Eli Gottesdiener

A specialist in lawsuits relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Eli Gottesdiener has spent the past 12 years as Principal of Gottesdiener Law Firm, PLLC (GLF). One of the country's foremost firms focusing on plaintiffs' pension class action matters, GLF represents plaintiff employees in lawsuits pertaining to benefit plans. Eli Gottesdiener established the firm in 2000 after more than ten years experience as a trial lawyer.

Under Eli Gottesdiener's leadership, GLF has brought cases against major pension and 401(k) plans, and has been instrumental in several innovative and precedent-setting matters. Both alone and in partnership with other firms, GLF has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for its plaintiffs. Its previous successes include a pension benefit case against AT&T, Inc., which was settled on behalf of 4,000 former AT&T employees for the sum of $16 million, and a multi-phase class action against Enron Corporation and several other defendants pertaining to 401(k), ESOP, and pension plans, which resulted in a recovery of over $225 million for the plaintiffs. Gottesdiener Law Firm is currently involved in actions against Colgate-Palmolive, Foot Locker, Inc., and Bank of America.

Eli Gottesdiener's expertise on ERISA-related litigation is called upon by the American Bar Association and other professional conferences, where he is a lecturer and presenter. He has testified on ERISA issues for the US Department of Labor ERISA Advisory Committee. A supporter of the Pension Rights Center and other non-profit advocacy associations, Gottesdiener submits amicus curiae briefs on their behalf in the US Supreme Court.

Prior to the establishment of Gottesdiener Law Firm, Eli Gottesdiener worked with several top Washington, D.C. law firms, and spent seven years with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, where he worked with under-privileged criminal defendants as a Staff Attorney. Gottesdiener holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, and a Magistère (MA-equivalent) from the Sorbonne, Université de Paris.