PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
The No Surprises Act: A Cost Saving Opportunity for Employer Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Federal Rule Aims to Hold Investment Advisors to a Higher Standard
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 – Top-Hat Plans — Special Edition Podcast
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Partial Plan Terminations
Podcast Episode 189: Adding Context to Compliance and Color To Your Legal Practice
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE Act 2.0 - What 401(k) Plan Sponsors Need to Know - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2022 Year-End Checklist
An Inside Look as a Juror - FCRA Focus Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Multiemployer Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
(A)ESOP's Fables - The Income and Estate Tax-Free ESOP
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Group Health Plan Service Provider Compensation Disclosure Requirements
Update and Discussion on Legal and Practical Issues
Welcome to 'Just Compensation'
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS in Review, Biden Acts to Limit Non-Competes, NY HERO Act Model Safety Plans - Employment Law This Week®
A handful of new ERISA litigation cases (including McManus v. Clorox Co., N.D Cal. No. 4:23-cv-05325) are taking aim at forfeiture accounts and trying to pull them into the never-ending list of ways in which retirement plan...more
As an ERISA attorney who drafts plan documents at a flat fee, my biggest competitors are not other ERISA attorneys, but third-party administration (TPA) firms. ...more
Historically, courts around the country have approached the enforceability of class action waivers and arbitration provisions in ESOP and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) plan documents differently,...more
It’s been happening a lot lately: a plan sponsor with several participating employers, not realizing that participation agreements for some of these employers weren’t done. This is just a silly mistake to make....more
Being a plan sponsor is a tough job and the amount of paperwork that goes with it can be overwhelming. The paperwork includes plan documents, summary plan descriptions, amendment, valuations, trusts statements, and payroll....more
Being an ERISA attorney for a couple of third-party administration (TPA) firms when I first started helps you develop a sense of humor because there are too many people I was associated with who had absolutely zero training...more
When an ERISA plan delegates authority to the plan administrator to interpret the plan documents for benefit determinations, the plan administrator typically is entitled to a deferential standard of judicial review, and...more
As employers consider the financial impact of COVID-19, some are considering eliminating employer contributions to 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Notice 2020-52 addresses many employer concerns regarding mid-year amendments to safe...more
Retirement plans with more than 100 participants require a CPA audit for their Form 5500. However, small plans with less than 100 participants may sometimes require an audit. This often happens when more than 5% of the Plan’s...more
Most blog entries focus on new developments or recent legislation. This one’s a bit different. Its subject matter, fiduciary responsibility, is as old as ERISA itself. In today’s environment of increased litigation risks for...more
Owners and employees of smaller organizations often find themselves stretched in many directions. With all of the demands on one’s time associated with operating a business, it is not uncommon to see attention to the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Administrators of ERISA plans frequently receive requests from participants, beneficiaries, and their representatives for plan-related documents. A recent decision from the Court of Appeals for the Fifth...more
Every so often an employer sponsoring an ERISA employee benefit plan will receive a written request from a participant or beneficiary (or their legal counsel) to provide plan related documents....more
I’ve spent 21 years as an ERISA attorney and took some classes when I was getting my LLM and I learn something new about retirement plans every day. As a financial advisor, you likely didn’t have the training to be an ERISA...more
Last week, we kicked off our blog series on the fundamentals of benefit claim administration with an explanation of how important it is to know and read your plan document. The plan document is the legally binding contract...more
Our ERISA Practice Center blog posts often discuss many complex, and sometimes esoteric, substantive and procedural ERISA issues, as well as related agency guidance and case law. In this new ten-part blog series, however, we...more
Section 104(b)(4) of ERISA provides that a plan administrator must respond to a written request for certain documents (including the plan documents and summary plan description) by a participant or beneficiary by providing...more
Dorman v. The Charles Schwab Corp. narrows the options of employees asserting breach of fiduciary duty in retirement plans. Breach of fiduciary duty claims that “arise out of” and “relate to” a 401(k) plan—including those...more
In a pair of opinions issued on Aug. 20, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit expressly overruled its 35-year precedent that Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) disputes were not arbitrable. The...more
Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), health care providers can file legal actions to recover employee benefits if they obtain a proper assignment of the patient’s benefits. Increasingly, however, ERISA...more
Synopsis: A recent decision of the federal district court for the Southern District of New York warns ERISA fiduciaries that even innocent mistakes that do not misuse plan assets or unjustly enrich the fiduciaries can cause...more
One of my biggest tasks as an ERISA attorney is helping plan sponsors out with voluntary compliance and self-correction programs. Many of these problems that have to be fixed are as a result of the plan document saying one...more
Employers may soon find themselves reviewing and revising health plan master documents and summary plan descriptions (SPDs) and administrative service agreements with respect to an obscure claims administration practice known...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) requires that plan sponsors develop and maintain a comprehensive plan document as well as a concise, understandable summary plan description (SPD) to communicate to...more
There are so many articles for plan sponsors (I’ve written quite a few) where they go on and on about what plan sponsors need for a successful 401(k) plan. Rather than go into a whole diatribe, here is a Reader’s Digest of...more