Compliance Stuff

Employer-sponsored group health plans operate at the intersection of multiple federal regulatory frameworks — ERISA, the ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), and more. Each imposes its own documentation requirements, reporting deadlines, and operational obligations. The challenge for most employers is not a lack of intent to comply, but the sheer complexity of keeping pace with layered and frequently updated rules. A proactive, systematic compliance review conducted with legal guidance is one of the most effective tools employers have to reduce legal exposure, strengthen plan governance, and prepare for regulatory inquiries . The following overview identifies the key compliance areas that such a review should cover. Plan Governance and ERISA Documentation ERISA requires every welfare benefit plan to be maintained pursuant to a written plan document that satisfies specific requirements. Compliance reviews routinely reveal documentation gaps that...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s (Sixth Circuit)  decision  in  In re FirstEnergy Corporation  provides important guidance on how companies can preserve attorney–client privilege and the attorney work product doctrine during internal investigations – guidance that translates directly to cybersecurity incident response investigations.  The Sixth Circuit confirmed that internal investigations led by outside counsel, where legal advice is rendered and such investigation is undertaken because of real or reasonably anticipated legal exposure, remain protected under attorney-client privilege and attorney work product doctrine, as applicable, even when the findings later inform business or operational decisions. For companies facing increasingly frequent and complex cyber incidents with subsequent class action lawsuits, the Sixth Circuit decision offers a clear message: engage outside counsel early, ensure such counsel leads any cybersecurity investiga...

Merriam-Webster recently named “slop” as its 2025 Word of the Year, citing the explosion of low-quality, AI-created digital content that now clogs all of our inboxes and social feeds. While employers and business leaders should see this news as a warning, this development can also be an opportunity to set yourself apart. By combining the power of AI with a healthy dose of human judgment, you can capture the authenticity that people will crave more than ever in 2026 . As we ring in the new year, we’ll take a look at what slop is, talk about the problems it can cause, and provide you with some practical steps you can take to rid yourself of it. What “AI Slop” Looks Like at Work 2025 was the year that AI slop showed up in every aspect of your job. No doubt you have started to see an increase in: Generic emails and corporate communications  that all start to sound the same (sounding official but not saying much of anything) Business content  that’s repetitive, vague, and quite po...

Corporate governance & compliance preserves the corporate veil and is a duty of any officer of an LLC or Corporation. What is corporate governance and compliance, and why is it important to protect the integrity of the “corporate veil” throughout California and the U.S.? Important Takeaways of How and Why Corporate Governance & Compliance Preserves the Corporate Veil: The "corporate veil" is the primary reason for having any business entity. The business entity shields the company's owners from personal liability that might otherwise arise out of the risks and disputes of business. Protecting the corporate veil through governance and compliance is a key duty of any officer of the corporation, and should always be a focus. Depending on the size and scope of the corporation or LLC, governance and compliance should be an annual priority, and at least a quarterly focus. Governance is about setting the policies and direction of the corporation. Compliance is preci...

While artificial intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool in a manager’s arsenal when it comes to efficiently making decisions, it is essential to use it ethically and fairly. Companies are no longer relying on AI solely to automate repetitive tasks or produce predictive analytics —  recent studies  have shown that over 60% of managers use AI for critical employment decisions, such as hiring, firing, layoffs, and/or promotions. And more than one in five managers use AI to make these decisions without any human input. As managers increasingly — and often blindly — rely upon AI, companies may risk significant legal exposure. Although it may be tempting to use AI to streamline employment decisions (e.g., hiring, promotion, workforce reductions), it is critical to remember that AI output merely reflects the data the system receives. These systems have no measurement for context, lack human judgment and empathy, and risk producing outcomes with unintended disparate impacts. A Cauti...