On May 2, 2018, NELA was pleased to join with AARP and AARP Foundation Litigation in filing an amicus brief on behalf of the plaintiffs/appellants in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in In re Express Scripts Inc. & Anthem, Inc. ERISA Litigation. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) contains a broad, functional definition of who qualifies as a “fiduciary,” to ensure that employee benefit plans are managed prudently and loyally on behalf of their participants. This appeal concerns whether the district court erred by dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims that the defendant Anthem, Inc. and a third-party with whom it contracted to provide the pharmacy benefit services to the plan (ESI), were both fiduciaries under ERISA. The brief argues that based on 1) the policies and objectives underlying ERISA; 2) the functional authority granted to Anthem under the terms of the plan; and 3) the discretion exercised by ESI under its agreement with Anthem, both companies were fiduciaries under ERISA. The brief was drafted by Karen L. Handorf of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, with assistance from Mary Ellen Signorille of AARP Foundation Litigation (both Washington, DC).