Biography

Julie S. Selesnick is Senior Counsel at Berger Montague and a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits & ERISA practice group, where she represents the interests of employees, retirees, plan sponsors, plan participants, and beneficiaries in employee benefit and ERISA cases in the district court and on appeal. Ms. Selesnick’s practice is focused on health care, where she brings more than a decade of insurance coverage experience to good use focusing on the behaviors of insurance carrier TPAs that exercise fiduciary duties under ERISA-covered health plans and counseling employers and other plan sponsors on provisions in their administrative service agreements that might cause them to unwittingly violate ERISA or other employee benefit laws.

Ms. Selesnick is also focused on other legal violations related to patient health care under various federal statutes and state consumer statutes to help everyday Americans bring down the out-of-control health care costs they face.

Prior to joining Berger Montague, Ms. Selesnick was of counsel at another prominent plaintiffs’ class action firm, where she practiced primarily in the ERISA group representing plaintiffs in class cases related to 401K excessive fee disputes, actuarial equivalence pension issues, church plan litigation, and cases against third-party administrators for breach of fiduciary duty in connection with their administration of ERISA-covered group health plans. Ms. Selesnick also worked in that firm’s Consumer Protection group litigating consumer class action lawsuits and policyholder insurance coverage actions on behalf of individual and class plaintiffs.

Prior to that, Ms. Selesnick was a partner at a Washington D.C. law firm in both the insurance coverage and employment law groups, where she represented carriers in insurance coverage litigation and subrogation litigation in state and federal courts throughout the United States, and represented both employers and employees in employment litigation, as well as negotiating severance agreements and reviewing and updating employee handbooks. Ms. Selesnick has first-chair trial experience in jury and bench trials and has experience with arbitration and mediation of complex disputes.

Ms. Selesnick is an accomplished writer and has written numerous legal and non-legal articles and blog posts. She has also contributed to ERISA Litigation textbooks and cumulative supplements, and written materials for use in healthcare litigation conferences.

Ms. Selesnick graduated with a B.A., cum laude, from the San Diego State University and was elected Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Sigma Alpha, and she received her J.D., from the George Washington University School of Law, where she was a member of the George Washington University Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

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Honors & Awards

  • 2019-2023 SuperLawyers
  • 2021 Elected as a Fellow to the American Bar Foundation
  • 2021 National Law Journal Plaintiffs ’Trailblazer Award
  • 2020 Member of Law360’s Practice Group of the Year ERISA/Employee Benefits
  • 2019 The National Law Journal’s 2019 Pro Bono Hot List for the DACA Litigation

Speaking Engagements

  • 2023 SIIA CONNECT National Conference, Self-Insured Institute of America: “Gag Clauses and Fiduciary Responsibilities: Where’s Our Claims Data?”
  • 2023 THE LEAPFROG GROUP (webinar): “Health Care Quality May Put Employers at Risk: White Paper and Webinar Hosted by The Leapfrog Group and ERISA Experts Address a New Regulatory Challenge”
  • thINc 360: THE HEALTHCARE INNOVATION CONFERENCE & BENEFIT DESIGN STRATEGY SUMMIT: “Employer Fiduciary Training – A Procurement Process for Your Healthcare Plan”
  • HEALTH x STL: EMPLOYER HEALTHCARE INNOVATION SUMMIT, Simpara: “Healthcare Transparency, the New Frontier”
  • 2023 LEGAL & LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, Pennsylvania State Council of SHRM: “The “F” Word: New Laws Spotlighting the Fiduciary Duties Required by Health Plan Sponsors”
  • MARCH 2023 CHAPTER MEETING, SHRMA: “Emergent Issues Surrounding New Group Health Plan Reporting Requirements”
  • 2023 MAXIMIZE 2023: THE COMPETITIVE EDGE, Axim Fringe Solutions Group: “What Every Broker Needs to Know: Legal Changes Governing Group Health Plans”
  • 2023 EXECUTIVE FORUM, The Healthcare Administrators Association (HCAA): “Watch out For the Sharks in the Water, They Smell Blood: Avoiding Risky Fiduciary Breaches that could Become Very Costly for you and your Clients”
  • 2022 YORK SHRM (webinar): “Employer Fiduciary Alert – What You Need to Know Regarding the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA)”

Publications

“The CAA and Health Care Quality” published by The Leapfrog Group (co-author with Karen L. Handorf)

“Employee Benefits/ERISA: COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions” BusinessWoman Magazine

“Engaging and Monitoring Health Plan TPSa: Understanding Your Fiduciary Obligations” Benefits Magazine

“ERISA Litigation Sixth Edition 2019 Cumulative Supplement” published by The Bureau of National Affairs (contributing author; Ch. 3: Plans Excluded from ERISA Coverage)

“Health Plan Services’ Disclosure Rule Objections Are Faulty” Law360

“CAA: Buckle Your Seatbelts Folks, Things Are About To Get Wild” published by The National Association of Plan Advisors, Summer 2023 (co-author, page 38-41)

Admissions

  • Member – District of Columbia
  • Member – Massachusetts
  • Admitted – United States District Court, District of Massachusetts
  • Admitted – United States District Court, District of Columbia
  • Admitted – Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals