Adam H. Garner

ERISA • Employment Law

Adam Harrison Garner

Philadelphia ERISA & Employment Lawyer

Adam H. Garner is a respected, nationally recognized, ERISA employee benefits and employment lawyer who represents employees, executives, managers, and professionals in all aspects employee benefits law, as well as in certain types of employment disputes. Adam founded The Garner Firm to help individuals get justice in the workplace, and the employment-related benefits they earned and to which they are entitled.

The laws governing employee benefits, the employment
relationship, and the workplace are complex. Adam’s clients value his judgment, his ability to understand and explain these laws, and his forceful advocacy on their behalf. Adam is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey and has appeared in state and federal courts throughout the United States, as well as before numerous federal, state, and local governmental agencies.

Delivering
Personal Attention

  • Badge for severance agreement lawyers Philadelphia
  • Expertise

Employee Benefits (ERISA) Litigation

Adam’s employee benefits litigation practice draws on his years of experience litigating claims for breach of fiduciary duty and disability, health, and pension benefits under ERISA, the federal law governing most
employee benefit plans, as well as his years of experience working for and administering employee benefit plans.  These plans include one of the largest union pension plans and union health and welfare plans in the country. Adam knows how employee benefit plans operate, how their administrators think, and how to beat them.

Employment Law and Litigation

Adam’s employment law practice is focused on resolving and if necessary litigating claims related to wage and hour disputes, employment contracts, agreements not to compete, and severance agreements. Prior to founding The Garner Firm, Adam represented numerous Fortune 500 companies in employment-related litigation and related matters at a major international law firm. He has successfully litigated countless employment discrimination, wage and hour, and employment contract-related disputes and negotiated many severance agreements, non-compete agreements, and employment policies. He understands how employers think, he knows where the pitfalls are in negotiating an employment-related legal dispute, and he knows how to achieve his clients’ goals.

Nationally Recognized

In addition to representing clients, Adam is a regular speaker and author on topics related to employment law and employee benefits law. For the last several years, Adam has served as a Contributing Author,  Chapter Editor, and Senior Editor of the highly regarded treatise Employee Benefits Law, which is published by Bloomberg BNA.  He is also a Subcommittee Co-Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law, Employee Benefits Committee and the Chair-Elect of the ABA’s Torts, Trial, Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Health and Disability Insurance Committee.

Speaking Engagements

  • “From Long-COVID to Compliance with Regulations: Trends in Health and Welfare Administration and Disability Litigation,” ABA Joint Committee on Employee benefits Plans Employee Benefits Law Update: A Year in Review Webinar Series, March 2022
  • “Pension and Welfare Plan Overpayments – What Plans and Participants Need to Know,” ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Plans Webinar, February 2022
  • “ERISA Litigation and Attorneys’ Fees,”  ABA Torts, Trial, Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Health and Disability Committee Webinar, August 2020
  • “Multiemployer Pension Plans: Selected Topics,” ABA Section of Labor & Employment Law, Employee Benefits Committee, Mid-Winter Meeting, February 2020
  • “Attorneys’ Fees in ERISA Litigation ,” ABA Torts, Trial, Insurance Practice Section (TIPS), 46th Annual Midwinter Symposium on Insurance and Employee Benefits, January 2020
  • “Life Happens: Impact of Divorce, Disinheritance, and Murder on Life Insurance Claims,” ABA Torts, Trial, Insurance Practice Section (TIPS), 45th Annual Midwinter Symposium on Insurance and Employee Benefits, January 2019
  • “Remedies,” ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits ERISA Basics National Institute, October 2018
  • “Spousal Rights Under ERISA Plans: QDROs, and QMCSOs,”  ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits ERISA Basics National Institute, October 2018
  • “Subrogation and Reimbursement Claims,” ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits ERISA Basics National Institute, October 2018
  • “Benefit Claims Litigation: Discovery, Experts, Standard of Review and Discovery and Dispositive Motions,” ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Advanced ERISA Benefits Claims Litigation Seminar, May 2018
  • “Administrative Appeals Review – Health Claims,” ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Advanced ERISA Benefits Claims Litigation Seminar, May 2018
  • “Recent Developments in Life Insurance Litigation: Contestable Claims, Misrepresentations, Rescissions, STOLI, and Class Actions,” ABA Torts, Trial, Insurance Practice Section (TIPS), 44th Annual Midwinter Symposium on Insurance and Employee Benefits, January 2018
  • “Spousal Rights Under ERISA Plans: QDROs, and QMCSOs,”  ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits ERISA Basics National Institute, October 2017
  • “Subrogation and Reimbursement Claims,” ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits ERISA Basics National Institute, October 2017
  • External Review Pros & Cons: Perspectives of the Plan and Claimant,” ABA Section of Labor & Employment Law, Employee Benefits Committee, Mid-Winter Meeting, February 2016
  • “Sweet (ERISA) Mystery of Life (Insurance),” ABA Section of Labor & Employment Law, Employee Benefits Committee, Mid-Winter Meeting, February 2014
  • “Multiemployer Health Plans and the Affordable Care Act,” BNA webinar, November 14, 2013
  • “Employment Laws Made Simple,” NBI Seminars, March 21, 2012
  • “Multi-Employer Pension Plans: Withdrawal Liability,” IOMA (BNA) webinar, 2011
  • “The HIRE Act: Benefits and Possible Pitfalls for Employers,” HRHero.com teleconference, 2010
    “Changes to COBRA After ARRA,” Labor and Employment Law Developments
    in Uncertain Times, 2009
  • “Employment Records Retention Requirements Under Federal and Maryland Law,” Records
    Retention and Destruction, Lorman Education Series, 2007 and 2008

Recent Reported Decisions

  • Bansept v. G&M Auto., 557 F. Supp. 3d 584 (E.D. Pa. 2021)
  • Dwyer v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Am., 548 F. Supp. 3d 468 (E.D. Pa. 2021)
  • Edwards v. Albert Einstein Med. Ctr., 533 F. Supp. 3d 215 (E.D. Pa. 2021)
  • Dwyer v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Am., 470 F. Supp. 3d 434 (E.D. Pa. 2020)
  • Bansept v. G & M Auto., 434 F. Supp. 3d 253 (E.D. Pa. 2020)
  • Solkoff v. Pennsylvania State Univ., 435 F. Supp. 3d 646 (E.D. Pa. 2020)
  • Sadowski v. Tuckpointers Local 52 Health & Welfare Tr., 281 F. Supp. 3d 710 (N.D. Ill. 2017)

Education

University of Miami School of Law

Juris Doctor, cum laude, 2004

Emory University, Goizueta Business School

Bachelor of Business Administration, 2001

Bar Admissions

  • Pennsylvania, 2015
  • New Jersey, 2004
  • Maryland, 2004
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Professional Associations

American Bar Association

  • Section of Labor & Employment Law
    • Employee Benefits Committee, Subcommittee Co-Chair 2012-Present
  • Torts, Trial, & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS)
    • Health & Disability Insurance Committee, Chair 2020-2021
    • Health & Disability Insurance Committee, Chair-Elect 2019-2020
    • Health & Disability Insurance Committee, Vice Chair 2017-2019

American Association for Justice

  • Employment Rights Section
  • Insurance Law Section

Pennsylvania Association for Justice

Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association

Philadelphia Bar Association

Louis D. Brandeis Law Society

Pennsylvania Bar Association (Inactive)

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