Emphasis
ERISA/Employee Benefits
FMLA
Executive Compensation
Employment Discrimination
Biography
For over 25 years Mr. Chapman has represented clients in all areas of employee benefits and ERISA matters, including related litigation. For the past 14 years he has also represented clients of all sizes in labor and employment law, employment discrimination, wrongful termination litigation, and legal consulting on ERISA, employee benefits, and labor and employment matters. His clients include telecommunications, tax exempt charitable, real estate, heavy manufacturing, and national defense employers.
Education
LL.M, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, 1983
J.D., University of Tulsa College of Law, with honors, 1978
B.A., University of Oklahoma, 1975
Publications
Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products: The Emperor Has no Clothes -- Pretext Plus is Alive and Kicking, St. Mary's Law Journal No 1, 37 (December 2005) (co-author).
Much Ado About Nothing - Why Desert Palace Neither Murdered McDonnell Douglas Nor Transformed All Employment Discrimination Cases to Mixed-Motive, 36 St. Mary’s Law Journal 2, 395 (2005) (co-author).
Navigating Through the Devil’s Triangle – Leave Issues Under ADA, FMLA and Texas Workers’ Comp, Compensation and Benefits Journal (2002) (co-author).
Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter of International Society of Certified Employee Benefits Specialists, "Flying Blind: COBRA, QMCSO’s and the Alphabet Soup of OBRA 93” (1994); “67 Questions: An Overview Of The Final Regulations Under The Family And Medical Leave Act of 1993” (1995).
Dean Witter Reynolds Seminar “Fiduciary Issues In Managing Investments In Participant Directed Accounts: How Do I Avoid Being Sued?” (Dallas, 1996).
Dallas Human Resource Association “DOL Position On ‘Investment Advice’ and ERISA 404(c) Participant Directed Investment Plans” (Dallas, 1996).
Dallas Women Lawyers Association, Dallas, Texas “ERISA Basics for the Uninitiated” (1997).
Institute of Business Law, California State University, Los Angeles “ERISA’s Greatest Hits: Selected Developments in ERISA and Employee Benefits During the Last Twelve Months" (Dallas, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996).
Honors & Awards
Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization; Named a “Superlawyer”® by Texas Monthly Magazine, 2006; A-V Rated by Martindale-Hubble.
Activities
Member, Texas Bar Association (Member: State Bar College); Oklahoma Bar Association; admitted in United States District Court (Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas); United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; member, American Bar Association (Member of Labor & Employment, Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation; and Litigation Sections); Dallas Bar Association; Southwest Benefits Association; Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association.
Formerly an adjunct professor of law at Oklahoma City University School of Law, currently an adjunct professor of law at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
Private Pilot (ASEL), Instrument Rated.
Litigation Experience
Represented major national employer at District Court and on appeal to Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where the court affirmed summary judgment for client in class action lawsuit to clarify employer’s right to amend terms of its retiree health plan.
Represented major Dallas employers in employment matters including Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmation of successful summary judgment motion in ADEA case; successful outcome in suit for wrongful termination for sexual harassment and negotiated favorable settlement in racial bias Title VII claim.
Represented major employer in Texas Workers’ Compensation retaliation case involving violence in the workplace.
Represented employer in complex merger transaction involving leveraged ESOP, in which amendments to ESOP in order to permit merger to proceed were later challenged and vindicated.
Represented large employer in complex defined benefit plan distress termination proceedings before IRS, DOL and PBGC.
Represented trustee of multi-million dollar employee benefit plan in pursuing former fiduciaries of plan for alleged fiduciary breaches and improprieties.
Nichols v. Loral Vought Systems Corp., 81 F.3d 38, (5th Cir. 1996)(upholding District Court’s summary judgment for client in age discrimination case).
Moore, v. Raytheon Corporation, et al., 2004 WL 813189 (D.C. N.D. Tex. 2004)(summary judgment for client in action for benefits and reformation under client’s qualified and non-qualified plans and QDRO).