In July, a Texas federal judge put the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule, which was set to go into effect September 23, on hold. The judge granted a request by an insurance industry trade association to temporarily block the rule that classifies more retirement advice providers as fiduciaries.

While this case is pending, others in the insurance industry have been fighting the Retirement Security Rule. The American Council of Life Insurers, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the Insured Retirement Institute and the National Association for Fixed Annuities and others filed a lawsuit May 24. They are seeking to overturn the fiduciary rule finalized last month because it "undermines the expertise of state authorities who are responsible for overseeing annuities."

As this fiduciary rule saga continues, we talked to Allie Itami, an employee benefits partner at Lathrop GPM, who focuses on fiduciary compliance under ERISA and advocates for employer and service provider clients before the DOL on investigations, audits and regulatory matters.