Opinion ID: 174447
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Eichholz’s Employee Benefits Plans

Text: Eichholz, an attorney, owned a law firm most recently known as The Eichholz Law Firm. In 1991, Eichholz established two benefits plans to provide retirement and pension benefits for long-time employees of the law firm (“the plans”). The plans were subject to the requirements of Title I of the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). The plans had nineteen participants, including Eichholz and his mother, but the participants’ interest in the plans varied. The plans were funded by employer contributions from the firm, for which Eichholz was allowed a tax deduction. Eichholz served as the sole fiduciary of the plans. Erskine and Associates was the plans’ third-party administrator and provided consultive, administrative and record-keeping services. As the plans’ fiduciary, Eichholz was required to file Form 5500 with the DOL providing information about the plans’ assets, liabilities and kinds of investments. Sherrie Erskine of Erskine and Associates prepared the Form 5500s for Eichholz using information Eichholz and his employees provided. 2 The plans’ rules prohibited Eichholz from issuing loans to participants and also discouraged a large number of loans because they were not considered safe investments. Nonetheless, a significant portion of the plans’ assets were outstanding loans.