A Practice Note addressing the preemption provision of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), including how preemption applies to certain state laws that govern employee benefit plans (or would otherwise govern them, but for ERISA preemption). This resource analyzes how the courts apply ERISA's general preemption rule, saving clause exception, and deemer clause rule to determine whether a particular law is ERISA-preempted.