Background
More than 25 years as a Taft-Hartley Trust attorney including multiemployer plan representation and litigation. Serves as AAA panel arbitrator for withdrawal liability disputes. Active Las Vegas community volunteer.
Adam Segal provides comprehensive guidance to his clients—ERISA, multiemployer and public employer employee benefit trust funds and plans—on all aspects of benefit plan representation. As plan counsel, he works to ensure that all trustees, third-party administrators and service providers are aligned and working together collaboratively for the benefit of the plan participants and beneficiaries. From handling employee benefits plan design and IRS determination letter applications to ensuring regulatory compliance under ERISA, HIPAA, WHCRA and PHSA and managing litigation, Adam provides strategic counsel to his clients informed by his litigation experience.
Serving as an American Arbitration Association panel arbitrator for withdrawal liability disputes under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act gives Adam a multifaceted understanding of the issues most important to his clients. This allows him to play the role of a neutral legal advisor understanding both sides of the matter.
Active in the Nevada community, Adam is the chair of Comagine Health Nevada’s community board.
Representative Matters
- Obtained summary judgment against Nevada Labor Commissioner that state statute purporting to regulate trusts was preempted by ERISA. Board of Trustees of the Glazing Health and Welfare Trust v. Chambers, 168 F. Supp.3d 1320 (D. Nev. March 10, 2016). After the Nevada legislature modified the statute and a 2-1 Ninth Circuit decision reversing the district court, obtained unanimous en banc opinion from Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the issue was moot. 941 F.3d 1195 (9th Cir. 2019) (en banc).
- Obtained temporary restraining order against the Clark County School District due to an alleged Open Meeting Law Violation, halting its plan to remove over 170 people from their Dean of Students positions. The restraining order combined with public pressure caused the District to abandon its plan of removing all of the Deans.
- Obtained judgment against benefit plan participant who committed fraud by misrepresenting his marriage statuses in an attempt to gain more benefits than he was entitled to receive.
- Successfully obtained a $19.5 million interest arbitration ruling for the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees (CCASA) against the Clark County School District, the fifth largest school district in the nation. After an arbitration hearing, the arbitrator determined that the District had the ability to pay CCASA’s offer and the administrators were historically and comparatively underpaid while work requirements were increasing.
- Obtained judgment against employer for withdrawal liability on behalf of pension plan. Trustees of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 525 Health and Welfare Trust and Plan v. Southwest Air Conditioning, Inc., 2012 WL 6096672 (D. Nev. December 4, 2012).
- Successfully defended employee benefit fund against a hospital’s $750,000 ERISA benefit claim. We prevailed on a motion for summary judgment by demonstrating that the underlying patient was not eligible for benefits at the time of treatment.
Insights & Publications
Insights & Publications
News
News
Credentials
Education
- J.D., 1996, Santa Clara University School of Law, cum laude
- B.A., 1992, University of California, Santa Cruz, with honors
Admissions
- Nevada
- California
- U.S. District Court, District of Nevada
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
Memberships
American Bar Association
Clark County Bar Association
State Bar of California
State Bar of Nevada
Community Involvement
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Comagine Health Nevada’s community board
Recognition
AWARDS
The Best Lawyers in America, 2008-2026
Litigation – ERISA Lawyer of the Year, Las Vegas, 2024
Vegas Inc Top Lawyers, Labor Employment, 2020
Managing Editor, Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal, Santa Clara University School of Law
