DeMario Carswell discussed the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to review the Ninth Circuit's dismissal of the Intel 401(k) target date fund case, signaling that it may soon resolve an important split among the circuits over ERISA's pleading requirements for investment underperformance claims. As benefits practitioners await clarity on the "meaningful benchmark" standard, employer side attorneys emphasize that the Court's involvement could bring much needed uniformity to this area of fiduciary litigation.

Carswell underscored the significance of the Supreme Court's move, noting "I do think we're going to get clarity" on the pleading standards for investment fund underperformance now that the justices have agreed to consider the meaningful benchmark question in the Intel case. He added that the Sixth Circuit's decision taking the opposite approach "almost kind of forced the court to take up one of these cases."