Partner
Radha Pathak
- NYU, J.D. (2000)
- Berkeley, B.A. (1997)
Rachana (“Radha”) Pathak co-leads the firm’s award-winning Pension Litigation and Healthcare Litigation Practices. She is also a prominent appellate lawyer who has won significant cases nationwide, including before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Radha is widely recognized as one of America’s leading plaintiff-side pension and healthcare litigators. She co-leads the firm’s practice groups in those two areas, which collectively are ranked Band 1 nationwide by Chambers USA.
Radha is a leading expert on the laws and regulations governing the regulation of private sector retirement and welfare plans. She is frequently asked to speak and write about complex procedural issues, especially those pertaining to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). And she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit consumer organization committed to protecting and promoting the retirement security of American workers, retirees, and their families.
Radha is also a prominent appellate attorney. For over two decades, she has litigated cases before the U.S. Supreme Court including Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., 595 U.S. 178 (2022), Thole v. U. S. Bank N.A., 140 S.Ct. 1615 (2020), Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 139 S.Ct. 881 (2019), Microsoft v. Baker, 137 S.Ct. 1702 (2017), Merrill Lynch v. Manning, 136 S.Ct. 1562 (2016), and Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., 136 S.Ct. 936 (2016). In 2017, she received the Daily Journal’s California Attorney Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) award for her victory in Montanile v. Board of Trustees, 136 S.Ct. 651 (2016).
Based in Los Angeles, Radha is often retained to handle appeals in California. She was recently admitted to the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, an invitation-only appellate fellowship of the state’s leading appellate attorneys. And she is a core member of the firm’s appellate group, which is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA.
Radha has personally handled and won significant appeals in virtually every federal circuit. Her recent successful arguments include Duke v. Luxottica, No. 24-3207 (Second Circuit 2026), Parrott v. International Bancshares, No. 25-50367 (Fifth Circuit 2026), Fleming v. Kellogg, No. 23-1966 (Sixth Circuit 2024), Avecilla v. Live Nation, No. 23-55725 (Ninth Circuit 2025), and Williams v. Shapiro, No. 24-11192 (Eleventh Circuit 2025).
Radha received her J.D., cum laude, from New York University Law School where she was an editor of the New York University Law Review. She received her B.A. in Political Science with honors from the University of California at Berkeley. She began her career as a law clerk for the Honorable Raymond Fisher on the Ninth Circuit.
Supreme Court and Constitutional Law Issues Relevant to ERISA Plans, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2026)
ERISA Civil Procedure Update, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, Webinar (March 2022)
ERISA at the U.S. Supreme Court, Advanced ERISA Litigation Virtual Seminar (November 2021)
IP at the Supreme Court Series: Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, LP, American University Washington College of Law (November 2021)
ERISA Preemption, Virtual National Institute on ERISA Basics (October 2021)
ERISA at the Supreme Court, Midwinter Webinar Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2021)
Three Strikes and You’re In – Supreme Court Decides Three ERISA Cases, With More to Come, Practicing Law Institute (PLI) Webinar (June 2020)
ERISA at the Supreme Court, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2020)
Subrogation and Reimbursement Claims, National Institute on ERISA Basics, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (October 2019)
Fiduciary Update, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2019)
Fiduciary Litigation Update, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2018)
Medical Provider Claims: Assignment, Standing & Penalties, ACI’s 14th National Forum on ERISA Litigation (March 2017)
New Civil Procedure Rules and ERISA Litigation, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Webinar (September 2016)
Training Regarding the Effect of Montanile v. Bd. of Trustees of NEI Health Benefit Plan on Pension Recoupment Claims, Pension Rights Center (April 2016)
Robust Enforcement at Last? Medical Providers as the New ERISA Enforcers, University of Connecticut School of Law, Fifth Annual National Benefits & Social Insurance Conference (April 2016)
Fiduciary Update, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2016)
Equitable Remedies After Rochow: Has Anything Really Changed?, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Webinar (June 2015)
The Gathering Storm: How Should Plan Fiduciaries Address Health Care Provider Overbilling?, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Webinar (June 2015)
Moderator: The Affordable Care Act Turns Five, Views of the Cathedral, University of Connecticut School of Law, Annual Conference of the Insurance Law Center (April 2015)
Equitable Lien by Agreement, Drexel University School of Law, Fourth Annual Employee Benefits Conference (March 2015)
Remedies After Amara, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee (February 2015)
Moderator: The Future of Public Pension Plans and Other Non-ERISA Plans, Marquette University Law School, Third Annual ERISA, Employee Benefits, and Social Insurance National Conference (March 2014)
Employee Benefits in an Era of Retrenchment, Washington University School of Law (March 2012)
Federalism Today, University of Pennsylvania School of Law, 15th Anniversary Symposium of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law (January 2012)
Moderator: Land Use and Federalism, SEALS Annual Meeting, Land (July 2011)
Perspectives on ERISA, University of South Dakota School of Law, South Dakota Law Review ERISA Symposium (February 2011)
Does Federalism Serve Progressive Justice?, LatCritXV (October 2010)
Incorporated State Law, University of Illinois Law School, Third Annual Junior Faculty Federal Courts Workshop (October 2010)
The Supreme Court, Orange County Roosters (August 2010)
Statutory Standing and the Tyranny of Labels, University of Houston Law Center (February 2009)
Moderator: Appearances and Realities of Power Across Scales: Dilemmas of Categorization, LatCrit XII (October 2007)
Moderator: Clarifying Equitable Remedies: The Supreme Court’s Sereboff Decision and Implications for Subrogation and Contracting, American Health Lawyers Association Webinar (October 2006)
Dalits in India: The Criminalization of Status, LatCrit XI (October 2006)
Can AEDPA “Be Reasonable”? How Federal Courts Should Apply California’s Indeterminate Law of Timeliness, Northeast POC Legal Scholarship Conference (July 2006)
Moderator: Connecting the Rights Deficit at Home with the Rights Deficit Abroad, Western Law Professors of Color Conference (March 2006)
The Constitutional Basis of “Related To” Bankruptcy Jurisdiction, National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference (October 2004)
Choosing a Legal Career, First National South Asian Bar Association Conference (June 2004)
Mandatory Arbitration of ERISA Claims, Employee Benefits Committee Newsletter (Spring 2021 Issue)
9th Circuit Rightly Upholds California’s Retirement Backstop, Daily Journal (May 21, 2021) (with John Stokes)
Enough About the Constitution: How States Can Regulate Health Insurance Under the ACA, 31 Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. 275 (2013) (with Brendan S. Maher)
Health Insurance & Federalism-in-Fact, 28 A.B.A. J. Lab. & Emp. L. 73 (2012) (peer-edited, with Brendan S. Maher)
Incorporated State Law, 61 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 823 (2011)
Discretionary Clause Bans & ERISA Preemption, 56 S.D. L. Rev. 500 (2011)
Statutory Standing and the Tyranny of Labels, 62 Okla. L. Rev. 89 (2009) (cited by United States Supreme Court in Lexmark Intern., Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 1377 (2014))
Understanding and Problematizing Contractual Tort Subrogation, 40 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 49 (2008) (with Brendan S. Maher)
Breaking the “Unbreakable Rule”: Federal Courts, Article I, and the Problem of “Related To” Bankruptcy Jurisdiction, 85 Or. L. Rev. 59 (2006)
When Procedure Stands in the Way of Justice, Daily Journal (Jan. 24, 2006)
- California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, fellow
- Pension Rights Center, board member
- National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, amicus committee co-chair
- Employee Benefits Law Treatise, chapter co-editor
Individual Honors
- Band 3, ERISA Plaintiffs Litigation, Chambers USA (current)
- Attorney of the Year: ERISA, California Lawyer (2017)
Firm Honors
- Practice Group of the Year: Benefits (five firms in the U.S.), Law360 (2025)
- Appellate Hot List (20 firms in the U.S.), National Law Journal (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021)
- Tier 1, Appellate Practice (nationwide), Best Lawyers (current)
- Band 1, ERISA Plaintiffs Litigation (three firms in the U.S.), Chambers USA (current)
- Band 1, Appellate Litigation (four firms in California), Chambers USA (current)
Overview
Rachana (“Radha”) Pathak co-leads the firm’s award-winning Pension Litigation and Healthcare Litigation Practices. She is also a prominent appellate lawyer who has won significant cases nationwide, including before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Radha is widely recognized as one of America’s leading plaintiff-side pension and healthcare litigators. She co-leads the firm’s practice groups in those two areas, which collectively are ranked Band 1 nationwide by Chambers USA.
Radha is a leading expert on the laws and regulations governing the regulation of private sector retirement and welfare plans. She is frequently asked to speak and write about complex procedural issues, especially those pertaining to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). And she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit consumer organization committed to protecting and promoting the retirement security of American workers, retirees, and their families.
Radha is also a prominent appellate attorney. For over two decades, she has litigated cases before the U.S. Supreme Court including Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., 595 U.S. 178 (2022), Thole v. U. S. Bank N.A., 140 S.Ct. 1615 (2020), Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 139 S.Ct. 881 (2019), Microsoft v. Baker, 137 S.Ct. 1702 (2017), Merrill Lynch v. Manning, 136 S.Ct. 1562 (2016), and Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., 136 S.Ct. 936 (2016). In 2017, she received the Daily Journal’s California Attorney Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) award for her victory in Montanile v. Board of Trustees, 136 S.Ct. 651 (2016).
Based in Los Angeles, Radha is often retained to handle appeals in California. She was recently admitted to the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, an invitation-only appellate fellowship of the state’s leading appellate attorneys. And she is a core member of the firm’s appellate group, which is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA.
Radha has personally handled and won significant appeals in virtually every federal circuit. Her recent successful arguments include Duke v. Luxottica, No. 24-3207 (Second Circuit 2026), Parrott v. International Bancshares, No. 25-50367 (Fifth Circuit 2026), Fleming v. Kellogg, No. 23-1966 (Sixth Circuit 2024), Avecilla v. Live Nation, No. 23-55725 (Ninth Circuit 2025), and Williams v. Shapiro, No. 24-11192 (Eleventh Circuit 2025).
Radha received her J.D., cum laude, from New York University Law School where she was an editor of the New York University Law Review. She received her B.A. in Political Science with honors from the University of California at Berkeley. She began her career as a law clerk for the Honorable Raymond Fisher on the Ninth Circuit.
Speaking Engagements
Supreme Court and Constitutional Law Issues Relevant to ERISA Plans, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2026)
ERISA Civil Procedure Update, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, Webinar (March 2022)
ERISA at the U.S. Supreme Court, Advanced ERISA Litigation Virtual Seminar (November 2021)
IP at the Supreme Court Series: Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, LP, American University Washington College of Law (November 2021)
ERISA Preemption, Virtual National Institute on ERISA Basics (October 2021)
ERISA at the Supreme Court, Midwinter Webinar Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2021)
Three Strikes and You’re In – Supreme Court Decides Three ERISA Cases, With More to Come, Practicing Law Institute (PLI) Webinar (June 2020)
ERISA at the Supreme Court, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2020)
Subrogation and Reimbursement Claims, National Institute on ERISA Basics, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (October 2019)
Fiduciary Update, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2019)
Fiduciary Litigation Update, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2018)
Medical Provider Claims: Assignment, Standing & Penalties, ACI’s 14th National Forum on ERISA Litigation (March 2017)
New Civil Procedure Rules and ERISA Litigation, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Webinar (September 2016)
Training Regarding the Effect of Montanile v. Bd. of Trustees of NEI Health Benefit Plan on Pension Recoupment Claims, Pension Rights Center (April 2016)
Robust Enforcement at Last? Medical Providers as the New ERISA Enforcers, University of Connecticut School of Law, Fifth Annual National Benefits & Social Insurance Conference (April 2016)
Fiduciary Update, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (February 2016)
Equitable Remedies After Rochow: Has Anything Really Changed?, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Webinar (June 2015)
The Gathering Storm: How Should Plan Fiduciaries Address Health Care Provider Overbilling?, ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Webinar (June 2015)
Moderator: The Affordable Care Act Turns Five, Views of the Cathedral, University of Connecticut School of Law, Annual Conference of the Insurance Law Center (April 2015)
Equitable Lien by Agreement, Drexel University School of Law, Fourth Annual Employee Benefits Conference (March 2015)
Remedies After Amara, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, Midwinter Meeting of the Employee Benefits Committee (February 2015)
Moderator: The Future of Public Pension Plans and Other Non-ERISA Plans, Marquette University Law School, Third Annual ERISA, Employee Benefits, and Social Insurance National Conference (March 2014)
Employee Benefits in an Era of Retrenchment, Washington University School of Law (March 2012)
Federalism Today, University of Pennsylvania School of Law, 15th Anniversary Symposium of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law (January 2012)
Moderator: Land Use and Federalism, SEALS Annual Meeting, Land (July 2011)
Perspectives on ERISA, University of South Dakota School of Law, South Dakota Law Review ERISA Symposium (February 2011)
Does Federalism Serve Progressive Justice?, LatCritXV (October 2010)
Incorporated State Law, University of Illinois Law School, Third Annual Junior Faculty Federal Courts Workshop (October 2010)
The Supreme Court, Orange County Roosters (August 2010)
Statutory Standing and the Tyranny of Labels, University of Houston Law Center (February 2009)
Moderator: Appearances and Realities of Power Across Scales: Dilemmas of Categorization, LatCrit XII (October 2007)
Moderator: Clarifying Equitable Remedies: The Supreme Court’s Sereboff Decision and Implications for Subrogation and Contracting, American Health Lawyers Association Webinar (October 2006)
Dalits in India: The Criminalization of Status, LatCrit XI (October 2006)
Can AEDPA “Be Reasonable”? How Federal Courts Should Apply California’s Indeterminate Law of Timeliness, Northeast POC Legal Scholarship Conference (July 2006)
Moderator: Connecting the Rights Deficit at Home with the Rights Deficit Abroad, Western Law Professors of Color Conference (March 2006)
The Constitutional Basis of “Related To” Bankruptcy Jurisdiction, National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference (October 2004)
Choosing a Legal Career, First National South Asian Bar Association Conference (June 2004)
Publications
Mandatory Arbitration of ERISA Claims, Employee Benefits Committee Newsletter (Spring 2021 Issue)
9th Circuit Rightly Upholds California’s Retirement Backstop, Daily Journal (May 21, 2021) (with John Stokes)
Enough About the Constitution: How States Can Regulate Health Insurance Under the ACA, 31 Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. 275 (2013) (with Brendan S. Maher)
Health Insurance & Federalism-in-Fact, 28 A.B.A. J. Lab. & Emp. L. 73 (2012) (peer-edited, with Brendan S. Maher)
Incorporated State Law, 61 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 823 (2011)
Discretionary Clause Bans & ERISA Preemption, 56 S.D. L. Rev. 500 (2011)
Statutory Standing and the Tyranny of Labels, 62 Okla. L. Rev. 89 (2009) (cited by United States Supreme Court in Lexmark Intern., Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 1377 (2014))
Understanding and Problematizing Contractual Tort Subrogation, 40 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 49 (2008) (with Brendan S. Maher)
Breaking the “Unbreakable Rule”: Federal Courts, Article I, and the Problem of “Related To” Bankruptcy Jurisdiction, 85 Or. L. Rev. 59 (2006)
When Procedure Stands in the Way of Justice, Daily Journal (Jan. 24, 2006)
Associations
- California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, fellow
- Pension Rights Center, board member
- National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, amicus committee co-chair
- Employee Benefits Law Treatise, chapter co-editor
Awards
Individual Honors
- Band 3, ERISA Plaintiffs Litigation, Chambers USA (current)
- Attorney of the Year: ERISA, California Lawyer (2017)
Firm Honors
- Practice Group of the Year: Benefits (five firms in the U.S.), Law360 (2025)
- Appellate Hot List (20 firms in the U.S.), National Law Journal (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021)
- Tier 1, Appellate Practice (nationwide), Best Lawyers (current)
- Band 1, ERISA Plaintiffs Litigation (three firms in the U.S.), Chambers USA (current)
- Band 1, Appellate Litigation (four firms in California), Chambers USA (current)
Clerkships
- Hon. Raymond C. Fisher, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
