ERISA: Fiduciaries, Fiduciary Duties, & Breach of Fiduciary Duty   Tags: erisa, fiduciary_duty  

Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) establishes certain duties and responsibilities that must be carried out by a fiduciary. As an ERISA fiduciary, a person may be held liable for employee benefit plan losses by the plan’s participants or the beneficiaries of the participant.

A specific list of fiduciary duties and responsibilities are established in ERISA. These duties and responsibilities are designed to protect the benefits of the participants and their beneficiaries and to prescribe standards that may be enforced under Title I of ERISA.

A fiduciary must carry out his or her duties solely in the interest of the plan participants and beneficiaries. There are four standards for fiduciary conduct, including: the exclusive purpose rule, the prudence standard, diversification of investments, and compliance with the plan documents. The exclusive purpose rule requires the fiduciary to carry out his duties solely for the purpose of providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries, except to the extent that assets are expended for reasonable expenses relating to the plan’s operation and administration. The prudence standard requires the fiduciary discharge her duties in the manner of a prudent person with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence of a person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters. The diversification standard requires that investments must be diversified so as to minimize risk of large losses unless, under the circumstances, it is clearly prudent not to do so.

This research guide examines who is an ERISA fiduciary, what are the ERISA fiduciary’s duties, and under what authority an ERISA fiduciary may be held liable for plan losses.

This guide provides an overview of the law surrounding fiduciary duties, both who is an ERISA fiduciary and what the fiduciary duties are, and breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The resources provided in this guide include helpful laws, secondary materials, and internet resources on the topic of fiduciary duties within ERISA. However, to provide context to this specific area of ERISA law, some of the materials relate to the broad subject of employee benefits law. This research guide is intended to assist attorneys with little or no familiarity with this subject matter in gaining a better understanding of the relevant law.

Rosanne Marie Cross graduated from Georgia State University College of Law in May 2010. While in law school, Ms. Cross served as a Georgia State University Law Review Student Writing and Symposium Associate Editor. Ms. Cross also served as a Graduate Research Assistant for Professor Anne S. Emanuel during the 2009-2010 academic year. During the summer semester of 2009, Ms. Cross served as a Graduate Research Assistant for Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Roy M. Sobelson. In the spring of 2009, Ms. Cross performed an Independent Research Study that was sponsored by Dean Sobelson on behalf of the Atlanta Bar Association. Ms. Cross also served as the Graduate Reference Assistant in the Georgia State College of Law Library during the spring 2009 and summer 2008 semesters. Before attending law school, Ms. Cross graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Arts in the Classics and a minor in Art History. For more information about this bibliography please contact Associate Dean for Library and Information Services Nancy P. Johnson via e-mail at njohnson@gsu.edu.

This research guide is a starting point for a law student or an attorney to research fiduciary duties and breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This area of federal law has been growing, changing and expanding since 1974, and it will certainly continue to do so. It is imperative to Shepardize or KeyCite all cases and statutes before relying on them. This guide should not be considered as legal advice or as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. If you need further assistance in researching this topic or have specific legal questions, please contact a reference librarian in the Georgia State University College of Law Library or consult an attorney.