Susan L. Meter

Senior Associate

Susan Meter decided to become an attorney after working for BlackRock Financial Management’s retirement services department. She attended law school with the desire to become an ERISA attorney. She was a law clerk during her three years of law school for a boutique law firm in San Diego. Following law school, she continued to work for the same firm as an ERISA attorney where she got her first taste of plaintiff advocacy. In 2014, Susan decided to expand her horizon and joined a defense firm. After four years on the defense side, Susan longed to return to plaintiff advocacy. In 2018, Susan joined Kantor & Kantor and opened the firm’s San Diego location.

Susan has represented clients in a variety of employee benefits matters and has a wide range of experience with qualified retirement plans, executive compensation plans, and disability and life insurance benefits. Susan’s practice currently focuses on retirement plan ERISA breach of fiduciary duty and benefit claim denials. She has appeared before numerous federal courts on a wide variety of ERISA issues. Susan enjoys building a strong rapport with her clients to achieve successful results. She is well respected by her peers who praise her ethics, leadership, and success in her ERISA practice.

Aside from her law practice, Susan has been an active leader in the San Diego community. As a way to give back to the community of San Diego, she has organized and participated in numerous volunteer community service events including Community Housing Works program, Free Law clinics sponsored by the San Diego County Bar Association, as well as Share our Strength, Taste of the Nation, and Wills for Heroes.

Susan was born in Aberdeen, Washington, and lived there until she was 15 years old. She then moved with her mother and brother to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she attended high school and college at the University of Pittsburgh. She returned to the West Coast where she attended law school in 2001. Susan enjoys spending time with her family and friends and doing all things artistic: painting, singing, playing guitar, gardening, and building furniture. In fact, Susan built her kids a clubhouse and built herself a home office.

Recognition

Advisory Board, SkyBlue ESOP (since 2019)
San Diego County Bar Association, Co-Chair of Wills for Heroes (2010-2015).
Best of the Bar, San Diego Business Journal, 2014
USS Carl Vinson Distinguished Visitor Program, chosen to attend as a community leader in San Diego (2013)
San Diego County Bar Association, Executive Committee, Community Service (2010-2012).
San Diego County Bar Association, Young New Lawyers Division, Chair of Community Service (2005-2010).
Former Board Member, Western Pension & Benefits Conference

Social Media

Education

Juris Doctor, California Western School of Law, 2004
Bachelor of Arts, Spanish, University of Pittsburgh, 1999

Notable Decisions

Wallace v. International Paper Company, No. 2:20-cv-02478-SHL, 2020 WL 7643134 (United States District Court, W.D. Tennessee, Western Division Dec. 23, 2020). (Denying motion to dismiss ERISA breach of fiduciary duty and state law claims for failure to provide accurate benefit statements and for misrepresentation of plan benefits).
Groch v. Dearborn National Life Insurance Company, No. 2:18-cv-06614 CBM (Ex) 2020 WL 6374619 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2020). (Overturning denial of long term disability benefits).
Martin v. DPR Construction, No. 19-cv-03254, 2019 WL 6912005 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 19, 2019). (Denying the motion to dismiss the breach of contract claim as not preempted by ERISA).
Fleming v. Unum Life Insurance Company, No. 17-01576-CJC, 2018 WL 6133859 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2018). (overturning Unum’s denial of long term disability benefits to plaintiff).
John Balsley v. Delta Star Employee Stock Ownership, No. C09-2952-THE, 2009 WL 4823196 (N.D. Cal. 2009). (Partial denial of a motion to dismiss the breach of fiduciary duty claims for omissions and misrepresentations to the plaintiff to induce him to sell his shares in the ESOP before announcing record sales year resulting in a significant increase in share price).
Omni v. Hartford, No. 06CV0921, 2006 WL 8455626 (S.D. Cal. 2006). (Denying the motion to compel arbitration of ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims).
Canova v. Trustees of Imperial Irrigation District Employee Pension Plan, No. D048156, 150 Cal.App.4^th 1487 (2007). (Appellate court reversed trial court decision finding plaintiffs’ claims to invalidate the rollover and compel reversion of the retirement plan back to the pension plan were not required to comply with government claims act because the claims did not seek monetary damages).

Admissions

State Bar of California, 2005
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California (pending)