fiduciary services in connection with multiple novel ERISA cases targeting pension de-risking transactions by major employers;
• Representation of an investment management firm in ERISA class action in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri, involving a multi-week trial in 2018 regarding alleged breaches of fiduciary duty. Trial decision granted judgment for Goodwin’s clients on all counts and claims.

In addition, Ben completed a five-month rotation with the Middlesex County (Massachusetts) District Attorney’s Office, during which he was sworn in as a Special Assistant District Attorney and independently handled several jury and bench trials and argued evidentiary hearings and non-evidentiary motions before the Court.

Ben is a member of the Boston Bar Association.

Within Goodwin, Ben has been recognized among the firm’s “most valuable mentors” for his dedication to guiding the development of junior attorneys working on the firm’s ERISA litigation matters.

While in law school, Ben interned for the Honorable Beth Robinson of the Vermont Supreme Court.

While attending law school, Ben served as executive notes editor for the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review.

Ben is an editor to Goodwin’s Ben is an editor to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. His speaking engagements and publications include:

• Speaker, “Effects of Litigation Risk on the Investment Menu and Participant Outcomes,” DCIIA Academic Forum, 2023
• Co-Author, “2017 Year In Review: Securities Litigation Against Life Sciences and Health Care Companies,” Goodwin Insights, 2018
• Co-Author, “2016 Year In Review: Securities Litigation Against Life Sciences and Health Care Companies In the First Circuit,” Goodwin Insights, 2017
• Author, “Free Riders on the Firestorm: How Shifting the Costs of Wildfire Management to Residents of the Wildland-Urban Interface Will Benefit Our Public Forests,” Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, 2015