Teresita (Tess) J. Ferrera

Teresita J. (Tess) Ferrera, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 51, was a talented fiduciary compliance lawyer under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). She was elected to the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel (the “College”) in 2011.

Born in Cuba in late 1957, one-year-old Tess immigrated to the United States with her family in 1959 in that turbulent time of the Cuban revolution.

Tess graduated from George Washington University in Washington, DC with a B.A. in Psychology in 1980; and she earned her law degree from National Law Center (later known as George Washington University Law School) in 1990, where she made the Dean’s List.

While a student and after securing her undergraduate degree, Tess began her career as an activist, initially serving as the Director of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Ever the activist, Tess pursued her passion for justice throughout her life in her charitable work, volunteering her time to help children and indigent people by providing tireless legal representation and emotional support for those in need.

After receiving her law degree, Tess spent six years with the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”), representing the Secretary of Labor in states around the country, litigating alleged violations of ERISA fiduciary duties and alleged prohibited transactions. Following her years in federal government service, Tess co-founded a private ERISA boutique law firm (Holifield, Janich, Rachal, & Ferrera), then successively joined the Washington, DC firms of Thompson Hine LLP, Miller & Chevalier Chartered, and Schiff Hardin LLP (now ArentFox Schiff) before returning to the firm that she co-founded in 2017 (then Holifield, Janich, & Ferrera).

At each private firm, Tess advised and defended clients on a variety of complex ERISA issues, such as: fiduciary considerations in making investment decisions, determining fiduciary status, negotiating vendor contracts for ERISA plans (particularly for government contractors), selecting and monitoring of ERISA plan service providers, and the permissible use of ERISA plan assets. She was in demand as a litigator, having also represented clients under DOL investigations and had extensive experience counseling clients about correcting fiduciary violations through the DOL voluntary correction programs and outside of those programs. Her clients varied, including: insurance companies, mutual funds, trade association multiple employee welfare arrangements (“MEWAs”), professional employer organizations, plan investment committees, single employers, Davis-Bacon plans, and court-appointed independent fiduciaries.

Attorneys working with her valued Tess for her expertise as a litigator, but also for being a supportive colleague and a generous mentor of less experienced attorneys.

Highly regarded by her peers, Tess was known as the editor and author of the ERISA Fiduciary Answer Book, published annually. She also authored scholarly articles in the Journal of Pension Benefits, for which she served as a senior editor. She was a frequent presenter at national conferences, including the National Association of Professional Employment Organizations (“NAPEO”).

Tess was a role model who radiated positive energy and determination to overcome obstacles. At age 50, Tess realized a life-long dream to sing jazz, bringing joy and happiness to herself and to others.

Throughout her life, Tess remained passionate in her many employee benefits roles as benefits attorney, author and editor of legal articles and treatises, and helpful colleague. She was a tireless advocate for the Secretary of Labor and for clients of the Washington D.C. firms whose rosters she graced and for the ERISA boutique firm that she co-founded and re-joined a few years prior to her passing.

Sources include the Washington Post obituary for Tess Ferrera; the July 4, 2007, post by Paul Bowers in Tax Grotto: “Thompson Hine Expands Benefits Practice: Tess J. Ferrera Joins the Washington [DC] Office”; the September 14, 2009, Miller & Chevalier Chartered News “Premier Labor ERISA Lawyer Deepens Firm’s ERISA Controversy and Transactional Strengths”; and the Employment Law 360 post of Zachary Friedman on July 2, 2012, announcing her joining Schiff Hardin LLP.

Photo Source: The Decade Book, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel 2000-2010