An ERISA litigation trend has emerged that would have been unthinkable a few years ago: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is intervening in court and taking the employer’s side. This trend reflects a deliberate policy shift that matters for every plan sponsor and fiduciary in an environment where “regulation by litigation” has become a default strategy for plaintiffs’ lawyers.

As we previously noted, a legal challenge to California’s climate disclosure laws has made its way to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which stayed enforcement of one of the laws pending appeal.