ERISA sets the minimum standards for most private-employer retirement and welfare benefit plans and provides protections for participants and beneficiaries. Therefore, it is essential to understand who is held accountable for maintaining ERISA’s standards, what the consequences are for violating ...

Although ERISA focuses heavily on retirement benefits, many health and welfare plans also fall under the Act’s purview. It is also important to note that not all ERISA-governed plans cover a single employer. This module will discuss health and welfare ...

Accumulating enough savings for a comfortable retirement is important to many working Americans. Just as important is ensuring that retirement funds are managed and distributed fairly and responsibly. Among its many goals, ERISA seeks to protect funds that private-sector employees ...

A pension plan is a type of retirement plan that requires an employee to make regular contributions while her employer may match or also contribute.[1] The federal government incentivizes private employers to provide these plans by offering tax deductions for employer ...

Notice and Publicity Clauses Notices. The parties to sophisticated and complex contracts that are to be performed over a substantial period of time have need to communicate with one another in a formal way, especially where a dispute has erupted or ...

Integration and Amendment Integration and Amendment. The discussion and negotiation of a contract between the parties can take place over a considerable period of time and involve multiple employees before the lawyers ever get involved. Therefore, by the time all is ...

Disclaimers and Compliance Clauses Disclaimers and “As Is.” “Disclaimers” in contracts are for the purpose of avoiding liability on the subjects of the disclaimers. As companies today have learned to go to great lengths to avoid liability through their contractual relationships ...

Introduction to Contract Clauses One other thing about contracts is virtually universal — and that is that the vast majority of contracts contain a cadre of clauses that are common. In the realm of contract drafting, these clauses are called ...

Based on your frame of reference (your experience as a lawyer/negotiator and businessperson, your knowledge of and relationship with your employer, your cultural background, etc.), here is the outline you might follow as you prepare for and step into a ...

As a person who appreciates context, allow me to tell you a bit about my legal career before we delve too deeply into the ideas of contract negotiating and drafting. I have been a lawyer for 41 years, the vast ...