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ERISA & Employee Benefit Plans
MONDRESS MONACO PARR LOCKWOOD PLLC
MMPL is a Seattle, Washington law firm of highly skilled attorneys representing ERISA and employee benefit plans and trust funds, their sponsors, fiduciaries and trustees, and institutional service providers throughout the Pacific Northwest and nationwide. Since the firm’s entire practice is concentrated on employee benefits law, we offer comprehensive and experienced tax, fiduciary and trust, ERISA compliance, and litigation counseling. Learn more.
Legal Developments Impacting Retirement Plans 2025 Year-End Update
Click here for a printer-friendly version. In September 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued final regulations regarding SECURE Act 2.0 catch-up contribution rule changes.90 Fed. Reg. 44,527 (Sept. 16, 2025). The final regulations confirm that Plans may optionally enforce the increased catch-up contribution limit for participants age 60–63, as a matter of plan design. The final regulations provided further detailed guidance on new Roth catch-up contribution requirements for higher-income earners (FICA wages of $150,000 or more in [...]
Legal Developments Impacting Health & Welfare Plans 2025 Year-End Update
Click here for a printer-friendly version. The Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. Treasury (the Departments) announced they would not enforce the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) regulations finalized in 2024 (including the new discriminatory factor, fiduciary certification, and meaningful benefit requirements).However, the MHPAEA itself and the original (2013) MHPAEA regulations remain in effect and continue to be enforced, including the NQTL comparative analysis requirement. In its January [...]
Update: Arbitration in ERISA Plans
Click here for a printer-friendly version. Six years ago, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held ERISA plan terms can limit participants to bringing claims only in arbitration, and on an individual (i.e., non-representative or class action) basis.Dorman v. Charles Schwab Corp., 934 F.3d 1107 (9th Cir. 2019). In an oft-criticized opinion, the court also appeared to hold that participants can seek monetary relief only to the extent impacting their own account, foreclosing individuals from obtaining plan-wide recoveries.Dorman [...]
Legal Developments Impacting Health & Welfare Plans 2024 Year-End Update
Click here for a printer-friendly version. HHS continues to assess penalties for HIPAA violations, including a $4.75 million settlement with a medical center over an employee’s sale of protected health information (PHI) to identity thieves. HHS also assessed penalties for failures to timely give individuals access to their health information. New HHS regulations strengthen the privacy of PHI relating to reproductive health care, such as by prohibiting disclosure of PHI to law enforcement investigating a patient for obtaining a [...]