Benefits

  • January 23, 2025

    Yellow Corp. Says It Acted In Good Faith With WARN Notices

    Defunct trucking company Yellow Corp. told a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Thursday that its last delivery was made the day before it laid off 22,000 union workers, making it a "liquidating fiduciary" that would not be liable for inadequate mass-layoff notices under the WARN Act.

  • January 23, 2025

    Fla. Insurer Tries To Toss Suit Blaming It For Black Mold Death

    A Sunshine State insurer accused of wrongfully causing the death of a woman who died from black mold contamination after it didn't send a promised team to her home to fix hurricane damage has urged a Florida judge to dismiss the suit, calling it a bad-faith case in disguise trying to get around an already pending contract dispute.

  • January 23, 2025

    7th Circ. Says Ex-Manager's Noncompete Allowed Clawback

    The Seventh Circuit reopened an auto parts company's lawsuit seeking to recover proceeds a plant manager got from selling shares he was granted, saying Delaware's top court has made clear that a lower court shouldn't have analyzed whether the forfeiture-for-competition provisions of the stock agreements were reasonable.

  • January 23, 2025

    AT&T, Fidelity Beat Retiree's Suit Over Mistaken Benefits

    A retiree who claimed he was misled by AT&T and Fidelity into thinking he was owed more retirement benefits than he received cannot proceed with his suit, a Colorado federal judge ruled, stating that the snafu resulted in a miscommunication, not a violation of federal benefits law.

  • January 23, 2025

    UnitedHealthcare Settles Proton Beam Coverage Suit

    UnitedHealthcare has agreed to resolve a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully denied coverage of a proton beam cancer treatment after wrongly labeling it as experimental, the insurance company and plan participants told a Massachusetts federal court.

  • January 22, 2025

    Boeing Rips Investors' Class Cert Bid In 737 Max Blowout Suit

    Boeing told a Virginia federal judge that pension funds cannot reverse-engineer sweeping securities fraud claims based on last year's Alaska Airlines midair blowout incident, saying their bid to certify a class of investors who were purportedly misled by Boeing's assurances of the 737 Max jets' safety must be rejected.

  • January 22, 2025

    Justices Seem Willing To Reopen Cornell Workers' ERISA Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed inclined to revive a federal benefits lawsuit from Cornell University workers alleging their retirement plan was mismanaged and charged excessive fees, with several justices appearing open to arguments that the Second Circuit overreached when it shut down the case.

  • January 22, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Express Scripts Generics Dispute

    A Ninth Circuit panel won't renew a suit accusing Express Scripts of shortchanging a Seattle pharmacy on reimbursements for the generic version of HIV/AIDS drug Truvada, finding that only the name-brand prescription was listed in their contract as a "covered specialty medication" entitled to a higher payback rate.  

  • January 22, 2025

    Unum Unlawfully Cut Disability, Hughes Hubbard Worker Says

    Insurance company First Unum Life Insurance unlawfully halted a Hughes Hubbard and Reed LLP manager's long-term disability benefits and decided to solely follow in-house doctors' recommendations, a suit filed in New Jersey federal court claims.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Comply With Chicago's New Paid Leave Ordinance

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    Chicago's new Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance went into effect earlier this month, so employers subject to the new rules should update leave policies, train supervisors and deliver notice as they seek compliance, say Alison Crane and Sarah Gasperini at Jackson Lewis.

  • Dueling Calif. Rulings Offer Insight On 401(k) Forfeiture Suits

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    Two recent decisions from California federal courts regarding novel Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims around 401(k) forfeitures provide early tea leaves for companies that may face similar litigation, offering reasons for both optimism and concern over the future direction of the law, say Ashley Johnson and Jennafer Tryck at Gibson Dunn.

  • 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.

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