PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Exploring the Value of Qualified Default Investment Alternatives
Legal Alert | DOL Opens ESG Door: What Does It Mean for Plan Fiduciaries?
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
Corporate Fiduciaries Holding Cryptocurrency - Digital Planning Podcast
Legislation Discussion with PA State Senator Tom Killion
Discussion of PA’s Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act
The Delaware Supreme Court’s June 17, 2025 decision in In re Columbia Pipeline Group Merger Litigation reversed a $199 million damages award against TC Energy for aiding and abetting breaches by fiduciaries of Columbia...more
If you serve on a retirement plan committee, you’ve taken on an important and legally significant role. As a fiduciary under the ERISA, you are personally liable for the decisions you make regarding the plan. That’s not a...more
As anticipated, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently changed its position with respect to certain investment choices that 401(k) plan fiduciaries sometimes consider or make available to plan participants, including...more
On March 25, Delaware adopted significant amendments to §§ 144 and 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law which aim to provide greater clarity and predictability to corporate fiduciaries in light of certain recent...more
Two recent class action lawsuits charging a breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have increased the stakes and raised important considerations regarding a plan fiduciary’s duty of...more
In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., leaving the doctrine of Chevron deference in rubble. The doctrine stated that, when a...more
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 17, 2025, issued a greatly anticipated decision in which the justices unanimously held that plaintiffs alleging a prohibited transaction under Section 1106(a)(1)(C) of the Employee Retirement...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Cunningham v Cornell University, addressing the pleading standard applicable to prohibited transaction claims under the Employee Retirement Income...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued one decision today: Cunningham v. Cornell University, No. 23-1007: This case addresses the pleading standard to assert a claim under a provision of the Employee Retirement...more
The judgment concerns the circumstances in which fiduciaries must account to their principals for the profits they make from their fiduciary relationships....more
The DOL recently updated the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP). The VFCP encourages employers to voluntarily correct certain violations of ERISA to avoid DOL civil enforcement penalties....more
When hostilities break out between individual co-trustees, incumbent trust counsel faces a representation conundrum. In §8.8 of Loring and Rounds: A Trustee’s Handbook (2025), see appendix below, we grapple with the...more
While PC software programs are a practical improvement over the trustee’s hard-copy ledger book, when it comes to keeping track of trust income and principal these programs still require serious clerical monitoring on the...more
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has released Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-01 (the Bulletin), providing much-needed guidance to fiduciaries of retirement plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security...more
Key Takeaways - In October 2024, SCOTUS granted review of Cunningham v. Cornell University to provide guidance on certain pleading standards in ERISA litigation claims, with oral arguments scheduled for January 2025....more
Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into legal practice presents valuable opportunities as the industry continues to evolve. AI has the potential to revolutionize workflows, enhance decision-making, and improve client...more
The Spotlight strives to provide a forum to discuss the latest news and compelling issues impacting fiduciaries and those to whom fiduciaries owe duties. Whether you are an officer, director, trustee, beneficiary, trust...more
Our qualified retirement plans agenda outlines current legislative, litigation, and other developments concerning tax-qualified retirement plans. Sponsors are encouraged to be aware of these issues and assess whether any...more
A conservator is an individual who manages the finances of an incapacitated individual, and a conservator cannot sell real estate owned by the incapacitated person without prior probate court approval. MCL 700.5423(3)....more
Trade association boards, like the boards of other private companies, often consist of stakeholders who are personally and professionally invested in the organization. Board members typically also possess significant business...more
Investment and administrative committees for employer-sponsored retirement plans have long been the gold standard for a company to carry out its fiduciary obligations to plan participants as required by the Employee...more
David F. Johnson presented his speech on “Fiduciaryize Your Case” to the State Bar of Texas’s Advanced Civil Trial Course in Frisco, Texas, on July 11, 2024. This presentation covered what a fiduciary relationship means, the...more
In In re Estate of Maun, a brother sued his sister’s estate for her performance as executrix of their mother’s estate since the late 1980s. No. 13-22-00576-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 52 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi January 4,...more
Case Name and Number: Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., et al., No. 4:23-cv-00552 - INTRODUCTION - On June 20, 2024, Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas (the “court”) denied a motion for summary...more
The Department of Labor ("DOL") recently issued a regulatory package that includes a final rule updating ERISA's definition of an investment advice fiduciary and amending certain related prohibited transaction exemptions...more