Editors Overview
We kick off this edition of our Newsletter with an article that
I co-authored with my partner, Paul Hamburger, explaining the
doctrine commonly referred to as the fiduciary exception to the
attorney-client privilege. The article provides a good
refresher on fiduciary exception principles with updated case law,
and provides practice points that can help employee benefits
counsel and their clients better understand how best to protect the
privacy of their communications.
There are several pieces of agency guidance that made the news
this past quarter and that are discussed below. They include
proposed and final guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor on
the topics of ESG investing, fiduciary considerations for including
private equity allocations in defined contribution plan
investments, and electronic delivery of retirement plan
disclosures. In addition, the DOL, IRS, and PBGC have issued
COVID-19 related guidance. The Treasury Inspector