By Philip Koehler and Anne Tyler Hall* Expanding access to retirement plans for the American workforce has been a recurring policy objective of federal pension reform at least as far back as the enactment of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (‘‘ERISA’’). The legislative history of ERISA and its progeny has laid down an historical record of the challenges Congress faced to ensure that Read More

By Anne Tyler Hall and Phil Koehler (March 29, 2023) The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement, or SECURE, Act 2.0, enacted at the end of 2022, ushered in some of the most sweeping changes for retirement plans and individual retirement accounts since the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security of 1974, as amended. Some of the changes are immediate while others become effective in 2024 Read More

By Grant Shuman, Tim Kennedy and Anne Tyler Hall (March 22, 2023, 5:36 PM EDT) The No Surprises Act, enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and made effective Jan. 1, 2022, was designed to protect patients from surprise bills for emergency services at out-of-network facilities — or out- of-network providers at in-network facilities — holding patients liable only for in-network Read More

ATLANTA, GA – Serving employers in thirty-nine states, boutique ERISA law firm Hall Benefits Law (HBL) welcomes Los Angeles-based attorney Alex M. Brucker to the Firm as Of Counsel. Brucker boasts almost fifty years as an employee benefits attorney, lecturer, and author, having begun his career in benefits law in 1974, the same year ERISA was enacted. He has been recognized seventeen consecutive years Read More

Law360 (March 3, 2023, 9:57 PM EST) - Congress recently passed legislation seeking to nix a U.S. Department of Labor rule meant to help retirement plan managers factor things like climate change and social justice into investment decisions, a move that attorneys say highlights the legal risks for plans that offer funds devoted to socially conscious investing. The House and Senate passed resolutions on Feb. 28 and Read More

Law 360 (November 18, 2022, 5:44 PM EST) -- The U.S. Department of Labor has vowed to continue its aggressive enforcement of a law requiring employer health plans to provide equal coverage for mental health and addiction treatments and other types of medical care, despite expected political pressure from the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives. The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity Read More

Law360 (August 31, 2022, 3:05 PM EDT) -- Hall Benefits Law has strengthened its C-suite by promoting a former special consultant to chief growth officer, the national boutique benefits firm announced Wednesday. Vasu Pathak, who joined the firm in 2020, began his new role June 27 at the Atlanta headquarters alongside Managing Partner Anne Tyler Hall and Chief Marketing Officer David Hall. In an interview with Read More

ATLANTA, Aug. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Now serving plan sponsors and service provider clients in 39 states, national boutique ERISA law firm Hall Benefits Law welcomes Vasu Pathak, Chief Growth Officer, and Katie O'Fallon, Law Office Manager, to the Firm. Pathak rounds out the Firm's C-suite, alongside Managing Partner Anne Tyler Hall and Chief Marketing Officer David Hall, and O'Fallon anchors the Read More

ATLANTA, Feb. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Serving employer plan sponsors and benefit service provider clients in 35 states, boutique ERISA and employment law firm Hall Benefits Law is proud to partner with the attorneys of Pridgen Bassett Law in a mutual Of Counsel arrangement. Pridgen Bassett Law, LLC Partners Nancy Pridgen and Leslie Bassett spent many years at Alston & Bird and King & Spalding representing Read More

By Philip Koehler and Anne Hall (January 20, 2022) Litigation against Employee Retirement Income Security Act retirement and health plan sponsors and administrators has plagued workplace fiduciaries for the last two decades. Then, in 2020, ERISA lawsuits reached unprecedented levels and affected fiduciaries of ERISA retirement and health plans nationwide. Unwary 401(k) and 403(b) plan sponsors, fiduciaries and Read More