Safeguards for Employee Benefits Fiduciaries When Relying on Expert Advice

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is designed to ensure individuals enrolled in health and retirement plans receive their benefits when needed, with fiduciaries acting in the best interests of the recipients.

While well informed, ERISA fiduciaries cannot be experts in many of the issues they encounter when administering a plan. When they need outside advice, they are obligated to seek it from experts. But not all expert advice is created equal.

There are safeguards for breach of duty when relying on an expert, but fiduciaries must be diligent in their defense. Shareholder Michael Joliat analyzes the requirements for a successful defense, while also providing tips for relying on expert advice in his article, “Trust Me, I’m an Expert: A Fiduciary’s Practical Guide to Relying on Expert Advice,” available in the July/August 2026 issue of Benefits Magazine.

Reproduced with permission from Benefits Magazine, Volume 63 No. 4, July/August 2026, pages 28-32, published by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (www.ifebp.org), Brookfield, Wis. All rights reserved. Statements or opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the International Foundation, its officers, directors or staff. No further transmission or electronic distribution of this material is permitted.

Joliat is a member of Reinart’s Employee Benefits Practice and Multiemployer Plan (Taft-Hartley) Team. He advises plan trustees on ERISA compliance, the Internal Revenue Code, the Affordable Care Act, HIPAA and other federal law. As fund counsel, he manages plan contracting and litigation, drafts plan documents and provides other services to meet the general counsel needs of employee benefit plans and their fiduciaries. Additionally, Joliat is an author and frequent speaker on issues facing multiemployer plans.