Recent events like the Enron disaster have left hitherto unconcerned employees worried, and they have now begun asking questions about their benefit plans and filing lawsuits if they do not receive satisfactory answers. Fiduciaries and companies are being frequently dragged to court over actions resulting from their employee benefit plans. A well-thought-out employee benefit plan thus has become an important recruiting and retention tool.

It is becoming increasingly necessary to find an advisor with the right background and expertise to help you in a specific situation. It is of utmost importance that you find an advisor who is concerned about you and keen on professionally resolving your problem.

ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) or employee benefits attorneys provide a great service to limit the liability of plan sponsors and help protect employees. An employee benefits attorney should be involved in any area of merger, acquisition or divestiture. In addition, whenever a company enacts an employee benefit plan, the involvement of such an attorney should be welcomed. In case a company excludes attorney review in their employee benefit plan implementation, it is wise to seek counsel and review those plan documents and procedures. An experienced ERISA attorney should review all aspects of any fiduciary decision that could impact plan qualification.

Such attorneys should also be retained for current qualified retirement plan issues like merging an existing Money Purchase Plan with an existing 401k Plan, providing investment advice to participants, and withdrawal liability from multi-employer pension plans. They should also be consulted on current welfare benefit plan issues like understanding ERISA compliance for companies with a third-party insurance agent or administrator, COBRA issues, and fiduciary insurance and bond review.