Radha Pathak secures appellate victory in the Fifth Circuit

Stris & Maher partner Radha Pathak recently secured a published victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Parrott v. International Bancshares Corp. The decision continues a remarkable stretch of appellate success for Radha, who has now prevailed in five of her seven most recent appeals.

The case addresses the interaction between ERISA and arbitration. The Fifth Circuit confirmed that although ERISA retirement plans may require arbitration of certain fiduciary-duty disputes, arbitration provisions cannot be structured in a way that weakens the statute’s core protections. The court’s ruling preserves participants’ ability to pursue plan-wide relief and obtain the full remedies ERISA provides—even when claims proceed in arbitration.

Read the decision here.

Listen to Radha’s oral argument here.

Read Law360 coverage of Radha’s argument here.