Doug Hinson is the Executive Director of the ERIC Legal Center. In that role, he guides and coordinates the Center’s participation in litigation matters that could have significant effects on the interests of ERIC member companies as sponsors of employee benefit plans.
Doug has more than 25 years of experience representing sponsors and fiduciaries of benefit plans of all types, including those governed by ERISA. He was the leader of Alston & Bird’s ERISA Litigation Practice Group and co-chair of its Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group. He defended many large employers, including numerous ERIC members, in ERISA class actions involving both retirement and health and welfare plans. His cases ran the gamut of ERISA Litigation, including matters involving ESOPs and employer stock in retirement plans, fees and investments in both 401k and 403b plans, termination of health and welfare benefits, freezing of defined benefit plans, actuarial factors used to calculate actuarial equivalence, and many others. Doug was recognized as a “national leader” and “senior statesman” of the ERISA Litigation defense bar by Chambers & Partners, Best Lawyers in America, and The Legal 500, among others. He was an active member of the ABA’s Joint Committee on Employee Benefits for many years, eventually serving as its Chair.
Doug was admitted to practice in numerous Federal District and Circuit Courts, as well as the United States Supreme Court. He was a member of the DC Bar, the Georgia Bar and the Alabama Bar. After graduating in 1982 from Emory University with BA in History and Political Science, magna cum laude, he received his JD from Georgetown University, cum laude, in 1986. He began his legal career as an associate with Bradley, Arant, Rose and White in Birmingham, Alabama, for 2 years, before joining Alston & Bird, where he was a partner for more than 25 years.