Benefits

  • January 27, 2026

    Divisions Emerge At 2nd Circ. Over Reproductive Rights Law

    A Second Circuit panel appeared split Tuesday on whether an anti-abortion group challenging a New York state law that bars employers from penalizing workers based on their reproductive health decisions has standing to challenge the law as unconstitutional.

  • January 27, 2026

    11th Circ. Scrutinizes Royal Caribbean's Defeat Of 401(k) Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit zeroed in Tuesday on whether a lower court had enough evidence to hand Royal Caribbean a pretrial win in a suit brought by cruise ship workers who alleged they lost 401(k) savings because of shoddy target-date investment funds.

  • January 27, 2026

    Troubled Apt. Co-Op Seeks $6M State Loan To Clear Liens

    The receiver overseeing the finances of the 924-unit Success Village Apartments has asked a Connecticut court to allow it to borrow $6 million from the state Department of Housing, which the agency has already approved, "to eliminate the many tax and utility liens" on the property.

  • January 26, 2026

    Whole Foods $2M ERISA Deal OK'd, Class Counsel Get $666K

    A Texas federal judge signed off on a $2 million settlement between Austin-based Whole Foods and its employees, resolving a class action in which the company was accused of mismanaging employee 401(k) accounts by failing to negotiate for lower administrative fees.

  • January 26, 2026

    Medtronic Investors Ask 8th Circ. To Revive Insulin Pump Suit

    Investors have asked the Eighth Circuit to revive a securities class action against medical device manufacturer Medtronic, arguing that a Minnesota federal court wrongly dismissed the case in October for failure to state a claim.

  • January 26, 2026

    Generics Makers Fight Cert. In Cholesterol Drug Pricing MDL

    Generic-drug makers sought to defeat a bid to certify proposed classes comprising thousands of pharmacies that indirectly purchased and resold generics at the center of sprawling price-fixing litigation, telling a Pennsylvania federal court Monday that certification would result in an "unmanageable trial."

  • January 26, 2026

    Anthem Seeks Dismissal Of 'Ghost Network' Class Action

    A proposed class action's allegations that Anthem Health Plans maintains inaccurate mental health directories known as ghost provider networks aren't true and are "legally deficient," the insurer and its parent company, Elevance Health Inc., argued while urging a Connecticut federal court to toss the suit.

  • January 26, 2026

    11th Circ. Backs MetLife's Death Benefits Denial

    The Eleventh Circuit on Monday upheld MetLife's denial of accidental death benefits to a federal government worker who died days after she broke her leg and ankle exiting a vehicle, finding the insurer's exercise of an exclusion for contributing underlying physical illnesses wasn't arbitrary or capricious.

  • January 26, 2026

    Bankrupt Biz Can't Avoid Pension Obligations, 4th Circ. Says

    A defunct construction business owes the International Painters and Allied Trades Industry Pension Fund about $1.6 million, a Fourth Circuit panel said Monday, affirming a lower court's decision that the fund's lawsuit seeking payment was filed on time.

  • January 26, 2026

    Duke Gets Final Approval For $2.35M Mortality Data Deal

    A North Carolina federal judge on Monday gave her final seal of approval to a $2.35 million settlement ending claims that Duke University shorted former employees by millions of dollars by using decades-old mortality tables to calculate retirement benefits.

  • January 26, 2026

    Pool Equipment Co. Reaches $20M Deal To End Investor Suit

    Pool equipment maker Hayward Holdings Inc. has reached a nearly $20 million deal with its investors to settle claims that it failed to properly disclose its struggles with ballooning inventory and lowered demand.

  • January 26, 2026

    4th Circ. Preview: NCAA Eligibility And E-Cigarette Law

    Notwithstanding the winter storm that slammed several states over the weekend, litigators will clash at the Fourth Circuit this week on whether NCAA eligibility rules violate antitrust law, or federal law preempts North Carolina's ability to regulate e-cigarette sales.

  • January 26, 2026

    DOL Asks 3rd Circ. To Back Siemens' 401(k) Forfeiture Suit Exit

    The U.S. Labor Department supported Siemens Corp.'s request that the Third Circuit affirm the dismissal of a proposed class action alleging the technology company's use of millions in forfeited 401(k) funds violated federal benefits law, agreeing with a lower federal court that the allegations reached beyond ERISA's scope.

  • January 26, 2026

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    The Delaware Chancery Court wrapped up the week with a slate of high-stakes deal challenges, governance rulings and oversight decisions, including an emergency bid to block a $10.9 billion bank merger, a state Supreme Court reversal reshaping stockholder agreement litigation and a major opinion allowing sexual misconduct oversight claims to proceed.

  • January 26, 2026

    High Court Won't Review Social Security Judge's Removal

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a Federal Circuit decision upholding the removal of a Georgia-based Social Security judge who was accused of on-the-job misconduct and shoddy work.

  • January 23, 2026

    $200M Sun, Taro Generics Deal Gets Final OK

    A Pennsylvania federal judge granted final approval Friday for a $200 million deal resolving employee benefits plans' claims against Sun Pharmaceutical and Taro Pharmaceuticals in the sprawling price-fixing litigation against generic-drug makers, while again ensuring the claims from dozens of state attorneys general remain untouched by the settlement.

  • January 23, 2026

    Intel Case Sets Up Justices To Tackle 401(k) Benchmarks

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to take up a suit challenging target-date fund offerings in two Intel employee 401(k) plans gives benefits attorneys hope that clarity is coming on whether meaningful benchmarks are required to plead that investment underperformance breached fiduciary duties under federal benefits law.

  • January 23, 2026

    3rd Circ. Preview: Citizens Bank, Quest Fight Appeals In Jan.

    The Third Circuit's January lineup will find Citizens Bank and Quest Diagnostics attempting to fight off bids from former employees to revive suits over their compensation.

  • January 23, 2026

    Schnader Harrison Gets Final OK To Settle ERISA Claims

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has given final approval to a $675,000 settlement of claims that former Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP allegedly spent money meant for attorneys' retirement accounts to stay afloat, and awarded one-third of that amount to The Barton Firm LLP and The Garner Firm Ltd.

  • January 23, 2026

    7th Circ. OKs Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund Bias Suit Win

    The Seventh Circuit on Wednesday affirmed the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund's win in a former accountant's lawsuit claiming he was fired because he is a Black man in his 60s, holding that the lower court didn't err in finding that poor job performance led to his termination.

  • January 23, 2026

    Tech Co.'s $750K 401(k) Suit Deal Gets Final OK

    A customer experience tech company will pay $750,000 to end a proposed class action alleging it failed to negotiate lower fees for its workers' 401(k) plan, according to a Colorado federal judge's order approving a settlement.

  • January 22, 2026

    6th Circ. Revives Law Firm Worker's Anthem Coverage Fight

    Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield's decision denying coverage for a law firm employee's son to continue receiving residential mental health treatment was arbitrary and capricious, the Sixth Circuit ruled Thursday, saying the insurer needs to carry out a "full and fair review of the requested coverage."

  • January 22, 2026

    New Securities Class Actions Declined In 2025, Report Says

    New securities class action filings fell overall last year, along with aggregate settlement values and attorney fees, but the emergence of tariff-related suits could present a new trend in filings in response to actions taken by the U.S. government, according to a recent National Economic Research Associates Inc. report.

  • January 22, 2026

    Colo. Hospital Faces Suit Over Halt To Gender-Affirming Care

    Patients of Children's Hospital Colorado filed a proposed class action in Colorado state court alleging the healthcare provider is discriminating against them through its suspension of gender-affirming medical care for patients under the age of 18 amid recent federal government mandates.

  • January 22, 2026

    UK Trading Co. Escapes £1.5M In Penalties For Tax Scheme

    HM Revenue & Customs lacked sufficient evidence to justify more than £1.5 million ($2 million) in penalties on a securities trading company for careless and deliberate inaccuracies on its returns linked to a tax avoidance scheme involving an employee benefit trust, the Upper Tribunal ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • 2nd Circ. Peloton Ruling Emphasizes Disclosure Context

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision to revive shareholders’ suit alleging that Peloton made materially misleading statements makes clear that public companies must continually review risk disclosures to determine if previous hypotheticals have materialized, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • Steps For Healthcare Providers After Cigna ERISA Settlement

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    Following the Cigna class action's settlement, where Employee Retirement Income Security Act violations arose from Cigna's online provider directory advertising providers as in-network who were actually out-of-network, providers should routinely audit their contract status and directory listings, and proactively coordinate with plans and payor partners, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • What's At Stake In High Court Pension Liability Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in M&K Employee Solutions v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund will determine how an employer’s liability for withdrawing from a multiemployer retirement plan is calculated — a narrow but key issue for employer financial planning and collective bargaining, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

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