James Goldstein

James Goldstein joined the firm as senior counsel in 2024. His practice is broadly focused on helping employee benefit plans to comply with ERISA, including provisions involving reporting and disclosure, participation and vesting, fiduciary responsibility, as well as the various laws that govern health plans such as COBRA, HIPAA, MHPAEA and PPACA. He also advises clients on civil enforcement matters involving the Department of Labor.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Goldstein had a 23-year career with the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), serving as a senior investigator, supervisory investigator and senior technical advisor. In those capacities he oversaw high-level investigations involving large single-employer and multi-employer pension and welfare plans, and received national recognition for his work, including several Secretary of Labor Honor Awards. His work at EBSA resulted in the recovery and protection of hundreds of millions of dollars of plan assets, as well as the protection of thousands of participants and beneficiaries in troubled health plan arrangements. He also served on national committees that developed and oversaw several enforcement initiatives, including mental health parity enforcement. Mr. Goldstein was also nationally recognized for his work training new EBSA staff on the legal framework of ERISA, and in 2012 was selected by EBSA to teach a course on employee benefits law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. In addition, he was a frequent public speaker representing EBSA before various industry groups, including the Western Pension & Benefits Council, the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA), and the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA).