On April 17, the Supreme Court unanimously resolved a circuit split in Cunningham v. Cornell University, holding that plan participants need only allege that fiduciaries engaged in a “prohibited transaction” under the...more
4/30/2025
/ 401k ,
Burden of Proof ,
Class Action ,
Cunningham v Cornell University ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS
This episode of “Just Compensation” features Andrew E. Graw, Megan Monson, and Jessica I. Kriegsfeld of Lowenstein Sandler's Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits group discuss when severance plans will be subject to...more
On April 23, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its latest effort to change the rules for determining who a fiduciary is under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). Called the...more
5/13/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Five-Part Test ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
“Was the richest person in the world overpaid?” That’s how the Delaware Court of Chancery (the Court) began the 200-page opinion in Tornetta v. Musk to rescind Elon Musk’s entire $55.8 billion 10-year equity compensation...more
3/8/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
CEOs ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disinterested Parties ,
Elon Musk ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Independent Directors ,
Tesla
On October 31, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a new fiduciary rule that would expand the definition of “investment advice fiduciary” under ERISA to cover certain one-off recommendations and expand who is...more
On July 26, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14, known as the Qualified Professional Asset “Manager” (QPAM) exemption. ...more
8/5/2022
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
GAAP ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRS ,
Notification Requirements ,
Proposed Amendments ,
QPAM ,
Real Party in Interest ,
Recordkeeping Requirements
On June 29, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) again waded into the financial services standard of care waters, only this time, it is staying in the shallow end. The DOL’s proposed prohibited transaction exemption (Proposed...more
7/17/2020
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Business Conduct Standards ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Reasonable Compensation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Retirement Plan