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Benefits
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January 14, 2025
DXC Says Investor Suit Shows Integration Problems, Not Fraud
DXC Technology has asked a Virginia federal court to toss a shareholder suit alleging the information technology giant overhyped efforts to reduce restructuring and integration costs after acquiring several companies, arguing hindsight critiques from the current CEO do not establish securities fraud.
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January 14, 2025
Airline Workers' Attys Get $4.2M From ESOP Deal
A Delaware federal judge Tuesday awarded over $4.2 million in fees to class counsel in a suit over alleged mismanagement of the employee stock ownership plan at bankrupt cargo hauler Western Global Airlines that was settled in September for $14.5 million.
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January 14, 2025
FTC Issues Second Report On PBMs, Expanding Study Scope
The Federal Trade Commission released a second "interim" report on pharmacy benefit managers and their effects on specialty drug prices Tuesday, claiming that the companies have driven up prices well over acquisition costs and continue to squeeze independent pharmacies out of the market through low reimbursement rates.
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January 14, 2025
NFL Plan On Hook For Atty Fees Despite 5th Circ. Win
The NFL retirement plan must cover up to $1.86 million in attorney fees and expenses for a former running back who said the plan mishandled his disability benefits application, a Texas federal judge ruled, saying the Fifth Circuit's reversal of his bench trial win didn't discredit his exposure of the plan's systemic issues.
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January 14, 2025
Mass. AG Says Insulin Makers, Middlemen Colluded On Costs
Insulin makers Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk conspired with pharmacy benefit managers OptumRX, Express Scripts and CVS Caremark to jack up prices by as much as 1,000%, the Massachusetts attorney general alleged in a suit.
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January 14, 2025
Feds Ask 2 Years For Ex-Pol On Tax, Pandemic Aid Charges
A former Massachusetts state senator should spend two years in prison after being convicted of illegally obtaining unemployment assistance and filing a false tax return, the federal government argued, citing the "greed" at the heart of the politician's conduct.
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January 14, 2025
DOL Finalizes ERISA Voluntary Correction Program Changes
The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm has finalized changes to a program allowing retirement plan managers to voluntarily self-correct when they fail to forward employee contributions on time or make other transaction errors, according to a notice the agency posted online Tuesday.
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January 13, 2025
Justices Lean Toward Narrow Ruling In Retiree's ADA Fight
Several U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed wary Monday of issuing a sweeping decree in a disabled retiree's Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit, hinting at plans to issue a narrower decision tailored to the specifics of the case.
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January 13, 2025
IRS Eases Process Of Insurance Co. Alternate Tax Revocation
The Internal Revenue Service laid out a streamlined process Monday by which certain insurance companies that took an elective application of an alternative tax may obtain automatic consent to revoke that election.
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January 13, 2025
$13.4M Suit Against Insurer For Conn. Death Verdict Paused
A Connecticut state court judge has rejected Hanover Insurance Co.'s bid to dismiss a mother's lawsuit seeking to partially enforce a $13.4 million trial judgment over her son's death in a group home, but agreed to pause the matter while the group home appeals the verdict.
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January 13, 2025
Bechtel Escapes 401(k) Suit Alleging Shoddy Default Fund
A Virginia federal judge dismissed a retiree's suit claiming Bechtel Global Corp. tapped a pricey and underperforming fund for its retirement plan's default investment option, tossing the suit a second time for failing to show that a comparable fund was a better option.
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January 13, 2025
Feds Say NC Medical Biz Owner Overbilled For Nutrient Drinks
A North Carolina businessman who ran a durable medical equipment business under multiple names overbilled the state's Medicaid program $1.85 million for special enteral nutritional formulas used to treat inherited metabolic disorders when he was actually just providing people common nutritional shakes like Ensure, the federal government said.
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January 13, 2025
Justices Won't Hear Auto Parts Co.'s ERISA Arbitration Push
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review the Sixth Circuit's refusal to force arbitration of a suit accusing an auto parts company of packing its employee retirement plan with subpar investment options.
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January 10, 2025
Up Next At High Court: Porn ID Check & Retiree Discrimination
The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for a full argument session, in which the justices will debate whether a Texas law requiring pornography websites to verify their visitors aren't minors violates the First Amendment and if retirees have the right to sue former employers for benefits discrimination.
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January 10, 2025
X Fights Finding Severance Row Contract Claims Can Survive
X Corp. and Elon Musk squared off with ex-Twitter workers in Delaware federal court, filing dueling briefs that took opposing stances over whether a district judge should adopt a recommendation to keep alive some breach-of-contract allegations in the workers' proposed class action claiming they were cheated out of severance benefits.
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January 10, 2025
Health Co. Wants To Quit Nicotine Surcharge Suit
Nonprofit health system Advocate Aurora Health is urging an Illinois federal judge to permanently toss former employees' lawsuit targeting an allegedly illegal tobacco-use surcharge in its health plan, arguing that after three tries they still have failed to bring a viable claim.
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January 10, 2025
9th Circ. Affirms Hearing Aid Co.'s Win Over Investor Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Friday handed a win to Eargo Inc. and affirmed the dismissal of a securities class action against the hearing aid company, which alleged that the company and its top brass acted with intent to commit insurance billing fraud.
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January 10, 2025
Justices To Review ACA Preventive Care Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to review a Fifth Circuit decision finding a task force setting coverage requirements on preventive care was unconstitutional, setting up a high-stakes battle over the Affordable Care Act that could affect individuals' insurance coverage for things like colon and breast cancer screenings.
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January 10, 2025
American Airlines Faulted For ESG Focus In 401(k) Plan
A Texas federal judge ruled Friday that American Airlines violated federal benefits law by emphasizing environmental, social and governance factors in its 401(k) plan decisions, but he put off deciding whether the retirees suffered losses and what remedy they should receive.
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January 10, 2025
Ex-Twitter Exec Can't Snag Docs In Bonus Suit
A former senior director of compensation for X Corp., previously known as Twitter, won't be able to recover communications from Twitter management or financial records in his suit alleging unpaid bonuses after Elon Musk took over the company, a California federal magistrate judge ruled.
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January 10, 2025
IRS Proposes Rules For Roth Catch-Up Contributions
The Internal Revenue Service floated rules Friday for catch-up contributions made possible by the 2022 retirement law known as Secure 2.0, including the requirement that contributions made by certain participants be designated Roth contributions.
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January 10, 2025
Holland & Knight Balks At 'Tactical' DQ Bid In Benefits Fight
Holland & Knight LLP urged a Georgia federal court to reject a "purely tactical move" seeking to disqualify the law firm from representing doctors accusing its former client, Polaris Spine and Neurosurgery PC, of botching the distribution of their retirement benefits, arguing its prior representation of Polaris isn't related to the suit.
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January 10, 2025
Cruise Contractors Drop $2.8M Union Fund Debt Row
Two cruise ship contractors and a union pension fund have wrapped up their dispute over the contractors' $2.8 million debt to fund, indicating to a Louisiana federal judge Friday that they've settled the last outstanding issue in the case and are ready for the litigation to be dismissed.
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January 10, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Davis Polk, Wachtell
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Constellation acquires Calpine, Cintas seeks a deal with UniFirst Corp., Stryker Corp. acquires Inari Medical Inc., and Paychex Inc. buys Paycor.
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January 10, 2025
X Asks 9th Circ. To Back Dismissal Of $500M Severance Suit
Social platform X urged the Ninth Circuit to uphold the dismissal of a suit claiming it owes workers $500 million in severance after Elon Musk bought the business and conducted mass layoffs, arguing the lower court correctly found that the ex-employees couldn't sue under federal benefits law.
Expert Analysis
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Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation
Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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9th Circ. Clarifies ERISA Preemption For Healthcare Industry
The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Bristol SL Holdings v. Cigna notably clarifies the broad scope of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's preemption of certain state law causes of action, standing to benefit payors and health plan administrators, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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A Closer Look At Feds' Proposed Banker Compensation Rule
A recently proposed rule to limit financial institutions' ability to award incentive-based compensation for risk-taking may progress through the rulemaking process slowly due to the sheer number of regulators collaborating on the rule and the number of issues under consideration, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.