Benefits

  • March 19, 2025

    Plumbing Co. Workers Nab Class Status In ESOP Suit

    Participants in a plumbing subcontractor's defunct employee stock ownership plan can proceed as a class in their lawsuit claiming the plan overpaid for company shares and later sold them at a deflated price, a California federal judge ruled, saying the workers leading the suit are adequate representatives.

  • March 19, 2025

    7th Circ. Orders Tax Court To Clarify ESOP Suit Dismissal

    The Seventh Circuit axed the U.S. Tax Court's dismissal of a transit company's suit over an employee stock ownership plan, saying the lower court must specify that it lacked the authority to review the case because it was filed before the IRS completed an exam.

  • March 19, 2025

    Ohio Opioid Judge Says Texas Court Should Hear Appeal Bid

    An Ohio federal judge overseeing multidistrict opioid litigation denied Albertsons Cos.' request to appeal its summary judgment loss in the bellwether case brought by a Texas county, saying Wednesday that since pretrial proceedings are now done, the appeal should head to the appellate court for the Lone Star State.

  • March 19, 2025

    Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2025 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards.

  • March 19, 2025

    University Didn't Pay Wages, Benefits, Faculty Members Say

    The now-defunct Union Institute & University cheated 35 faculty members out of wages, and misappropriated and lied about their health insurance benefits, the employees said in a lawsuit filed in Ohio federal court.

  • March 19, 2025

    Ex-Worker Says Honeywell Must Face Retooled 401(k) Suit

    A former Honeywell International Inc. worker urged a New Jersey federal judge to reject the aerospace and manufacturing company's bid to toss his amended proposed class claims targeting how the company used forfeited 401(k) funds, arguing that he plausibly pled his allegations.

  • March 19, 2025

    Conn. Justices Say ALJs Can Clearly Award Disability Benefits

    Reversing a lower court, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that state law plainly empowers administrative law judges to award ongoing temporary disability benefits in workers' compensation cases, such as one brought by a hospital worker whose wrist was damaged restraining a patient.

  • March 18, 2025

    Trading Giant Virtu Must Face Suit Over Confidentiality Issues

    A New York federal judge has trimmed a consolidated class action accusing trading giant Virtu Financial Inc. of misleading investors on issues around access to confidential customer trading information, finding that one category of statements in the complaint is not actionable but otherwise allowing the suit to proceed.

  • March 18, 2025

    United Can't Shred Cheese Co.'s Fraud Suit, Judge Says

    United Healthcare must face a cheese manufacturer's lawsuit claiming the insurer failed to prevent $2.3 million in fraudulent claims from being paid by the dairy company's self-funded employee health plan, a Colorado federal judge ruled, saying United misinterpreted the allegations in its bid to escape the case.

  • March 18, 2025

    Ohio Appeals Court Blocks Trans Care Restrictions

    An Ohio state appeals court on Tuesday ruled that a portion of a state law restricting gender-affirming care for transgender youth was unconstitutional, overturning a county court judge's decision siding with the state. 

  • March 18, 2025

    Elevance Inks $3.3M Deal To End Surgery Claim Denial Suit

    Elevance has agreed to pay $3.3 million to close a suit claiming it denied coverage for a spinal surgery through employee health plans after incorrectly deeming the procedure medically unnecessary, according to a Kentucky federal court filing.

  • March 18, 2025

    BlackRock Calls Red States' Suit Over Coal Prices 'Farfetched'

    BlackRock Inc. and two other large asset managers have urged a Texas federal judge to toss claims brought by a coalition of Republican-led states alleging the firms ran a scheme to drive up coal prices as part of an "investment cartel," saying the case "spins a farfetched theory."

  • March 18, 2025

    Judge Probes Atty Conflict In Vanguard $40M Settlement

    A Pennsylvania federal judge questioned whether attorneys representing investors suing Vanguard over surprise tax bills have a conflict of interest in pushing for a $40 million settlement, adding to concerns about a parallel regulatory settlement that has delayed approval of the deal.

  • March 18, 2025

    Maynard Nexsen Adds 5 Constangy Employment Attys In LA

    Maynard Nexsen PC has brought a 5-lawyer team from labor and employment firm Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP to its Los Angeles office, bringing on a team that is experienced in management-side employment law and can converse in six languages.

  • March 17, 2025

    Meta Facing Investor Suit Over €1.2B EU Data Privacy Fine

    A pair of pension funds on Monday filed suit against Meta Platforms Inc. in Delaware's Court of Chancery, accusing the company of repeatedly violating data privacy laws, a pattern that the funds say led to the company being fined €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) by European authorities.

  • March 17, 2025

    Singaporean Tech Co. Inks $46M Investor Settlement

    Singaporean tech conglomerate Sea Ltd. has reached a $46 million settlement to end a putative securities class action over investor statements that allegedly downplayed massive losses to its video game and e-commerce divisions, according to a filing in Arizona federal court.

  • March 17, 2025

    Amazon Beats Investor Suit Over Third-Party Seller Practices

    A Washington federal judge on Monday tossed a consolidated proposed securities class action claiming Amazon and its top brass duped investors about the company's fulfillment capacity and third-party seller practices, finding the lawsuit doesn't sufficiently allege the executives were deliberately reckless or motivated to deceive shareholders.

  • March 17, 2025

    VA To End Medical Care For Gender Dysphoria

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will stop offering medical treatments for gender dysphoria in order to comply with an executive order by President Donald Trump, the agency announced Monday.

  • March 17, 2025

    4 Suits Benefits Attys Should Watch As ESG Pressures Persist

    A New York City pension fund recently escaped a proposed class action challenging its decision to divest nearly $4 billion in fossil fuel stocks, but experts say potential liability related to environmental, social and governance investment factors in retirement plan investment decisions is on the rise. Here are four suits involving challenges to employee retirement plan investing and ESG that attorneys say they're watching after New York City escaped a suit from its workers.

  • March 17, 2025

    Full 7th Circ. Won't Revive Suit Over Late Medicaid Payments

    The full Seventh Circuit has answered the "enormous question" of whether a Chicago hospital can sue the state of Illinois to force the managed-care organizations it contracts with to make timely Medicaid payments, concluding the hospital doesn't have a federal right to prompt payments for fear of turning federal trial courts into "de facto Medicaid claims processors."

  • March 17, 2025

    Split 9th Circ. Won't Halt Federal Workers Reinstatement Order

    A divided Ninth Circuit panel on Monday denied President Donald Trump's administration an immediate administrative stay of a California district court order requiring reinstatement of some probationary federal workers fired from six agencies, the majority saying a pause "would disrupt the status quo and turn it on its head."

  • March 17, 2025

    X Corp. Says Dismissal, Sanctions Go Together In Bonus Suit

    A former X Corp. senior director of compensation engaged in "vexatious conduct" that should not allow him to drop his suit claiming unpaid bonuses without sanctions, the social media platform told a California federal judge.

  • March 17, 2025

    Vituity Inks $8.75M Deal To End 401(k) Excessive Fee Suit

    Healthcare management company Vituity has agreed to pay $8.75 million to resolve a proposed class action alleging it excessively charged workers $600 in annual retirement plan management fees in violation of federal benefits law, according to a California federal court filing.

  • March 17, 2025

    American Airlines Pension Data Suit Transferred To Texas

    American Airlines can ship to Texas a proposed class action alleging the company used outdated statistics to calculate retirees' pension payments, an Illinois federal judge ruled, finding the worker leading the case was one of the only things tying the suit to Illinois.

  • March 17, 2025

    Houston Midwife Arrested In Texas' 1st Criminal Abortion Case

    A Houston-area midwife has been arrested after an investigation by the Texas attorney general's office for allegedly providing illegal abortions, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday, the first such criminal charges brought since the state issued its near-total abortion ban.

Expert Analysis

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Nvidia Case's Potential Impact On Securities Class Actions

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    In Nvidia v. Ohman Fonder, the U.S. Supreme Court could strip lower courts of their long-standing ability and obligation to holistically weigh all relevant facts supporting plaintiffs' allegations of securities fraud, which would have a wide-ranging impact on securities fraud class actions in the U.S., say attorneys at Labaton Keller.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Short-Seller Implications Of 10th Circ.'s Overstock Decision

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    The Tenth Circuit's Oct. 15 decision in Overstock Securities Litigation provides clarity on the pleading standard for a market manipulation claim under the Exchange Act, and suggests that short sellers might not be able to rely on the fraud-on-the-market presumption typically invoked by securities plaintiffs, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Employer Lessons From Mass. 'Bonus Not Wages' Ruling

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    In Nunez v. Syncsort, a Massachusetts state appeals court recently held that a terminated employee’s retention bonus did not count as wages under the state’s Wage Act, illustrating the nuanced ways “wages” are defined by state statutes and courts, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Tobacco Surcharge Suits Spotlight Wellness Reg Compliance

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    A mounting wave of tobacco-user surcharge litigation against employee benefit plans highlights compliance challenges associated with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act wellness regulations, and reminds plan sponsors to ask existential questions about the utility of their wellness programs, say Finn Pressly and Lesley Wolf at Ballard Spahr.

  • What To Know About New Employment Laws In Fla.

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    Florida employers should familiarize themselves with recent state laws, and also federal legislation, on retirement benefits, teen labor and heat exposure, with special attention to prohibitions against minors performing dangerous tasks, as outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act, say Katie Molloy and Cayla Page at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • How Project 2025 Could Upend Federal ESG Policies

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    If implemented, Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's policy playbook for a Republican presidential administration, would likely seek to deploy antitrust law to target ESG initiatives, limit pension fund managers' focus to pecuniary factors and spell doom for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate rule, say attorneys at Mintz.

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