xtremErisa (xtremErisa.com / xtremErisa.blogspot.com)

An xtreme mix of postings covering . . . ERISA and Pop Culture!

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

A Death Benefit Sponsored by Bad Co. (Insured by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)

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One of the most glaring omissions in the pantheon of omitted honors and awards was the omission of Bad Co. from the R 'n' R Hall of ...
Sunday, June 22, 2025

Tires Has Tread on Me - No ERISA Reference in "Retirement"?!?

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There's a "Retirement" episode of Tires, but with nary an ERISA reference. How can that be?!? Such a great show, especially Se...
Friday, June 20, 2025

A New Citation to Halliburton/Haliburton for ERISA Practitioners and for, Well, Everyone

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One of the more consternating decisions to some ERISA practitioners is the case of Halliburton Company Benefits Committee v. Graves , 463 F....
Friday, May 30, 2025

Not Only Is Leanne Morgan Every Woman, but She's Also a Benefits Expert

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Leanne Morgan's stand-up is back in the American (or at least the Netflix) consciousness.  And it turns out that she's an ERISA expe...
Thursday, May 29, 2025

Courtesy of AI, Black Mirror Finds Its Way to the Dystopian World of ERISA

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Artificial intelligence (forgive the Savior Faire reference) is everywhere.  That's not new information, other than perhaps (but only p...
Friday, May 9, 2025

Thanks to Netflix, 401(k) Plans Find Their Way into the Controversial World of Tony Hinchcliffe

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There was a time when, on a good day, ERISA was the ugly stepchild.  When I first started practicing, I wouldn't dare utter an ERISA wor...
Sunday, March 9, 2025

IRAs, Toasters and . . . Silence of the Lambs?!?

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A lot happens in Silence of the Lambs (not to mention a clean sweep at the Oscars*). But did anyone catch the implicit reference to PTCE 93-...
Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Spilling (Literal) Blood Over Carried Interests - Jon Stewart Djangos (sic) DOGE

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Over the past three election cycles, Democrats and Republicans have both put carried interests in their crosshairs. You'd think that suc...
Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Nicolas Cage Loses It Over a Retirement Plan

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So this post is nothing more than an excuse to regale you with a guilty pleasure with which everyone needs to be familiar. I just came acros...
Thursday, January 23, 2025

Early Access To Retirement Funds - An (American) Horror Story

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Late to the party, I just got to American Horror Stories (with a plural "s" at the end). I like the Twilight 7one / Black Mirror s...
Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Nikki Glaser's Watershed Event that Followed . . . ERISA's?

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So we're in the watershed (12-month) year of ERISA's 50th Anniversary and what do we get? A watershed moment for Nikki Glaser. (Mayb...
Sunday, December 29, 2024

ERISA/Xmas Redux - 2024 Edition

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As we barrel towards a new administration in a post- Chevron  reality (quite the one-two punch there, if you're interested in the fate o...
Thursday, December 26, 2024

ERISAFolk Are Cool?!? - P&I and . . . Spinal Tap?

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A shout-out needs to go to Crain's Pensions & Investments, whose Top 10 (or, as we shall see, 11) somewhat ERISA-centric wrap-up sto...
Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Watching Birds in an Actuary with Nate Bargatze

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So I'm watching the wonderful "Your Friend, Nate Bargatze" on Netflix and I get a shout-out to none other than . . . actuaries...
Monday, December 23, 2024

Wordy Gurdy - ERISA Schmarisa

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Wordy Gurdy (not to be confused (or maybe indeed to be confused) with the similar sounding Donovan song ) is a newspaper game that presents ...
Friday, December 20, 2024

Columbo Investgates ERISA?

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OK, so I admit it. I'm a Columbophile. At its best, this gem of a show is absolutely unsurpassed.  I've recently come across two won...
Thursday, December 5, 2024

Finding a QDRO in the Cabinet of Curiosities

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So, late to the party, I've been watching Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Generally disappointing, so I didn't miss...
Sunday, November 17, 2024

Welfare and 401(k) Plans Are Sexier Than You Think, Per Anora

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I'm always looking for ways in which welfare plans and 401(k) plans are, well, sexy. (Sad, no?) So I'm sitting in "Arora",...
Friday, September 27, 2024

Time Is on ERISA's Side - A Lesson from AGT about TVM

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One of the things that can be hard to convey is the power of the time value of money (TVM) and its role in the World of ERISA. A partner of ...
Friday, September 6, 2024

Is It Time for Dr. Natas to Take on Ocwen LLC?

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It's not every day that there's a real case involving <shudder> plan assets in the courts.  But the Powell v. Ocwen case, now...
Monday, September 2, 2024

Origin Story - Another Batman-Related ERISA Connection

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As  one of my very early posts allowed me to express my awe and admiration for Heath Ledger's Dark Knight performance, I was interested...
Saturday, July 6, 2024

Beverly Hills Retirement Advisor: Axel F

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SPOILER ALERT - this post will give away key information about Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Back in '84, Beverly Hills Cop and Eddie Murphy...
Friday, May 10, 2024

Time to Start Crying? - a Big Baby Goes to Jail for Messing with an ERISA Plan

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A prior post chronicled the DOL's successful pursuit of ERISA plan-assets claims against the one-time dog-focused Michael Vick (who got...
Friday, April 19, 2024

Gary Cooper (the other one, from the Braves) and Pensions

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So there's a guy, Gary Cooper, who was one day away from qualifying for his MLB pension back in the 70s when his next game was rained ou...
Friday, December 22, 2023

Should Joaquin's Joker Be Getting a Classification Lawyer Around Holiday TIme?

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The question of whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor has been around for many years.  The question has numerous cons...
Sunday, September 3, 2023

Welcome to My ERISA Nightmare - Alice Cooper, HR Manager

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While minding my own business, I was treated to a clip pushed out to me by Google that really resonated with me - Alice Cooper on Johnny Car...
Sunday, May 28, 2023

A Grab-Bag of Recent References - Guardians, Jeopardy, and Pearls/Swine

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So I've come across three ERISA-flavored references in various media over the last several weeks, as follows; - First, we have what to o...
Monday, March 13, 2023

Death Benefits at the Oscars

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ERISA covers certain death benefits.  Slasher films and zombie movies involve death (and undeath, if you will).  There, connection made.  (T...
Thursday, January 19, 2023

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Makes Its WIld Way to ERISA

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The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon trope has become so omnipresent that I guess it should not be surprising that a connection between ERISA and ...
Sunday, December 25, 2022

Xmas Music, Etc. - 2022 Edition

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Merry Christmas!  In the past, I've done some ERISA and non-ERISA posts with some Holiday music and other Holiday-themed nuggets.  Somet...
Tuesday, December 20, 2022

401(k)s in Jeopardy?!?

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As noted previously , IRAs have made their way onto Jeopardy.  Now, while IRAs got their own column all to themselves, 401(k)s apparently (w...
Saturday, December 3, 2022

Tim Conway's 35-Year-Old Orphan as . . . Independent Fiduciary?!?

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So I was trolling the internet and I came upon Tim Conway as the 35 year-old orphan .  I think in the annals of television Tim C...
Friday, October 21, 2022

Shark Tank and 401(k)s/IRAs

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There's a disturbing aspect of Shark Tank, which is generally a great show (but may have Jumped the . . . ahem . . . Shark* when it did ...
Tuesday, October 11, 2022

SNL and 401(k)s - SNAP!

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With increasing frequency, 401(k) plans get prominently mentioned in pop culture.  And I've noticed that in the mainstream press economi...
Sunday, August 14, 2022

Breaking Bad, Breaking Legs, Breaking HR Rules, Breaking My Heart (just a bit)

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So a central part of my life over more than a decade is about to end.  On Monday, we get the last episode of Better Call Saul.  The Breaking...
Friday, August 5, 2022

A "Search Party" Finds the Pillaging of an Employee Benefit Plan

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Sometimes, ya gotta listen really carefully to find ERISA references in unexpected places.  In the once-promising Search Party, on HBO Max b...
Saturday, July 2, 2022

SNL's Hobson's Choice - 401(k) Contributions or Scratch-Off Lottery Tickets

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I happened to find my way to an old Saturday Night Live bit, and was surprised to see my practice area find a way to wheedle its way in.  Le...
Saturday, December 18, 2021

Some "Cause" for Checking Out a New "Urban" Legend

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Well, THIS didn't go well, did it?  Another high-profile for-cause termination now hits the world of sports and entertainment.   Not sur...
Friday, December 10, 2021

Can I See the Baroness von Hellman's Form of Employment Contract?

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So "Cruella" with Emma Stone is certainly an unexpected joy.* To those who say it's the distaff counterpart to "Joker...
Sunday, December 5, 2021

A Metal Christmas Via the . . . Chipmunks?

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Well, here we go again for a Holiday note with <shudder> no ERISA component. For prior non-ERISA entries during the Holiday Se...
Monday, November 29, 2021

Maxwell's Not So Smart

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As we head into the Ghislaine Maxwell trial (it certainly has been quite the trials arc we're in), let us not forget the connection (in ...
Monday, November 22, 2021

Control: Let's Take It from Britney to . . . VCOCs?

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OK, I admit it.  I like Britney Spears.  I like her music, and she seems (or at least at one time seemed) very nice.  I thought South Park n...
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xtremErisa -
ERISA lawyer, fan (big fan!) of Pop Culture, Corvette(s) driver, Mets fan, Jets fan
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