Advanced ERISA Enforcement & Fiduciary Defense: Navigating DOL EBSA Investigations

Mr. Jara holds an LL.M. and an Employee Benefits Law Certificate from Georgetown University Law Center, a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and a B.S. from Manhattan College. He is admitted to the New Jersey bar, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He speaks Spanish.

Within the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Section, Mr. Jara chaired the Employee Plans and Executive Compensation Group from 2023 to 2025, and for 2025 to 2026 he is Vice Chair of the IRAs and Plan Distributions Committee and a member of the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits. Super Lawyers selected him as a Rising Star in Employee Benefits in New Jersey from 2023 through 2025. He is a Commissioner on the ABA Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities, serves as Board Vice President of Rising Ground, and is a former board member and President of The Center for Family Support.

Mr. Jara is an Associate Member on the Advisory Committee on Fiduciary Issues of The ESOP Association and belongs to the National Center for Employee Ownership and the American Benefits Council’s Retirement Income Task Force. His recent presentations have addressed DOL and IRS Health and Welfare Plan audits, ESOP challenges and enforcement activity, ERISA Prohibited Transactions and Exemptions, and Fiduciary Issues in ESG Investing. He is also a member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, the CPR Institute’s Employment Dispute Committee, and the National Hispanic Bar Association.

Before joining Fox Rothschild, Mr. Jara was a senior pension law specialist and investigator with the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. He also worked as a pension consultant for an international accounting firm and as a complex claims director for an international insurance company, and he practiced at several law firms. He now defends plan sponsors, boards of directors, and fiduciaries in ERISA class actions alleging breach of fiduciary duty, including claims involving delinquent employee contributions, improper valuation of employer stock, excessive fees, and imprudent investments. He advises plan sponsors and fiduciaries on fiduciary responsibilities, prohibited transactions and exemptions, plan asset regulations, and plan fees and expenses. He helps clients correct fiduciary violations through the DOL Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program, annual reporting failures through the DOL Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program, and retirement plan errors through the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System. His clients include corporations, tax-exempt organizations, associations, pension funds, boards of trustees, ESOPs, and multiemployer and multiple employer plans. His broader practice includes defending EEOC charges and DOL wage and hour investigations, conducting internal investigations, and advising on D&O, fiduciary, and EPL insurance matters.