Benefits

  • January 22, 2025

    Logistics Cos. Say Workers' Tobacco Fee Suit Filed Too Late

    A pair of logistics companies are asking a Connecticut federal court to throw out a proposed class action alleging they violated federal law by not fully reimbursing employees who paid an additional tobacco-use fee on their healthcare, saying all the claims in the suit are barred by statutes of limitation.

  • January 22, 2025

    JPMorgan Accused Of Misusing Forfeited 401(k) Funds

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. violated federal benefits law when it used former employees' forfeited, unvested 401(k) contributions to cover millions of dollars of employer contributions rather than covering plan expenses, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

  • January 21, 2025

    Del. Justices Seal Oracle's Win In $9.3B NetSuite Merger Suit

    The Delaware Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed the Chancery Court's toss last year of a challenge to Oracle Corp.'s $9.3 billion acquisition of NetSuite Corp. in 2016, saying the Chancery did not err in finding that the transaction was untainted from influence by Oracle's management or its founder and top shareholder.

  • January 21, 2025

    Ala. Gets In On Trans Ga. Deputy's 11th Circ. Rehearing

    The state of Alabama will get a chance to weigh in at closely watched oral arguments next month when the full Eleventh Circuit will consider whether a Georgia county's denial of coverage for a transgender deputy's gender-affirming surgery violates federal employment discrimination laws.

  • January 21, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Undo Doctor's Conviction For Reusing Devices

    A former North Carolina ear, nose and throat doctor staring down 25 years in prison for healthcare fraud lost an appeal Tuesday seeking to overturn her conviction, with the Fourth Circuit finding that the lower court did not commit any reversible error that would favor a shot at redemption.

  • January 21, 2025

    Cornell Case May Be Bellwether For ERISA Transaction Claims

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday from Cornell University and workers looking to reinstate a class action alleging their retirement plan paid excessive fees, in a case that could change the strategy for Employee Retirement Income Security Act plaintiffs in the future.

  • January 21, 2025

    Union Worker Says He Has Standing To Sue Carpenters Plans

    A Carpenters-represented worker suing a group of union benefit plans for cutting off his and his coworkers' benefits after a collective bargaining agreement expired is fighting to keep his lawsuit in California federal court, urging the court to reject the plans' argument that he lacked standing to sue.

  • January 21, 2025

    Advocates Vow Suits Over Trump Orders On LGBTQ+ Rights

    An LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group succeeded in fighting executive orders issued during President Donald Trump's first term promised Tuesday to challenge his latest moves rolling back protections for transgender and nonbinary U.S. citizens.

  • January 21, 2025

    Paul Weiss Hires Exec Comp Head From Sullivan & Cromwell

    Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP is bringing on Matt Friestedt, the former head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's executive compensation mergers and acquisitions practice, as a partner in its New York office.

  • January 17, 2025

    Law360 Names Firms Of The Year

    Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 54 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, steering some of the largest deals of 2024 and securing high-profile litigation wins, including at the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 17, 2025

    DOL Says It Recovered $1.4B For Plans, People In Fiscal '24

    The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration announced Friday that it recovered nearly $1.4 billion in direct payments to plans, participants and beneficiaries in 2024, largely stemming from enforcement actions and informal complaint resolutions.

  • January 17, 2025

    Exhumation Catch Unclear In NFL Players' Deal, 3rd Circ. Told

    Family members of several late NFL players asked the Third Circuit on Friday to grant them national concussion settlement benefits that were denied for a lack of an eligible chronic traumatic encephalopathy diagnosis, arguing the requirement for a neurological exam on exhumed bodies was not made clear as part of the settlement notice.

  • January 17, 2025

    SEC Fines Transamerica $2.9M Over Retirement Biz Conflicts

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday fined registered investment adviser Transamerica Retirement Advisors LLC $2.9 million to settle claims it concealed conflicts of interest generated by Transamerica's incentive compensation payments to representatives.

  • January 17, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Forum Shopping & TCPA Definitions

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Tuesday for a short argument session, during which the justices will consider the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's bid to limit forum shopping by manufacturers challenging agency decisions and how much deference district courts must give to Federal Communications Commission orders.

  • January 17, 2025

    Trade Group Sues To Stop Federal Mental Health Parity Regs

    A benefits-focused employer trade group sued the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies in D.C. federal court Friday, seeking to block recently finalized mental health parity regulations the group alleges are unconstitutional and violate administrative procedure laws.

  • January 17, 2025

    DOL Says Mental Health Parity Law Compliance Still Lacking

    The U.S. Department of Labor and two other agencies said Friday that many employer health plans are still falling short of full compliance with a federal law requiring that mental health and substance use disorder treatment be covered comparably to physical healthcare.

  • January 17, 2025

    Ex-Conn. State Employee Accused In $1.9M Medicaid Scam

    A former employee of Connecticut's Office of Policy and Management is one of two people charged by federal authorities with defrauding the state Medicaid program out of nearly $1.9 million by submitting false claims for services for children with autism, the U.S. attorney's office said Friday.

  • January 17, 2025

    Drink Maker Celsius Settles SEC's Accounting Claims For $3M

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday fined beverage company Celsius Holdings Inc. $3 million to settle claims that it issued financial statements that were materially inaccurate and misleading due to misreported stock award information.

  • January 17, 2025

    Littler Adds ERISA Partner From Trucker Huss In Calif.

    Labor and employment firm Littler Mendelson PC has expanded its offerings in California with the addition of an attorney from Trucker Huss.

  • January 17, 2025

    4 Battles Over Gender-Affirming Care To Watch In 2025

    The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the federal government's challenge to Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, and the Eleventh Circuit is considering a bid to upend federal rules extending the Affordable Care Act's nondiscrimination protections to transgender patients. Here, Law360 looks at four cases that could have ramifications for benefits law in 2025.

  • January 17, 2025

    Justices To Hear Ex-Marine's Bid For PTSD Compensation

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up the appeal of a former U.S. Marine who says that the Federal Circuit misstepped by limiting the retroactive special compensation he could receive for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder to six years because he filed late.

  • January 17, 2025

    Vanguard To Pay SEC, States $106M Over Surprise Tax Bills

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was joined by dozens of state regulators Friday in announcing a $106.4 million settlement with The Vanguard Group Inc. over claims that the company misled investors about the heightened capital gains taxes they would have to pay on certain retirement savings accounts.

  • January 16, 2025

    Yellow Corp., Teamsters Debate WARN Suit Ahead Of Trial

    Yellow Corp. and the unions representing many of the workers it laid off met in Delaware bankruptcy court Thursday to preview arguments they will deliver at a trial, set to start next week, that will determine whether the trucking company can escape some of the WARN Act claims it is facing after laying off 25,000 employees.

  • January 16, 2025

    McNair Son Wants Legal Fee Fight Set Back In Motion

    The eldest son of late Houston businessman Bob McNair asked a Texas appeals court Wednesday to reverse an order temporarily halting his litigation seeking legal fees connected to a probate case over the management of his family's companies.

  • January 16, 2025

    Ex-Atty's Audit Rightly Tied To State Farm Fight, Panel Rules

    State Farm and two clients were properly ushered into a case examining a disbarred attorney's trust accounts, a Connecticut appeals court ruled Thursday, shutting down the ex-lawyer's demand for $52,100 in purported attorney fees by upholding a judge's decision linking settlement payout, audit and ethics feuds under one docket.

Expert Analysis

  • Loss Causation Ruling Departs From Usual Securities Cases

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    A California federal court recently dismissed Ramos v. Comerica, finding that the allegations failed to establish loss causation, but the reasoning is in tension with the pleading-stage approaches generally followed by both courts and economists in securities fraud litigation, say Jesse Jensen and Aasiya Glover at Bernstein Litowitz.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • Accidental Death Ruling Shows ERISA Review Standard's Pull

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    The Eleventh Circuit’s recent accidental death insurance ruling in Goldfarb v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance illustrates how an arbitrary and capricious standard of review in Employee Retirement Income Security Act denial-of-benefits cases creates a steep uphill battle for benefit claimants, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • 50 Years Later, ERISA Remains A Work In Progress

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    A look at the 50 years since the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s passage shows that while the law safeguards benefits through vesting rules, fiduciary responsibilities and anti-discrimination provisions, the act falls short in three key areas, says Carol Buckmann at Cohen & Buckmann.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • 1st Gender Care Ban Provides Context For High Court Case

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    The history of Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming medical care — the first such legislation in the U.S. — provides important insight into the far-reaching ramifications that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti next term will have on transgender healthcare, says Tyler Saenz at Baker Donelson.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • 2nd Circ. ERISA Ruling May Help Fight Unfair Arb. Clauses

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    The Second Circuit recently held that a plaintiff seeking planwide relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act cannot be compelled to individual arbitration, a decision that opens the door to new applications of the effective vindication doctrine to defeat onerous and one-sided arbitration clauses, say Raphael Janove and Liana Vitale at Janove.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

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