Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Benefits
-
August 02, 2024
Ex-CFO Of Embattled PE Firm Sues In Del. For Legal Fees
The former chief financial officer of 777 Partners LLC has sued the private equity firm in Delaware's Court of Chancery, seeking advancement of his legal fees in connection with a fraud investigation and at least 20 civil lawsuits related to the company's business.
-
August 02, 2024
4th Circ. Says Upcoming 50th Birthday Didn't Affect Benefits
An administrative law judge was right to find a worker who suffers from a series of mental health issues isn't owed Social Security disability benefits, the Fourth Circuit said, agreeing that the worker's upcoming 50th birthday didn't strengthen her claim.
-
August 01, 2024
NJ Transit On Hook For $11.6M Injury Verdict, 2nd Circ. Says
The Second Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a jury's $11.6 million verdict accusing New Jersey Transit of negligently ordering a train engineer to continue operating in an overheated cab that caused him to suffer career-ending injuries, saying the state-owned company had a duty to maintain the cab's air conditioning system.
-
August 01, 2024
Employers Urge Justices Take Up Withdrawal Liability Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court must resolve a circuit split over how to calculate the bills sent to companies that leave union pension plans, a group of employers has argued, fighting an argument by the trustees of an International Association of Machinists pension fund that the split is "tolerable."
-
August 01, 2024
Pa. Workers' OT Claims Over Pensions Stand, Judge Says
Federal labor law doesn't preempt some claims from unionized hospital workers in Pennsylvania over incorrect overtime pay, a federal judge determined, saying interpretation of a labor contract laying out the calculation of wage rates and pension contributions isn't necessary to resolve those allegations.
-
August 01, 2024
House Workforce Chair Wants Mental Health Parity Regs Axed
The Republican chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee told the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday it should not finalize regulations that aim to encourage employer compliance with a law requiring equitable mental health and substance use disorder treatments coverage, stating the rule burdens businesses.
-
August 01, 2024
Chancery Denies Ex-InterMune CEO $6M Legal Fee Right
Delaware's Chancery Court rejected on Thursday a bid by former InterMune CEO W. Scott Harkonen to escape demands to repay nearly $6 million in legal fees covered by biotech venture InterMune Inc. and insurers during his unsuccessful defense against a 2009 wire fraud conviction, denying all claims for legal fee indemnification.
-
August 01, 2024
GE Retirees Reach Deal To Resolve Pension Benefits Dispute
General Electric retirees announced Thursday they'd struck a deal with their former employer to resolve claims that GE improperly used a company spinoff to renounce responsibility for supplemental pension benefits reserved for senior executives, the plaintiff-side firm that represented the retirees said.
-
July 31, 2024
Wells Fargo Let Workers' Prescription Costs Soar, Suit Says
A group of former Wells Fargo employees have accused the banking giant of mismanaging its prescription drug benefits program, costing its Employee Retirement Income Security Act plan and employees millions of dollars in premiums and medication costs, according to a proposed class action in Minnesota federal court.
-
July 31, 2024
Gov't Fights Doctor's Bid For New Trial In NBA Fraud Case
Federal prosecutors are urging a New York district judge to reject a request for a retrial from a Seattle doctor found guilty for his role in a vast NBA fraudulent healthcare scheme, arguing that it properly admitted its evidence at trial, and it was more than enough to support the guilty verdict.
-
July 31, 2024
Black Worker Says PBGC Didn't Promote Him Due To His Race
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. passed over a Black worker for a senior director role in favor of a less qualified white woman and retaliated against him for a previously filed race discrimination complaint, a lawsuit filed in D.C. federal court said.
-
July 31, 2024
Honesty Worries Justify Gas Co. Worker Firing, 4th Circ. Says
The Fourth Circuit upheld a Baltimore gas company's win over a former mechanic's lawsuit alleging he was unlawfully terminated for taking medical leave because of a diabetes-related condition, ruling Wednesday that suspicions of dishonesty provided a credible reason for letting him go.
-
July 31, 2024
Saul Ewing Adds 2 Employee Benefits Attys On East Coast
Saul Ewing LLP announced Wednesday that it has grown its employee benefits and executive compensation practice on the East Coast with two attorneys, one from Ivins Phillips & Barker and another from Hogan Lovells.
-
July 31, 2024
Southern Co. Beats Retirees' Suit Over Mortality Data
Federal benefits law doesn't mandate specific actuarial assumptions in the calculation of pension payments, a Georgia federal judge ruled as he tossed a proposed class action alleging that a Southern Co. subsidiary's use of decades-old mortality tables shorted retirees by thousands of dollars.
-
July 31, 2024
Guatemalan Worker Says Paint Co. Fired Him For Injury
A Guatemalan worker in the U.S. on a work visa is suing a Connecticut painting company in state court, saying it violated employment laws by failing to pay him his promised salary and firing him after a workplace injury prevented him from being able to do his job.
-
July 31, 2024
Firms Must Justify $1.4M Fee Bid In State Street Settlement
A Massachusetts federal judge who oversaw a yearslong attorney overbilling scandal and slashed a fee bid in another case over alleged false and misleading statements ordered a pair of firms to tell him why they should get one-third of a $4.3 million settlement with State Street Corp.
-
July 30, 2024
Fla. Insurance Co. Accused Of Causing Black Mold Death
A Florida insurance company was accused of wrongfully causing the death of a woman who died from black mold contamination in a state complaint brought by her sole descendant, who alleges the insurer didn't send a promised team to remediate the woman's home after it was damaged by Hurricane Ian.
-
July 30, 2024
Atty Teams Wrestle In Chancery Over WWE Merger Suit Pick
Two legal tag teams have pitched competing bids to lead a Delaware Court of Chancery suit aimed at World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and its $21.4 million merger with Ultimate Fighting Championship, with one stressing the depth of its complaint and the other, in part, stressing depth of experience in pressing sexual misconduct claims.
-
July 30, 2024
Florida Residents Urge 11th Circ. Keep Block On Gender Law
Transgender adults and children in Florida on Monday urged the Eleventh Circuit to reject the state's attempt to enforce a law restricting gender-affirming treatment for transgender minors and adults while the case is on appeal.
-
July 30, 2024
Utility Co. Denied Injunction In Row Over Apprentice Workers
A Michigan federal judge has denied a utility construction and maintenance company's bid for an injunction against a joint labor-management committee supervising apprentice line workers in the company's antitrust suit, finding that the company is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its claim.
-
July 30, 2024
PBMs Urge Justices To Reject Review Of Okla. Law Dispute
An industry trade group representing pharmacy benefits managers urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to disturb its Tenth Circuit victory, which held that an Oklahoma statute regulating PBMs ran afoul of preemption provisions in both the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Medicare Part D.
-
July 30, 2024
Fed. Circ. Backs Ga. ALJ's Firing For 'Unbecoming' Conduct
The Federal Circuit has upheld the removal of a Georgia administrative law judge over a pattern of "deficiencies" uncovered in his rulings, insubordination, and a workplace tirade in which he reportedly told a supervisor she was "worse than a Nazi," the court said Tuesday.
-
July 30, 2024
9th Circ. Revives Union Carpenters' Retirement Fight
The Ninth Circuit revived a suit by carpenters alleging union pension trustees broke federal benefits law by investing retirement plan assets in dicey index funds that lost over $250 million in the 2020 market downturn, finding Tuesday that the workers' mismanagement claims should proceed to discovery.
-
July 30, 2024
Financial Co. To Pay $20M To Resolve DOL Embezzlement Suit
A financial planner agreed to pay $20 million to 17 retirement plans it manages to resolve a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Labor accusing it of improperly shuffling money between accounts and embezzling at least $5 million in plan assets, a filing in Pennsylvania federal court said.
-
July 29, 2024
9th Circ. Axes Limit On DOL Denying Calif. Agencies Grants
The U.S. Department of Labor can shut California transit agencies out of a federal grant because of a conflict between a state pension law and a federal transit law, with the Ninth Circuit lifting a ban Monday on the agency denying grant applications because of that conflict.
Expert Analysis
-
How American Airlines ESG Case Could Alter ERISA Liability
Spence v. American Airlines, a Texas federal case over the airline's selection of multiple investment funds in its retirement plan, threatens to upend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's legal framework for fiduciary liability in the name of curtailing environmental, social and governance-related activities, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
-
Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
-
Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
-
Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
-
Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
-
Opinion
5th Circ. NFL Disability Ruling Turns ERISA On Its Head
The Fifth Circuit's March 15 ruling in Cloud v. NFL Player Retirement Plan upheld the plan's finding that an NFL player was not entitled to reclassification because he couldn't show changed circumstances, which is contrary to the goal of accurate Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims processing, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
-
Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
-
Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
-
Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
-
The Future Of ERISA If High Court Ends Chevron Deference
The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decisions in two cases involving fishing company challenges to regulatory requirements could weaken or repeal Chevron deference, meaning U.S. Department of Labor regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act may be heavily scrutinized, modified or vacated by federal courts, say Naina Kamath and Julie Stapel at Morgan Lewis.
-
What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
-
Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
-
Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
-
Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
-
Employers, Prep For Shorter Stock Awards Settlement Cycle
Companies that provide equity compensation in the form of publicly traded stock will soon have one less day to complete such transactions under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq rules — so employers should implement expedited equity compensation stock settlement and payroll tax deposit procedures now, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.