Atty. Brian A. Pepicelli

Brian concentrates in ERISA withdrawal liability litigation for the firm’s multiemployer pension fund clients, including the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust, the International Painters and Allied Trades Industry Pension Fund, the Steelworkers Pension Trust, and the Alaska Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry Pension Fund.

Before joining Tucker Arensberg, Brian was a judicial law clerk to two federal judges in Pittsburgh: the Honorable Nora Barry Fisher, U.S. District Judge (Sept. 2017 to May 2018), and the Honorable Cynthia Reed Eddy, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge (Dec. 2013 to Sept. 2017). During that time, Brian drafted dozens of judicial opinions involving a myriad of substantive and procedural issues. Brian now uses that invaluable experience to develop case strategies and craft legal arguments in withdrawal liability disputes, which are often worth millions of dollars and involve complicated and unsettled legal issues.

Brian has litigated a wide range of withdrawal liability issues, including:

• The building and construction industry exemption.
• Transactions to evade or avoid withdrawal liability.
• Successor, alter ego, and single-employer liability.
• Partial withdrawals (70% declines, bargaining outs, facility takeouts).
• Calculation of withdrawal liability.
• Controlled group liability.
• Interplay between ERISA and Bankruptcy Code.
• Enforcement of “pay now, dispute later” rule.
• Laches.

Brian also helps recover delinquent contributions from active employers.