About Raquel M.
Raquel M. Busani built a steady academic foundation before entering the legal field. She earned a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2005. She completed her law degree at San Joaquin School of Law in 2014 and went on to receive an S.J.D. in 2018. Those credentials bookend more than a decade of involvement in California’s legal community.
Her connection to the ERISA Law Center began early. She worked there as a paralegal starting in 2006, performing support work that exposed her to employee benefits law and administrative practice. After law school and advanced study, she returned to the firm as a lawyer in 2018 and was admitted to the bar that same year. Her admission covers practice in California and includes authorization to appear before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Busani has maintained an active presence in bar and civic organizations. She co-founded Law Students for Community Advancement and served on its board from 2016 to 2018. She is a member of the Fresno County Bar Association and Fresno County Woman Lawyers, and she has been listed with the Fresno County Young Lawyers Association and the Pro Bono Section of the Fresno County Bar. Her memberships extend to the Los Angeles County Bar Association since 2019 and the American Bar Association since 2021. Those connections reflect years of local and regional engagement rather than a solitary focus.
Her practice centers on ERISA and employee benefits matters. She handles administrative claims and related litigation, counseling employers, plan administrators and plan participants in disputes over benefits, fiduciary obligations and plan compliance. She has experience handling appeals and procedural work that reaches into federal court, and she conducts the sort of document- and evidence-driven work typical in benefit litigation. Colleagues describe her handling of case files and briefs as methodical and thorough; client files show an emphasis on clear record development and timely filings.
Today she practices at the ERISA Law Center, where she continues to represent clients on benefit claims, compliance questions and litigation matters. Her current work involves advising clients on ERISA obligations and representing them in administrative and court proceedings.
