PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Trends in Recordkeeper Consolidation and Due Diligence
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Exploring the Value of Qualified Default Investment Alternatives
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cautionary Tales for Preapproved Plan Documents
DOL Clarifies Timing of Lifetime Income Disclosures in Benefit Statements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Payroll Integration for Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2020 Year-End Checklist
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 5 of 5) – Implementation
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 4 of 5) – Retirement Plan Costs
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 3 of 5) – Medical Benefit Costs
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 2 of 5) – Identifying Potential Targets
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 1 of 5) – Using Benefit Plans to Save Money
CARES Act – Retirement Plan Distributions and Loans: Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series
Blakes Continuity Podcast: COVID-19: The Regulatory Impact on Pensions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2019 Year-End Checklist
Join us as we commemorate ERISA’s 50th anniversary and review the past, present and future of this pivotal legislation. This hybrid event offers two options for attendance: in-person or webinar. Both options will have an...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a body of federal laws and regulations that govern the provision and operation of certain employer-sponsored benefit plans. While its structure and requirements...more
The fiduciary standards of ERISA apply to all employee benefit plans that are subject to Title I of ERISA. The duty of loyalty, the duty of prudence, and the duty to administer a plan in accordance with its written terms...more
In Sullivan-Mestecky v. Verizon Communs. Inc., 961 F.3d 91 (2d Cir. 2020), the Second Circuit held that a claim under Section 502(a)(3) of ERISA could proceed, where the beneficiary pled that the plan and its agents...more
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) finalized a new safe harbor rule for the use of electronic media to furnish information to participants and beneficiaries of employee retirement plans subject to the Employee...more
Not surprisingly, many cities and special districts no longer have monies available in their budgets to spend on things such as legal fees to analyze and correct plan administration problems and compliance issues. When it is...more
I knew Jeff Richie from Vantage Benefits, spoke to him a couple of times ago, and wrote an article for his company regarding fiduciary services. Like with Matt Hutcheson, Jeff Richie was embezzling the money clients entrusted...more
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, has ruled that a plaintiff in a lawsuit alleging a fiduciary breach under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) did not have “actual knowledge” of the...more
As federal and state governments respond to COVID-19, employers and plan fiduciaries must also address the evolving issues arising under employer-sponsored health plans. The specific considerations covered in this update are...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
A federal district court in Ohio recently attempted to shed some light on when internal communications between an ERISA plan administrator and its in-house counsel are discoverable and when they are protected by the...more
I always say that you have better chances not getting caught by robbing a bank than you do by stealing money as a plan fiduciary. Yet, people still do it and come up with some amazing ways to get away with it. This new story...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
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) claims can potentially involve significant amounts in controversy, and in an effort to broaden the pool of potential defendants, ERISA plaintiffs are often fond of arguing that...more
There has been a surge of court decisions over the last year addressing fiduciary liability for welfare benefit plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). These lawsuits should prompt you to...more
Over the last 35 years, Duke University has had a championship basketball team on the court. In another court, Duke didn’t do too well....more
New Year's Resolutions For 401(k) Plan Sponsors. Get off on the right foot for 2019. A New Year's resolution is a tradition in which a person resolves to change and undesired trait or behavior to either improve their...more
Connecticut has been focused on the fiduciary standards of financial planners and retirement plan administrators in the wake of the now-defunct Department of Labor "fiduciary rule." With the goals of creating both...more
As we head into the thick of summer, all eyes are on President Trump's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy and the impact the new Justice will have on shaping the law for...more
On June 12, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling in Innova Hospital San Antonio, L.P. v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Inc., et al. that clarified the scope of what a...more
On April 23, 2018, the DOL released Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2018-01 relating to (1) plan investment in “economically targeted investments (“ETIs”), (2) the exercise of shareholder rights and (3) investment policy...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a major victory for ERISA plans and other payors, the Fifth Circuit recently overturned a district court’s notorious decision in favor of a healthcare provider and reinstated a plan administrator’s...more
The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that float income is not a plan asset and therefore is not subject to fiduciary and prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA. The decision was written by former Justice Souter...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has increased its examinations of the procedures of defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans for locating and paying out benefits to terminated vested participants whom the...more
Back in July, we discussed how Jed Clampett of Mama’s Fried Pies caused his VP of marketing Elly May to suffer exorbitant taxes due to a deferred bonus that he offered. This month, Jed finds himself again in the grease with...more