I found myself feeling very zen and mellow when writing this week’s Five Favorites for Friday post. That’s not always the case, as often the post covers topics that get me quite agitated, such as articles about poorly reasoned court decisions or about unnecessary risks to plan participants. That wasn’t the case this week and I think I know why – because all five articles are basically educational pieces on complex subjects and basically teach something or another to the reader. That’s not something that gets me worked up but instead is something that gives me great pleasure to write about.

So here’s hoping that on a Friday morning, as we wait for March to go out like a lamb, the articles do the same for you.

  1. Lawyers often have aspects of their practice that act as leading indicators for economic conditions, particularly with regard to shifts in the labor market. For me, one of those is when there is a substantial uptick in clients looking for guidance with regard to issues concerning deferred compensation, 409A issues, company solvency and their interrelationship. This article may be the single best comprehensive, one stop shopping review of these issues I have ever come across – and I have read a lot on these issues. It’s a great overview and high level guide to the subject.
  2. Speaking of guides, Brian Gilmore speaks plain English about the complexities of ERISA compliance as well as anyone and better than almost anyone. His newest publication explains wrap plans and wrap summary plan descriptions for ERISA health and welfare benefit programs in, well, plain English.
  3. I have a number of friends and clients in the medical world who are concerned about the role of private equity in the ownership of medical practices. As this article points out, however, there are legitimate economic barriers to the old fashioned model of younger physicians simply buying practices themselves from retiring physicians as an alternative. Anyone can identify a problem and its causes, but the article goes one step further and proposes a solution – medical practices as ESOPs. If, like me, both ESOPs and the role of private equity in the economy are among your interests, it’s a very good read.
  4. With a few notable exceptions, ERISA class action suits alleging the wrongful use of forfeitures by plan fiduciaries have not gone very well for plaintiffs so far. However, the theory hasn’t been tested yet at the appellate level. That is about to change, and with it possibly the future trajectory of these types of cases, as this article discusses.
  5. I hope this last one for this week is not behind a paywall (I try to limit how many articles I include in this weekly post that may not be readily accessible to loyal readers of this feature) because it is legitimately one of the most fascinating articles I have read in awhile. Granted, my personal interests are a little esoteric, in that I am fascinated by both the logistics and complexities of retirement plan administration as well as the ins and outs of cyber risks and liabilities. I have argued both cyber breach and retirement liability cases to appellate benches, though never in the same case. This article, though, reviews the landscape when both issues overlap.