Brad Campbell Discusses Common Interest Agreements With ASPPA

Benefits and executive compensation partner Brad Campbell discussed common interest agreements (CIAs) in an article for the American Society for Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) titled “EBSA Common Interest Agreements: A Close Look.”

Campbell, a former head of the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), characterized the use of CIAs at EBSA as “outrageous.”

Campbell said that the authority to share information “exists in the statute, and you could see reasons why it could exist.” However, he also said their usage has grown and includes cases where the DOL was not a party in a similar case, but “were nonetheless sharing official documents with the plaintiff’s bar.”

He warned that regulated entities may act differently “if everything they say is being shared with the plaintiff’s bar,” and this could mean that “the way people deal with the agency is going to become more confrontational and more opaque.” The abuse of CIAs could undermine the “cooperative system” that EBSA should aim for with regulated entities.