Benefits

  • December 05, 2024

    Quest Ex-Workers Ask 3rd Circ. To Revive 401(k) Suit

    Ex-workers for Quest Diagnostics Inc. urged the Third Circuit to revive their suit alleging mismanagement of their $5 billion 401(k) retirement plan, arguing a lower court shouldn't have handed Quest an early win on claims the company failed to properly monitor investment offerings.

  • December 05, 2024

    11th Circ. Won't Rethink $100M Credit For John Hancock

    The Eleventh Circuit won't reconsider its decision to let John Hancock Life Insurance Co. keep $100 million in foreign tax credits, leaving in place its October ruling against a Florida law firm retirement plan's trustees.

  • December 05, 2024

    IQVIA Gets Final OK For $3.5M Deal In Ex-Workers' 401(k) Suit

    A North Carolina federal judge on Thursday gave his final seal of approval to a $3.5 million settlement for a class of 9,000 employees who accused healthcare technology company IQVIA of mismanaging its $1.13 billion 401(k) plan.

  • December 04, 2024

    GAO Finds Limited Oversight, Data On Crypto In 401(k)s

    Though crypto assets make up a small part of the 401(k) market, their limited federal oversight might leave workers responsible for monitoring the volatile investment options, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

  • December 04, 2024

    Jackson's 'Quite Worried' About Equal Protection Precedent

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Republican-appointed justices' apparent willingness Wednesday to rule that a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors didn't rely on sex-based classifications worried Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who warned that such a decision would undermine decades of the court's equal protection clause precedent.

  • December 04, 2024

    Uber Investors' Attys Awarded $58M In $200M IPO Suit Deal

    A California federal judge granted final approval Wednesday to Uber's $200 million deal settling class claims from investors accusing it of making false and misleading statements ahead of its initial public offering, and also awarded $58 million for attorney fees that he called quite "substantial" but "warranted."

  • December 04, 2024

    Homeless Vets Tell 9th Circ. To Deny Parking Access To UCLA

    A class of homeless, disabled military veterans fought the Regents of the University of California's appeal of its rejected stay motion, arguing in the Ninth Circuit that the lower court made the right decision because the veterans urgently need supportive housing on a Los Angeles campus.

  • December 04, 2024

    Schnader Harrison Pension Deal Reached After Prior Setback

    A former Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP partner and the now-shuttered firm have reached a settlement in the attorney's proposed ERISA class action after the prospect for a deal had seemed to fizzle out, the parties told a Pennsylvania federal court Wednesday.

  • December 04, 2024

    Justices Seem To Back Ban On Transgender Youth Care

    The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority on Wednesday seemed poised to greenlight a Tennessee ban on minors receiving gender-affirming care, despite arguments from the court's liberal block that finding the law constitutional would fly in the face of the court's equal-protection precedents.

  • December 03, 2024

    Investor Attys Seek $6.6M Cut Of $20M Metal Price-Fixing Deal

    Attorneys for investors settling platinum and palladium price-fixing claims against Goldman Sachs and others for $20 million have asked a New York federal judge to award them fees equivalent to a third of the settlement amount, or more than $6.6 million, a below-lodestar request that they said is, "clearly, not a windfall situation."

  • December 03, 2024

    9th Circ. Ponders AIDS Generic Drug Reimbursement

    A Ninth Circuit panel heard arguments Tuesday on a Seattle pharmacy's dispute with a benefits manager over reimbursements for the generic version of the HIV/AIDS drug Truvada, with one judge asking if the pharmacy was stuck with a lopsided deal, but also questioning if the contract obligated the payments.

  • December 03, 2024

    NJ Appeals Court Axes Fire Union's Leave Arbitration Win

    A New Jersey appeals court scrapped an arbitration award favoring a firefighters union reached with the city of Newark over concerns that it cut vacation time from its firefighters terminal leave benefit calculations, after finding Tuesday the arbitrator didn't address the core issue of the dispute.

  • December 03, 2024

    Kimberly-Clark Strikes $2.25M Deal To End 401(k) Fee Suit

    Consumer goods company Kimberly-Clark Corp. has agreed to pay $2.25 million to resolve a proposed class action claiming it loaded its $4 billion 401(k) plan with excessive recordkeeping costs, workers leading the suit told a Texas federal court.

  • December 03, 2024

    Judge Suspects Citigroup 401(k) Suit May Unnerve Fiduciaries

    Allowing discovery in a proposed class action over allegedly imprudent investments in Citigroup Inc.'s employee 401(k) plan may signal to fiduciaries that their decisions are subject to judicial second-guessing, a Hartford federal judge observed Tuesday amid oral argument on the company's motion to dismiss.

  • December 03, 2024

    Feds Urge Justices To Revive Cornell Workers' ERISA Fight

    The federal government urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse dismissal of a proposed class action alleging Cornell University mismanaged employees' retirement plans, backing Cornell workers' argument that the Second Circuit misapplied the standard for pleading a prohibited transaction claim when it upheld an end to the case.

  • December 03, 2024

    GardaWorld Aims To Toss Tobacco, Vaccine Surcharge Suit

    Security company GardaWorld urged a North Carolina federal judge to toss a proposed class action claiming it discriminated against tobacco users and those who refused the COVID-19 vaccine by charging them a monthly fee in its health insurance plan, arguing that the fees comply with federal benefits law.

  • December 02, 2024

    Mich. Justices To Mull Immigrant Org.'s Workers' Comp Fight

    The Michigan Supreme Court said Monday it would review whether a one-year filing deadline bars an immigrant legal aid organization from forcing the state to stop denying workers' compensation benefits based on immigration status.

  • December 02, 2024

    Red Cross Says 401(k) Suit Lacks Proof Of Mismanagement

    The American National Red Cross urged a D.C. federal judge Monday to toss a suit claiming it hindered its retirement plan with steep fees and underperforming funds, arguing that the group of workers behind the proposed class action hasn't put forward proof of imprudent management.

  • December 02, 2024

    9th Circ. Partially Upholds Block Of Idaho Abortion Travel Ban

    A split Ninth Circuit panel on Monday upheld part of a lower court's temporary injunction to an Idaho law that criminalizes helping minors travel out of state to receive abortions without parental permission, finding the "recruiting" portion of the law is unconstitutional. 

  • December 02, 2024

    Citigroup Workers Say 2 Courts Back Their 401(k) Suit

    A proposed class of ex-workers for Citigroup Inc. urged a Connecticut federal court on Monday to reject their former employer's motion to dismiss a case alleging mismanagement of an employee 401(k) plan, arguing that two recent decisions in similar cases supported allowing the claims to proceed.

  • December 02, 2024

    Yellow Fights Teamsters' Call For 10th Circ. To Nix Claims

    The Tenth Circuit should not pay mind to arguments from the Teamsters about upholding a lower court's dismissal of Yellow Corp.'s $137 million suit against the union, the company is arguing, doubling down on its claims that it was not required to exhaust the grievance process under a contract.

  • December 02, 2024

    Worker's Case Threatens 'Sea Change,' Conn. Justices Hear

    If the Connecticut Supreme Court sides with a workers' compensation claimant who is challenging a benefits determination, it would "create a sea change" that makes claims "drastically more expensive," the state's mental health agency told the justices Monday.

  • December 02, 2024

    DOL Gets Partial Default Win In ERISA Suit Against Payroll Co.

    A Maryland federal court gave the U.S. Department of Labor a partial default win Monday in an enforcement case in which the DOL lodged 401(k) mismanagement claims against a defunct Baltimore payroll processing company and its owner, who was sentenced to prison in August for embezzlement and tax fraud.

  • December 02, 2024

    Chancery OKs $345M Fee Award For $55B Musk Pay Fight

    Delaware's chancellor approved a $345 million attorney fee award Monday in the case that scuttled Tesla CEO Elon Musk's 10-year, $55.6 billion compensation plan, rejecting the plaintiff's bid for $5.6 billion in freely tradable company shares and declining to reinstate Musk's proposed pay.

  • December 02, 2024

    Ex-Luxottica Worker's Pension Claims Must Be Heard In Court

    A New York federal judge agreed to revive in-court proceedings on a Luxottica ex-worker's claims in a federal benefits lawsuit that she made on behalf of her pension plan, but held firm on the court's earlier decision to compel individual arbitration of other claims.

Expert Analysis

  • What DOL Fiduciary Rule Means For Private Fund Managers

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    Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the U.S. Department of Labor's recently released final fiduciary rule, which revises the agency's 1975 regulation, could potentially cause private fund managers' current marketing practices and communications to be considered fiduciary advice, and therefore subject them to strict prohibitions.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • High Court's Abortion Pill Ruling Shuts Out Future Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine maintains the status quo for mifepristone access and rejects the plaintiffs' standing theories so thoroughly that future challenges from states or other plaintiffs are unlikely to be viable, say Jaime Santos and Annaka Nava at Goodwin.

  • Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation

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    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.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    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.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • 9th Circ. Clarifies ERISA Preemption For Healthcare Industry

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    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.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    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.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    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.

  • A Closer Look At Feds' Proposed Banker Compensation Rule

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    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.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    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.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    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.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    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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