J. Nicci Adams

J. Nicci Adams is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn, where her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, with a particular emphasis on Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) class actions in both the pension and healthcare contexts.  In addition to defending Fortune 100 companies against ERISA claims, Ms. Adams has represented companies in matters involving Labor Management Relations Act, Antitrust, and RICO claims.

Significant representations include:

• Spano v. Boeing (S.D. Ill.): Defending Boeing against a putative class of 401(k) plan participants alleging that the company breached its fiduciary duties under ERISA by offering imprudent investment options in its retirement plan.  Ms. Adams played an important role in successfully persuading the Seventh Circuit to vacate the district court's order certifying the largest-ever ERISA class. 
• In re Aetna UCR Litigation (D.N.J.): Defending Aetna in multidistrict litigation brought by putative nationwide classes of medical providers and health plan subscribers alleging that Aetna and other managed care organizations engaged in a conspiracy to depress payment rates to out-of-network providers in violation of ERISA, the Sherman Act, and RICO.
• In re Textron, Inc. ERISA Litigation (D.R.I.): Defending Textron against a putative nationwide class of 401(k) plan participants alleging that the company violated ERISA by offering company stock as an investment option in its 401(k) plan.

Prior to joining the firm in 2008, Ms. Adams served as a law clerk to the Honorable William Duane Benton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  In 2007, Ms. Adams received her J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif, and was an Executive Editor on the Washington University Law Review. 

Ms. Adams is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and Missouri, and before the United States Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.