Monica I. Perkowski
Associate
Monica I. Perkowski
+1.404.898.8115
Overview
Monica I. Perkowski is a litigation attorney in Holland & Knight's Atlanta office. Ms. Perkowski focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation matters involving labor and employment issues, disputes under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), business disputes and product liability and mass torts.
Ms. Perkowski has substantial experience in all aspects of complex litigation, including fact discovery, expert discovery, motions practice, trials and appeals. She has developed expert witnesses, prepared company witnesses for deposition, first-chaired numerous depositions and drafted dispositive motions and appellate briefs.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Perkowski was an associate at a large international law firm in New York, where her practice focused on complex commercial litigation, with a particular concentration in pharmaceutical product liability and mass tort matters.
Representative Experience
- Defended a lawsuit filed by the secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) against the plan sponsor of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), as well as its board of directors and selling shareholders, alleging violations of Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in connection with the formation of the ESOP and sale of stock in the plan sponsor to the ESOP
- Defended an agricultural company against claims that it improperly denied retirement benefits under its ERISA-governed pension plan; obtained summary judgment on all claims
- Defending plan sponsors and plan fiduciaries against claims for breach of fiduciary duty and violation of ERISA's anti-inurement provision based on the handling of forfeited employer contributions to the 401(k) defined contribution plan to reduce future employer contributions
- Defending multiple 401(k) plan sponsors and plan fiduciaries against claims that the plans offered imprudent investments, including by offering target date mutual funds rather than the collective trust versions of the allegedly same funds, charged excessive recordkeeping fees, allowed participants to be charged excessive fees for managed-account services and improperly used forfeited employer contributions to defray the costs associated with future employer contributions
- Defending a plan sponsor against a claim that the 401(k) defined contribution plan maintained imprudent investments in violation of ERISA, including the plan's guaranteed interest account
- Defending plan sponsors and fiduciaries against claims that their tobacco-free wellness programs violate ERISA Section 702
- Representing companies in appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth and Eleventh Circuits regarding the enforceability of benefit plan arbitration provisions
- Represented a pharmaceutical company in lawsuits concerning its intrauterine permanent birth control device in a consolidated federal proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas
- Represented a pharmaceutical company as lead appellate counsel in a Pennsylvania mass tort litigation claiming personal injury from the use of a prescription atypical antipsychotic medication
- Represented a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company as U.S. national counsel regarding any product liability issues relating to its COVID-19 vaccine
- Represented a pharmaceutical company as national counsel in lawsuits in a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) and in state courts across the country concerning its prescription opioid pain medications, including OxyContin
- Represented a processor as national and trial counsel in a high-profile environmental toxic tort litigation, including defending individual and class action complaints involving medical monitoring and property damage claims in New York, New Hampshire and Vermont
- Defended a healthcare provider against claims that it retaliated against the plaintiff in violation of the First Amendment when it terminated her employment after she revealed Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-protected information; defeated all claims on a motion to dismiss
- Represented an athletic conference in a case that involved claims by a college that an exit fee liquidated damages provision in the conference's constitution was an unenforceable penalty, resulting in a summary judgment by the trial court in favor of the athletic conference and the decision being upheld by the appeals court
- Representing a feminine hygiene product company in a dispute involving trademark and trade dress infringement; secured a temporary restraining order on behalf of the client prohibiting further infringement
- Representing a healthcare provider in arbitration against a national insurance company on claims that the insurance company breached the provider agreement by failing to reimburse for COVID-19-related services provided to its insureds
- Representing a leading North American travel retailer in litigation against a national payroll company in a contract dispute
- Representing an international hotel company in an international arbitration involving breach of contract allegations relating to a loyalty program
- Representing an air carrier in litigation arising out of an injury suffered by a passenger onboard an aircraft
- Representing a leading retail company in a contract and business tort dispute
Credentials
Education
- Temple University, Beasley School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude
- Duke University, B.A.
Bar Admissions/Licenses
- Georgia
- New York
- Pennsylvania
Court Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- All State Courts in Georgia
- All State Courts in New York
- All State Courts in Pennsylvania
Memberships
- Atlanta Bar Association
- Temple Law Review, 2016-2017
- Jessup International Moot Court Society, Temple University Beasley School of Law, 2016-2017
Spoken Languages
- Polish