Student News: Emily Bingham ’26 Wins the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel Writing Competition

Last fall, Emily Bingham ’26 was awarded the 2025 Sidney M. Perlstadt Memorial Award from the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel for her paper, "States Shouldn’t Bank on the Savings Clause: An Analysis of the Department of Labor’s Savings and Deemer Clause Arguments in PCMA v. Mulready."

The paper was a version of the note Bingham wrote as a Minnesota Law Review staffer, titled “States Shouldn’t Bank on the Savings Clause: An Analysis of the Department of Labor’s Savings and Deemer Clause Arguments in PCMA v. Mulready.” PCMA v. Mulready was a pharmacy benefit manager and ERISA preemption case in the Tenth Circuit. Oklahoma, like many states, has laws regulating pharmacy benefit managers, and the Tenth Circuit determined that some provisions of Oklahoma’s law were invalid because they were preempted by ERISA. The Department of Labor submitted an amicus brief arguing that Oklahoma can still regulate pharmacy benefit managers because of ERISA’s savings clause. In the paper, Bingham explored the Department of Labor’s arguments. The paper was also published in the Journal of Pension Planning & Compliance.

Professor Norman Stein and Frances King Quick, Co-Chairs of the Student Writing Competition Committee, presented the awards at the College’s 2025 Induction Ceremony held on Saturday, November 8, 2025, in Charleston, South Carolina.

The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel is a nonprofit organization whose mission statement is: "fostering excellence in the practice of employee benefits law and advancing public understanding of employee benefits.” 

Congratulations, Emily!