Business Better Podcast Episode: Bridging Campuses: Legal Insights on Education Industry Consolidation – Labor, Employment, and Benefits
How ERISA Litigators Strengthen Plan Compliance and Risk Management: One-on-One with Jeb Gerth
#WorkforceWednesday®: New DOL Guidance - ERISA Plan Cybersecurity Update - Employment Law This Week®
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
In a world where retirement plan innovation often comes with more flash than substance, it’s refreshing to see a strategic alliance that actually addresses a fundamental challenge in defined contribution plans: providing real...more
ERISA is filled with traps for the unwary. Some are complex, hiding in layers of regulatory nuance. Others are deceptively simple—like plan forfeitures. Yes, I’m talking about those dollars left behind when participants fail...more
The US Department of Labor recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2025-01, a temporary enforcement policy regarding the transfer of small retirement plan benefits to state unclaimed property funds. This development...more
On April 3, 2025, the Department of Labor (the DOL) issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-02 (the FAB) and updated model annual funding notices for single-employer and multiemployer plans. The FAB addresses conflicts between...more
Many companies are scrambling to quickly assess how to reduce the business impact of the upheaval to U.S. manufacturing and trading with the recent onslaught of tariffs threatened or imposed by the United States and the...more
The first few months of 2025 brought the potential for many changes. On January 20, 2025, one of the Executive Orders pulled back all proposed regulations that had been issued in the last 60 days, including proposed...more
In this article, the authors delve into the Department of Labor’s temporary ERISA enforcement policy for unclaimed retirement benefit payments of $1,000 or less. The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a temporary...more
Many employer-sponsored defined contributions plans, including 401(k) profit sharing plans and money purchase pension plans include a vesting schedule – a period over which a plan participant earns a nonforfeitable right to...more
As a lawyer, I’ve heard plenty of lawyer jokes and some of them are amusing. I once said at law school that I now know why lawyers have terrible reputations because I met some of these lawyers at law school. While lawyers...more
by Becky Achten New guidance from the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) affirms that both sides—retirement plans and welfare plans—must take steps to secure participant data from cybercrime. In 2021 the...more
When a participant terminates employment without being fully vested in their qualified retirement plan account, the non-vested portion of the account is a “forfeiture.” While forfeitures are a common element of most...more
With recent well-publicized data breaches impacting pension systems and their retirees nationally, as well as increased Department of Labor scrutiny surrounding cybersecurity policies and procedures implemented by ERISA...more
The House and Senate are moving forward on several versions of legislation, which are collectively known as the “Secure Act 2.0” because they would build off of the Secure Act, the last major retirement plan legislation...more
I like when people state the obvious, but the concept is way over their head. ...more
Hot button ERISA fiduciary issues remain a focus for investment committees of 401(k) plans in 2022. From “excessive” fee litigation – including litigation over the duty to monitor the fees charged by various mutual funds...more
Attorneys from our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice provide insights on current issues facing various types of employee benefits programs. Topics include: - Cybersecurity - DOL Audit Initiatives -...more
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration of the United States Department of Labor (“EBSA”) recently published guidance regarding cybersecurity best practices for recordkeepers and service providers responsible for plan...more
I rarely talk about legislation because so many bills over the years get proposed with zero action by Congress. It took more than 4 years for Roth 401(k) plans to be a thing. However, I want to take time to talk about...more
One of the last things pension plan participants would want to learn as they get ready to celebrate the Christmas holiday is that personal data from their pension accounts may have been compromised. This is the case,...more
The SECURE Act of 2019 made three statutory changes to ERISA regarding lifetime income benefit payments from defined contribution plans (e.g., 401(k), 403(b), profit sharing, and money purchase pension plans). This blog will...more
People are flawed, except for saints and Popes. One of my many flaws is that I enjoy being right. I love predicting things and being right (such as the end of revenue sharing, and a former employer going out of business...more
In the News. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to create a new category of “seasoned” qualified mortgages; the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of...more
Good news for defined-benefit pension plan sponsors. Decision should discourage class action litigation involving defined-benefit plan investments....more
IRA providers were concerned with not being able to “stop the presses” when it came to notices being provided in January to IRA owners regarding the need to take 2020 minimum required distributions (“MRDs”)....more