2003 Articles

Allocation of expenses in a defined contribution plan: Pro rata vs. per capita By John Callas October 2003 The Department of Labor recently released its third Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB). A FAB is intended to provide guidance to DOL investigators who conduct compliance audits as well as to practitioners who have day-to-day responsibility for compliance with federal laws and regulations.

Blackout notice rules under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act By Steven Lifson April 2003 The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the Act),1 among other things, added two sections to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Case summaries By Kyle Murray April 2003 Hackett suffered from a personality disorder, making it difficult for him to interact with co-workers.

Chicago Bar Association, YLS Estate Planning Committee seminar By Vigmalia Medero Perez January 2003 On October 2, 2002, the Chicago Bar Association, YLS Estate Planning Committee hosted a seminar called Individual Retirement Accounts: What You Need To Know When Creating an Estate Plan for Your Client.

Debit/credit cards and health plan expense reimbursement By Linda Shashinka October 2003 Employers are continuously striving to provide their employees with efficient, understandable, cost-effective health care benefits.

Department of Labor releases interim rules on blackout period under Sarbanes-Oxley Act By Steven Lifson January 2003 Recently, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued interim final regulations relating to the requirement for notice of blackout periods under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the Act).

Editor’s note By Margaret M. Benson October 2003 Like October, there's an abundance about this issue. Many thanks to our authors who worked hard to burnish these substantial articles for publication in our Section newsletter.

Editor’s note By Margaret M. Benson July 2003 Your Employee Benefits Section Council members were all in force for our assigned 4:30 p.m. meeting at the ISBA Annual Meeting on Friday, June 20, 2003 at The Abbey in Lake Geneva.

Editor’s note By Margaret M. Benson April 2003 This is our fifth and final newsletter for the year. The Newsletter was made possible by the generous writing contributions of 1) Katie Kennedy, 2) Katie's John Marshall Law School Graduate Employee Benefits Program mentees, 3) The multiple articles written by Steve Lifson and Teresa Faherty Blomquist and 4) The case updates faithfully and ably written by Amy Pauls.

Editor’s note By Margaret M. Benson January 2003 Happy New Year, Employee Benefits newsletter readers! If one of your New Year's resolutions is to be more creative, writing for this newsletter is a painless way to accomplish your goal.

Employment in Ireland: Compensation and benefits issues By David R. Shannon July 2003 This is a general survey of compensation and benefit issues that a multinational employer with a presence in Ireland may encounter.

Federal case updates By Milan Kim April 2003 Jebian was a participant in Hewlett's ERISA plan, which was run by Voluntary Plan Administrator (VPA), an independent claims administrator.

Great-West Life v. Knudson: A prescription for subrogation recovery under ERISA §502(a)(3)? By Rod Driscoll December 2003 On January 8, 2002, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. v. Knudson,1 in which the Court addressed whether a reimbursement provision contained as part of an ERISA-governed health plan was enforceable by the insurer against a plan beneficiary.

A HIPAA heads up: The privacy standard January 2003 There is only one "P" in HIPAA, the often-misspelled acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

The John Marshall Law Review Symposium: Expert panelists discuss the future of employee benefits law By Milan Kim January 2003 On October 11, 2002, the John Marshall Law School held a law review symposium entitled: The Future of Employee Benefits Law.

Letter from the Chair By Kathryn J. Kennedy December 2003 As chair of the ISBA Employee Benefits Section Council, I'd like to invite all of our members to attend any one of our quarterly meetings.

Letter from the chair By Kathryn J. Kennedy July 2003 As chair of the ISBA Employee Benefits Section Council's mentoring program, I'd like to update you on the success of the program's third year.

New rules for 204(h) notices By William L. Scogland & Teresa Faherty Blomquist October 2003 The Internal Revenue Service's final regulations for 204(h) notices, as such notices were amended by EGTRRA, are examples of subtle changes made to an ERISA rule in reaction to a much more controversial phenomenon, viz., the conversion of traditional defined benefit plans to cash balance plans.

Penalties under HIPAA (Interim Final Rule) By Linda Shashinka October 2003 By now, the terms of the Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( "HIPAA") are familiar to companies as they determine whether they qualify as regulated entities and, if so, how to comply.