Eli Gottesdiener

Eli Gottesdiener has practiced law for over 35 years, most of which litigating complex federal civil matters. For the past 25 years, he has dedicated his practice to the representation of current and former participants in ERISA-governed pension plans. He is recognized as one of only a relatively small number of practitioners across the country with the expertise, resources and proven track record to successfully prosecute ERISA pension or 401(k) class actions against large corporate defendants. Federal judges across the country have appointed him as class counsel in more than a dozen such cases.

Mr. Gottesdiener has not only prosecuted -- earlier in his career, he defended. He spent five years defending Fortune 500 companies in commercial disputes as an associate in two of the top firms, one in Washington, D.C., the other in New York. He also spent seven years as a trial lawyer defending under-privileged criminal defendants as a staff attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.

Mr. Gottesdiener received his law degree, cum laude, in 1987 from Georgetown University Law Center. While at Georgetown, he served as an Associate Editor of The Georgetown Law Review. Mr. Gottesdiener also holds a Magistère (master's degree equivalent) from the Sorbonne (Université de Paris-IV). He attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine for two years where he was named a Dana Scholar before transferring to The American University, School of International Service where he received his B.A. and was named a Presidential Scholar.

Mr. Gottesdiener has lectured, taught and presented at ABA and other professional conferences on ERISA litigation and testified on ERISA issues before the U.S. Department of Labor ERISA Advisory Committee. He has also submitted amicus curiae briefs in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of non-profit advocacy groups such as the Pension Rights Center.