Fifteen years into running my own practice, I can say without hesitation\u2014it was the right decision. Going out on my own as an ERISA attorney allowed me to focus on what truly matters: delivering value to clients, not inflating hours to feed a law firm\u2019s bloated overhead. I didn\u2019t want to be another cog in the machine, pressured to bill time instead of spend time solving problems. I wanted to be a resource\u2014not a revenue center.<\/p>\n
One of the issues I\u2019ve championed from the start is the importance of using an independent ERISA attorney for plan documents. Too often, plan sponsors rely on whoever is drafting the documents at their TPA or bundled provider. But here\u2019s the thing: plan documents are legal documents. And legal documents come with legal consequences. You wouldn\u2019t let your accountant draft your will, so why let your TPA\u2019s in-house drafter\u2014who might not even be a practicing attorney\u2014build a plan document that could expose you to regulatory risk?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say every ERISA attorney is the right ERISA attorney. Just like with TPAs and financial advisors, there are some great ones\u2014and there are some you\u2019d be better off avoiding. I know this firsthand. I\u2019ve worked for TPAs. I\u2019ve worked in law firms. And I\u2019ve reviewed enough ERISA documents to know when something is a ticking time bomb.<\/p>\n
One that sticks out? A plan amendment from a California ERISA attorney, intended to tweak a client\u2019s matching formula. What landed on my desk was an incoherent monstrosity. I turned to my plan conversion expert and said, \u201cSure, he can write this\u2014but good luck administering it.\u201d That\u2019s the danger of hiring the wrong specialist. If you\u2019re a small business with a single-employer 401(k) plan, don\u2019t hire an ERISA attorney who spends their days on multiemployer union plans and has never dealt with revenue sharing. It\u2019s not the same world, and you\u2019ll pay the price for that mismatch in the long run.<\/p>\n
At the same time, I\u2019ve never believed that every plan sponsor needs a $25,000 custom document. Value matters. If a TPA is offering a pre-approved document for $2,000 and it fits the plan sponsor\u2019s needs, I\u2019ll gladly recommend it. The key is understanding what the client needs\u2014not pushing what pads your own bottom line.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll never forget the advisor who told me about a plan sponsor whose $100,000 budget for a fiduciary review was entirely consumed by a single ERISA attorney\u2014before the work was even finished. That\u2019s not advocacy. That\u2019s highway robbery.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why my practice is built on flat fee billing. Plan sponsors need cost certainty. They deserve to know what they\u2019re paying for, and they shouldn\u2019t have to flinch every time they pick up the phone to ask their attorney a question. My disdain for the billable hour comes from years of watching it weaponized. When hours are currency, efficiency becomes the enemy. And the more important billables are to a law firm\u2019s culture, the easier it is for overbilling and abuse to thrive.<\/p>\n
I get why midsize firms stick to it\u2014they\u2019ve got overhead, associates, partners, and parking garages to pay for. But clients shouldn\u2019t have to foot that bill. That\u2019s why I don\u2019t make them.<\/p>\n
And look, as much as I\u2019ve joked about my time working for TPAs\u2014and yes, it\u2019s been great material\u2014those years were the foundation of everything I know. Nothing I learned in law school, and certainly nothing I saw in the corridors of a traditional law firm, prepared me like that TPA experience did. It was trial by fire. Drafting documents quickly. Fixing problems no textbook ever mentioned. Thinking fast, under pressure, and still producing something solid. That world taught me to be practical, to be responsive, and to embrace flat fee billing not as a gimmick, but as a reflection of how real retirement plans actually operate.<\/p>\n
Fifteen years later, I still believe in the same things I did when I struck out on my own: that good advice should be affordable, that legal documents should be readable and administrable, and that clients shouldn\u2019t have to choose between quality and value.<\/p>\n
And no\u2014I wouldn\u2019t trade this ride for anything.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fifteen years into running my own practice, I can say without hesitation\u2014it was the right decision. Going out on my own as an ERISA attorney allowed me to focus on what truly matters: delivering value to clients, not inflating hours … Continue reading