Advanced ERISA Enforcement & Fiduciary Defense: Navigating DOL EBSA Investigations

José M. Jara, Counsel | Fox Rothschild LLP

José M. Jara represents clients under investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration and defends clients in lawsuits filed by the DOL’s Office of the Solicitor over alleged civil and criminal violations of ERISA. Based in Fox Rothschild’s Morristown, New Jersey office, he concentrates on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and on employment litigation and advisory work.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Jara holds an LL.M. and an Employee Benefits Law Certificate from Georgetown University Law Center, a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and a B.S. from Manhattan College. He is admitted to the New Jersey bar, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He speaks Spanish.

• Recognition & Leadership

Within the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Section, Mr. Jara chaired the Employee Plans and Executive Compensation Group from 2023 to 2025, and for 2025 to 2026 he is Vice Chair of the IRAs and Plan Distributions Committee and a member of the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits. Super Lawyers selected him as a Rising Star in Employee Benefits in New Jersey from 2023 through 2025. He is a Commissioner on the ABA Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities, serves as Board Vice President of Rising Ground, and is a former board member and President of The Center for Family Support.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Jara is an Associate Member on the Advisory Committee on Fiduciary Issues of The ESOP Association and belongs to the National Center for Employee Ownership and the American Benefits Council’s Retirement Income Task Force. His recent presentations have addressed DOL and IRS Health and Welfare Plan audits, ESOP challenges and enforcement activity, ERISA Prohibited Transactions and Exemptions, and Fiduciary Issues in ESG Investing. He is also a member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, the CPR Institute’s Employment Dispute Committee, and the National Hispanic Bar Association.

• Experience

Before joining Fox Rothschild, Mr. Jara was a senior pension law specialist and investigator with the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. He also worked as a pension consultant for an international accounting firm and as a complex claims director for an international insurance company, and he practiced at several law firms. He now defends plan sponsors, boards of directors, and fiduciaries in ERISA class actions alleging breach of fiduciary duty, including claims involving delinquent employee contributions, improper valuation of employer stock, excessive fees, and imprudent investments. He advises plan sponsors and fiduciaries on fiduciary responsibilities, prohibited transactions and exemptions, plan asset regulations, and plan fees and expenses. He helps clients correct fiduciary violations through the DOL Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program, annual reporting failures through the DOL Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program, and retirement plan errors through the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System. His clients include corporations, tax-exempt organizations, associations, pension funds, boards of trustees, ESOPs, and multiemployer and multiple employer plans. His broader practice includes defending EEOC charges and DOL wage and hour investigations, conducting internal investigations, and advising on D&O, fiduciary, and EPL insurance matters.

Briana M. Swift, Shareholder | Littler Mendelson, P.C.

Briana M. Swift worked as an employee benefits investigator with the U.S. Department of Labor while serving as a Presidential Management Fellow. A Shareholder in Littler’s Seattle office, she now advises on ERISA and tax compliance issues and on plan design, drafting, and administration.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Swift earned her J.D., cum laude, from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2016 and her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Arizona in 2011. She is admitted to the Washington bar and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

• Recognition & Leadership

Super Lawyers named Ms. Swift a Rising Star in 2024. She served as Deputy Regional President for Region XVI of the Hispanic National Bar Association from 2020 to 2024 and as a Board Member and Vice Chair of Sound Child Care Solutions from 2022 to 2024.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Swift presented the Littler webinar “Navigating DOL Retirement Plan Audits: Insights and Future Trends” in April 2025 and spoke at Littler’s Pacific Northwest Regional Employer Conference in 2024 and 2025. Her published work includes analyses of MHPAEA compliance during the 2024 enforcement pause, the Supreme Court decision relieving ERISA plaintiffs of a pleading requirement and what it means for plan fiduciaries, the SECURE 2.0 student loan match, and San Francisco health care expenditure requirements, a piece that also appeared in SHRM.

• Experience

Ms. Swift works with tax-qualified and nonqualified employee benefit plans, health and welfare plans, and retirement plans, and she assists with benefits and compensation matters arising in mergers and acquisitions. During her DOL fellowship, she also served as a visiting attorney with the Appellate Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, where she successfully argued a case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before joining Littler, she was an associate with a global law firm. In law school, she clerked with the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the District of Oregon and was a judicial extern for the Hon. Michael Simon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon and the Hon. Mary Murguia of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

SESSION 1 – Managing DOL EBSA Investigations and Enforcement Inquiries | José M. Jara & Briana M. Swift | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This topic will provide a step by step look at how EBSA investigations develop and the practical considerations at each stage. Attendees will examine how to respond to subpoenas and information requests, prepare for investigative site visits, coordinate internal investigations, preserve relevant records, communicate with federal investigators, and evaluate potential exposure as an investigation progresses toward civil or criminal enforcement.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Identifying ERISA Enforcement Risks and Utilizing Voluntary Correction Programs | José M. Jara & Briana M. Swift | 3:40pm – 4:10pm

Attendees will also explore how proactive compliance reviews and programs such as the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) and Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP) can be used to correct errors, demonstrate good faith compliance, and reduce the risk of escalating enforcement.