Feature

4 Argument Sessions For Benefits Attys To Watch In Nov.

By Kellie Mejdrich

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will defend its win in a 401(k) forfeiture suit at the Ninth Circuit, Aetna will ask the Second Circuit to push a multiemployer health plan's suit into arbitration, and the Tenth Circuit hears from pharmacy benefit managers who want an opioid nuisance battle moved to federal court. Here, Law360 looks at four arguments that benefits attorneys may want to keep an eye on in November.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Nationwide Agrees To $12.9M Deal Over 401(k) Fund Fees

By Bonnie Eslinger

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. has agreed to pay an 83,000-member class $12.9 million to end claims the company mismanaged an employee 401(k) plan, ending six years of litigation less than two weeks before trial.

Settlement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

$19M Pact Brings Recovery In Teachers' Pension Suit To $35M

By Grace Elletson

Investment companies Aon and Aksia have agreed to pay $19.3 million in a suit claiming they helped cause a multibillion-dollar shortfall in Pennsylvania's Public School Employees Retirement System, according to a federal court filing.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mass. Justices Doubt Nantucket's Rationale For PFML Denial

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court appeared to push back Wednesday on assertions by Nantucket that it cannot implement the state's Paid Family and Medical Leave Act for employees of the island enclave, despite a town meeting vote, because some of its unions have not agreed to bargain over the cost.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-NCR Execs' Attys Get $16M As $48M Deal Finalized

By Patrick Hoff

A Georgia federal judge on Wednesday awarded nearly $16 million in attorney fees and granted final approval to a $48 million settlement that ends a decade-old class action alleging NCR Corp. broke its promise to send former executives annuity payments for life after retirement.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Turner Sports, Ex-HR Director Reach Deal In Severance Suit

By David Aaro

A one-time Warner Bros. subsidiary has struck a deal to end a race bias suit from a former human resources director who claimed she was denied severance benefits after she quit following Discovery Inc. and WarnerMedia's 2022 merger, according to a Georgia federal court filing.

Settlement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Meta Share Plan Fight Gets January Injunction Hearing

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court ruled Wednesday that stockholders challenging Meta Platforms Inc.'s plan to create nonvoting shares will get a preliminary injunction hearing in early January, rejecting the company's push for a full trial before the transaction takes effect Jan. 19, 2027.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. Co. Accused Of Misusing $400K Loan For HHS Deal

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado public benefit corporation breached a loan agreement by failing to use the $400,000 loan for its intended purpose and instead diverting the loan to settle a nearly $600,000 civil penalty with a federal government agency, according to a lender's lawsuit in Colorado state court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

What Axing ERISA Exhaustion Rule Means For Plan Sponsors

The Eleventh Circuit’s recent reversal of a 40-year precedent requiring plaintiffs to exhaust administrative remedies before filing statutory Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims eliminates a common threshold defense in fiduciary breach suits, making it important for plan sponsors to reassess their internal review and litigation strategies, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Opinion

The Invisible AI Danger That May Undermine Legal Profession

A public database tracking cases involving hallucinations generated by artificial intelligence recently surpassed 2,200 entries, but the bigger risk underlying attorneys’ use of such tools is that they will slowly surrender their judgment to AI and lose analytical skills, says Massachusetts District Court Associate Justice Brian Palmucci.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Controversial DOJ Civil Rights Division Leader Steps Down

By Alison Knezevich

Harmeet K. Dhillon, a U.S. Department of Justice official who instituted dramatic changes as leader of the Civil Rights Division, has stepped down from her role.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sullivan & Cromwell Brings On Weil Capital Markets Leader

By Isaac Monterose

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP has hired the co-leader of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's capital markets team for a capital markets partner role in its New York City office, the firm announced Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Racing Against Whistleblowers Could Cost Companies

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice's new cash rewards program for tips on criminal fraud threatens to ramp up the pressure on companies to hurry internal investigations and quickly report suspected misconduct to the government before whistleblowers do, which could backfire in some cases, according to experts.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Albright's Do's And Don'ts For Patent Trials

By Dani Kass

Two months after former ​U.S. District Judge Alan Albright returned to private practice, he regaled a room of attorneys at the University of Texas School of Law on Thursday with lessons from his time on the bench.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump's Hush Money Conviction Examined By Wary NY Panel

By Frank G. Runyeon

A New York State appellate court Thursday quizzed attorneys for President Donald Trump and state prosecutors over his hush-money conviction, exploring defense counsel's claims that the district attorney trespassed into federal jurisdiction by charging election violations and trampled on presidential immunity in a case "infected with multiple fatal errors."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »