PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What a Relief! 403(b) Plan Developments
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
DOL Clarifies Timing of Lifetime Income Disclosures in Benefit Statements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Back to the Future: SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0
Three Timely Benefits Items Everyone Should Know
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – SEC enforcement
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Student Loan Benefits
A third district court has dismissed with prejudice a complaint alleging that defendants breached their fiduciary duties under ERISA by offering 401(k) plan participants the option to invest in BlackRock LifePath Index Target...more
A federal district court in Florida sent a proposed ERISA breach of fiduciary duty class action to individual arbitration on the basis of a plan arbitration clause that allowed for individual relief and plan-wide injunctive...more
On January 24, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a short unanimous opinion in Hughes v. Northwestern University. The importance of the opinion will likely be modest. At a basic level, all the Supreme Court did was reinstate a...more
Multiple new lawsuits have been filed since the start of 2020. Complications caused by the Coronavirus have not slowed the onslaught of 401(k) fee litigation across the country. Last month, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. was...more
In this edition of our Newsletter, we take a look at a pair of cases that, while unrelated, together remind us of the importance of having clear plan rules in place that reflect the plan sponsor’s intention. The first article...more
The plethora of class action lawsuits against colleges and universities over their 403(b) plans have brought a variety of settlements and wins by the defendant schools....more
Recently, the US District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit brought by former Georgetown employees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) over fees and...more
If you’ve learned anything from me, just realize that anyone can be sued for anything. All you need to be sued is the purchase of a court index number and the filing and serving of a complaint....more
There have been around 20 class action lawsuits filed against universities for high cost 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The lawsuits are like shooting fish in a barrel because when you think about it, low costs and higher education...more
Once upon a time, our retirement plan worries were primarily generated by the U.S. Department of Labor (“DoL”) or the Internal Revenue Service and their regulatory and enforcement efforts. In more recent times we have seen...more
Editor's Overview - As we have observed on other occasions, the ERISA class action plaintiffs' bar has, for several years now, honed in on 401(k) plan fiduciaries and their decisions to select and retain investment options...more
Three more class action lawsuits were filed against the fiduciaries of plans maintained by institutions of higher education (University of Chicago, Princeton University, and Washington University in St. Louis). The complaints...more
As a result of rulings on motions to dismiss within a day of each other (May 10 and 11, 2017, respectively), Emory University and Duke University must continue to defend claims challenging aspects of their Section 403(b)...more
After a brief hiatus, Proskauer's ERISA Newsletter is back with a brand new look. We hope you like it and find it is easier to navigate. In addition to implementing our new format, we have moved to a quarterly publication...more
Editor’s Overview - In 2016, we saw a considerable uptick in the number and variety of excessive fee lawsuits commenced against plan fiduciaries of defined contribution plans. We begin the year by taking a look at these...more
In a very novel retirement fee lawsuit, a plan sponsor is being sued over the cost of multiple plans and the use of multiple record-keepers....more
The recent wave of 403(b) lawsuits against more than a dozen prominent US universities could herald similar suits for other 403(b) plan sponsors. Plan sponsors can minimize their risk by reviewing their plan governance...more
In a concerning development for universities and other institutions of higher learning nationwide, a growing number of schools, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, Yale University, Johns...more
In the last several days, a number of large private universities have been sued regarding the investment fees in their 403(b) retirement plans. The lawsuits claim that these universities breached their fiduciary duties under...more
It should be no surprise that the rampant uptick in 401(k) litigation is also going to venture into the 403(b) world. Four class action lawsuits were filed against MIT, New York University, and Yale University. The cases...more
Several ERISA breach of fiduciary duty class actions involving allegedly excessive retirement plan fees were filed this week against higher education institutions including colleges, universities, and medical schools. The...more