Professor Roger Baron, Esq.

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Professor Emeritus Roger Baron began his teaching career at South Texas College of Law in Houston, teaching there for 5 years. Thereafter, Roger taught at the University of South Dakota School of Law for 25 years. He is a 1976 graduate of the University of Missouri at Columbia School of Law. Roger practiced law in Missouri for nine years before beginning his teaching career.  

Roger has devoted much of his time and attention to the “underdog,” including victims of overzealous criminal prosecutions, as well as victims of tortfeasors and the insurance industry. He has authored significant law journal articles on the matters of subrogation and ERISA Reimbursement. Professor Emeritus Roger Baron as authored numerous articles on Subrogation and ERISA Reimbursement issues.  Baron’s Mercer Law Review article on ERISA reimbursement has been cited by three federal district courts in written opinions handed down in Illinois, New Jersey, and Washington.  One of Roger’s landmark articles was recently cited and quoted by the Hawaii Supreme Court in its significant decision favoring the victims of the Maui Wildfire tragedy over the interests of insurers seeking subrogation. See Matter of Maui Fire Cases, 55 Haw. 409 at 416; 565 P.3d 754 at 716 (2025).

Roger has been actively involved in ERISA reimbursement litigation, representing clients and lawyers in state and federal courts across the country.   He has served as lead counsel or co-counsel, admitted pro hac vice, in federal district courts across the country including the Southern District of New York, U.S. District of Connecticut , U.S. District of New Mexico, and the Western District of Arkansas He has participated in three U.S. Supreme Court proceedings -- he co-authored an amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court in McCutchen v. U.S. Airways, filed on behalf of several trial lawyer organizations; he was part of the small team of lawyers who represented Joel and Marlene Sereboff in the 2006 U.S. Supreme Court Sereboff case; and he worked with the lawyers representing Deborah and James Shank in their case involving Wal-Mart in 2008-09. Although the Supreme Court denied the Shank’s Petition for Writ of Cert, the public outcry caused Wal-Mart to re-evaluate its policy.  Upon re-evaluation, Wal-Mart permitted the Shanks to retain all of their settlement recovery and also change its plan document for the handling of future reimbursement cases.   

Roger and his wife Claudia (of 46 years) enjoy a somewhat retired lifestyle. Among other activities, they follow along the careers of former students, many of whom are judges and political leaders today. 

•  The Revictimization of Personal Injury Victims by ERISA Subrogation Claims, (co-authored with Anthony P. Lamb), 45 Creighton Law Review 325 (2012).
• “Consumer Protection” and ERISA, 56 South Dakota Law Review 405 (2011).
• Public Policy Considerations Warranting Denial of Reimbursement to ERISA Plans, 55 Mercer Law Review 595 (2004).
• Subrogation: A Pandora's Box Awaiting Closure, 41 South Dakota Law Review237 (1996).
• Subrogation on Medical Expense Claims: The "Double Recovery" Myth and the Feasibility of Anti-Subrogation Laws, 96 Dickinson Law Review 581 (1992).
• Defeating an ERISA Lien with the Statute of Limitations (2012)(co-authored with Anthony P. Lamb), published (or scheduled to be published) in Trial Lawyer Journals in South Dakota, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Vermont and the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association.
• The Impact of Cigna v. Amara on ERISA Reimbursement Claims (2011) (co-authored with Marilyn Trefz), published (or scheduled to be published) in Trial Lawyer Journals in Minnesota, Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Nebraska , Ohio, Montana and Utah.
• Transparency for ERISA Reimbursement Recoveries: A Proposal for Administrative and Congressional Action (2010), published (or scheduled to be published) in Trial Lawyer Journals in Nevada, Arizona, Colorado (p. 57, Trial Talk, Feb./March 2011), North Dakota, Minnesota, Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, and South Dakota.
• ERISA Reimbursement Proceeds: Where Does the Money Go? (co-authored with Delia Druley) (2010) published in Minnesota Trial, Spring 2010, North Dakota Association for Justice, Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, South Dakota’s “The Barrister,” and Pennsylvania Association for Justice Newsletter May, 2010. This article is also scheduled to be published in a 2011 edition of Forum magazine, published by the Consumer Attorneys Of California and by the Wyoming Trial Lawyers.
• Service of a ‘Proper Request’ upon the Plan Administrator: a Key Step in Defending against ERISA Reimbursement Claims (2010), published in Trial Lawyer Journals in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania (Western Pa. Trial Lawyers “The Advocate” and Pa. Association for Justice “PA Justice New”), Ohio, South Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana, Kansas, Colorado, Washington, Texas, Michigan, Utah and Vermont.
• Eight Ways to Defeat or Minimize ERISA Reimbursement Claims (2007), published in Trial Lawyer Journals in Nevada, South Dakota, Ohio, Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nebraska, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Montana, Florida, and Arkansas.

•  On August 18, 2011, the South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association presented Professor Baron an award for “Scholarly Service to the Bar.” SDTLA President Roger Tellinghuisen cited Baron for his “exemplary scholarship and dedicated service to the bar” during a presentation in the courtroom of the School of Law. Tellinghuisen noted that Baron researches and authors a family law casebook and his scholarly articles on ERISA issues and laws have been widely cited in court briefs and elsewhere in the legal profession in the representation of clients.
• Professor Baron was named the recipient of the John Wesley Jackson Outstanding Faculty Award in 1995, 2008 and again in 2012. This is an award given to a law professor at the University of South Dakota who demonstrates excellence in teaching.

• Supreme Court of Texas
• Supreme Court of Missouri
• Supreme Court of South Dakota
• Supreme Court of the United States