Janus Henderson Inks $6.5M 401(k) Fund Suit Deal

By Kellie Mejdrich

Janus Henderson will fork over $6.5 million to settle a proposed class action alleging that the asset manager breached fiduciary duties by promoting underperforming proprietary investments in its employee 401(k) plan, according to the terms of the deal filed in Colorado federal court Wednesday.

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5th Circ. Will Rehear Aetna Arbitration Bid In Aramark Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The full Fifth Circuit will reconsider insurance company Aetna's bid to force uniform and food services company Aramark to arbitrate its dispute over employee health benefit claims, staying a panel's ruling from December that had kept proceedings in court.

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Mass. Judge Clears Way For Trader Joe's 401(k) Plan Trial

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts federal judge has denied summary judgment to Trader Joe's ahead of a Monday trial on claims that it mismanaged its employee retirement plan. 

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Dollar General Can't Kick Tobacco Fee Suit To Arbitration

By Patrick Hoff

Dollar General can't kibosh a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully charged employees who use tobacco nearly $500 more per year for health benefits, with a Tennessee federal judge ruling the company hadn't properly addressed how an exclusion in its arbitration agreement applied to the case.

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FTC Says Fla. Co. Destroyed Evidence In Fake ACA Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge postponed a preliminary injunction hearing Wednesday for a company accused by the Federal Trade Commission of selling $91 million of fake Affordable Care Act plans, but ordered two siblings connected to the scheme to explain why they allegedly destroyed evidence in violation of a temporary restraining order.

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PBMs Say Michigan AG Price-Fixing Suit Is Unsound

By Susan Smiley

Pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts, Evernorth Health and Prime Therapeutics have bolstered their effort to escape a federal price-fixing suit brought against them by Michigan's attorney general by arguing the statutes cited in the complaint do not apply to them.

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Mass. AG, Insurer Settle Deceptive Marketing Claims For $5M

By Julie Manganis

A Texas-headquartered health insurance agency will pay $5 million to settle allegations that it engaged in deceptive and unfair marketing to sell plans and other types of health programs to thousands of Massachusetts consumers, the state's attorney general announced on Wednesday.

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Shoals, Investors Strike $70M Deal To Settle Wire Defect Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

Shoals Technologies Group Inc. and investors who accused the solar energy equipment-maker of having downplayed defects in its wire harnesses used in aggregating electricity have reached a settlement that, if approved, would pay roughly $70 million to a settlement class, they have told a Tennessee federal judge.

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Ohio Tech Services Co. Settles Fired IT Chief's FMLA Suit

By MJ Koo

A business technology company and its former information technology director have agreed on the material terms of a settlement to resolve allegations that the company fired him after he requested leave to care for his wife following surgery, an Ohio federal magistrate judge said.

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AbbVie Seeks Early Win Over HHS In Botox Drug Price Suit

By Mark Payne

When the federal government included Botox in Medicare's drug price negotiation program, which allows Medicare officials to negotiate for lower drug prices, it overstepped its authority, drugmaker AbbVie Inc. told a D.C. federal court, arguing the cosmetic drug and migraine treatment is a "plasma-derived" product ineligible for price controls.

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Mapping Bank Exec Clawback Risk Ahead Of Revived Bill

The reintroduction of the Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act would allow recovery of executive compensation after bank failures, making it important for executives and counsel to take steps such as mapping compensation, reviewing employment agreements, documenting decisions, and confirming D&O insurance, says Drew Jones at Diamond McCarthy.

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Improving Well-Being In Law, 10 Years After Landmark Study

An important 2016 study revealed significant substance abuse and mental health issues among lawyers, and while the findings helped normalize the conversation around these topics, a decade later, structural change is still needed, says Denise Robinson at PLI.

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Sheppard Adds 15 Perkins Trial Attys As It Targets IP Growth

By Andrea Keckley

Sheppard announced another major addition to its intellectual property practice on Thursday, welcoming a 15-lawyer litigation team from Perkins Coie that includes five partners.

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Hub Hires: Weil Gotshal, Reed Smith, Morgan Lewis

By Chris Villani

April showers bring legal hires in Boston, with several attorneys on the move. Weil Gotshal snagged an international trade lawyer from Kirkland & Ellis, Morgan Lewis added an attorney from Hunton, and Reed Smith continued to expand its new Boston office.

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McGuireWoods Adds Hunton Capital Markets Pros

By Rose Krebs

McGuireWoods has added two partners to its capital markets practice group from Hunton Andrews Kurth to help clients navigate financing transactions and other matters.

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Senate Advances Mont. Judge Pick Rated Unqualified By ABA

By Courtney Bublé

A judicial nominee for the District of Montana who was the only nominee of the second Trump administration so far to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association advanced out of committee on Thursday.

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Judge Denies Push To Stop Closed Immigration Hearings

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. federal judge denied a Minnesota human rights organization's request to block immigration judges from restricting public and press access to proceedings, ruling that it failed to show an immediate threat of future harm from unlawful hearing closures.

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LSC Decries House Subcommittee's Proposed Budget Cut

By Marco Poggio

The nation's largest funder of civil legal aid condemned a House appropriations proposal to slash its budget for fiscal year 2027 by more than half, warning Thursday the reduction could leave nearly 3 million Americans without help for critical civil legal problems.

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J&J Says Ill. Ruling Backs Beasley Allen's DQ From Talc Suits

By George Woolston

Johnson & Johnson told a New Jersey federal court that a recent ruling in Illinois backs the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over its talcum powder.

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Ex-Husch Blackwell Partner Urges Discovery In ERISA Dispute

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

A former Husch Blackwell LLP partner has urged a Missouri federal court to ignore the firm's request for summary judgment in a dispute over employee retirement benefits, arguing discovery should proceed in the proposed class action.

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Colo. Panel Says Deadline Rule Applies To Prisoner Appeals

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado civil procedure rule on computing filing deadlines when the deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday applies to actions subject to the 28-day deadline for appeals of prison disciplinary convictions, the Colorado Court of Appeals held Thursday.

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Pa. Atty Says Ex-Partner Ran Firm Into Ground, Won't Pay Up

By Adam Lidgett

A Pennsylvania patent attorney is accusing his former partner in a state court lawsuit of mismanaging the firm they started, improperly winding down operations and refusing to pay him all the money he says he is owed.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

A pair of door manufacturers ended a landmark private merger challenge, state enforcers are gearing up for a potential Live Nation breakup bid following a crucial jury win, and a separate group of states and DirecTV are challenging Nexstar's $6.2 billion deal for rival broadcaster Tegna.

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'Christian Witch' Says Jenner & Block Must Face Vax Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

A former Jenner & Block LLP employee told an Illinois federal judge that she didn't need to disclose that she's a "Christian witch" in order to seek an exemption to the law firm's COVID-19 vaccine requirement, urging the court to reject her ex-employer's bid to toss the case.

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