US Department of Labor obtains consent order against retirement plan fiduciaries of defunct Chicago law firm for failing to distribute $6.4M in assets

CHICAGO – Following a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Labor, a defunct Chicago law firm’s retirement plan distributed $6,498,858 in retirement plan assets to 40 employees. The plan’s fiduciaries failed to properly terminate the plan and disburse those funds as required by law.On Aug. 18, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, entered a consent order resolving the department’s claims against the McCullough, Campbell & Lane LLP, and the firm’s capital partners David L. Joslyn, John W. McCullough, F. Dennis Nelson, and Paul S. Turner. The department alleged that the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by failing to follow a 2019 partnership resolution. The resolution required them to terminate the firm’s retirement plan and distribute the plan’s assets to employees. The defendants have provided proof that plan’s assets were distributed to participants, except for approximately $13,861 in the employer-level plan accounts. The consent order requires the plan’s recordkeeper to distribute those funds to its participants and to terminate the plan. “After their law firm clos...