Attys Seek $99M From Colgate-Palmolive ERISA Pension Deal

By Kellie Mejdrich

Attorneys representing Colgate-Palmolive retirees asked a New York federal court to approve $99 million in attorney fees and expenses from a $332 million megadeal ending claims the company skimped on pensioners' lump-sum retirement payouts, a request that comes after the court initially signed off on the settlement in October.

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Ex-NJ Police Officer Wins COVID-Related Disability Benefits

By Carla Baranauckas

A Garden State police officer who contracted long COVID after responding to a nursing home emergency won reinstatement of his accidental disability retirement benefits Monday, after a New Jersey appeals panel ruled that the pension board acted arbitrarily in denying his claim despite medical evidence and credibility findings in his favor.

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Home Depot Ex-Worker's Appeal In 401(k) Suit Dismissed

By David Minsky

The Eleventh Circuit on Monday tossed an appeal by a former Home Depot worker in a proposed class action alleging the company misspent forfeited employer contributions in its employee 401(k) plan, several months after a Georgia lower court concluded that the lawsuit failed to state a claim.

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Brief

5th Circ. Ends DOL Appeals Over Biden-Era Fiduciary Regs

By Grace Elletson

The Fifth Circuit shuttered two appeals from the U.S. Department of Labor that aimed to revive Biden-era regulations expanding the definition of a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, after the agency told the appellate court it intended to drop the cases.

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DOD Axes Gender Marker Change Rule For Benefits Database

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Defense Department issued a rule on Monday rolling back Biden-era procedures that allowed retirees, dependents and contractor employees to request a change in their gender identification in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.

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J&J Narrows Ex-Employees' Prescription Benefits Suit

By Patrick Hoff

Johnson & Johnson narrowed a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully overcharged employees through a prescription drug benefits program, with a New Jersey federal judge ruling workers leading the suit failed to show how allegedly excessive fees the company paid to a benefits manager caused participants' costs to rise.

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11th Circ. Reverses Energy Co. Win In Investor Suit

By Carolina Bolado

The Eleventh Circuit has revived a proposed class action against NextEra Energy Inc. seeking to hold the energy company liable for a drop in its share price after political interference allegations emerged against its subsidiary Florida Power and Light Co.

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Judge-Shopping Sanctions Order Must Stand, 11th Circ. Told

By Ryan Boysen

The Alabama federal judges who sanctioned a trio of civil rights attorneys for allegedly judge shopping are defending that outcome, telling the Eleventh Circuit the controversial process was above board and rejecting the "scheming" attorneys' claims that they simply wanted to ensure they received a randomly assigned judge.

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Kessler Topaz To Lead Apple Investors In Siri AI Plans Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP will represent a putative class of Apple investors who claim the technology giant was overly bullish on its timeline for implementing certain artificial intelligence-based features for its digital personal assistant Siri.

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Nurses Collective, Class In OT Row Can Proceed

By Irene Spezzamonte

Nurses who accused an insurer of misclassifying them as overtime-exempt can keep their collective in place and proceed as a class, a North Carolina federal judge said in an order entered Monday, keeping in place a magistrate judge's recommendation.

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Mulling Differing Circuit Rulings On Gender-Affirming Care

Despite the Eleventh Circuit's recent holding in Lange v. Houston County that a health plan's exclusion for gender-affirming surgery did not violate Title VII, employers should be mindful of other court decisions suggesting that different legal challenges may still apply to blanket exclusions for such care, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: How To Build On Cultural Fit

Law firm mergers should start with people, then move to strategy: A two-level screening that puts finding a cultural fit at the pinnacle of the process can unearth shared values that are instrumental to deciding to move forward with a combination, says Matthew Madsen at Harrison.

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Ex-Immigration Judge Accuses DOJ Of Political Retaliation

By Dorothy Atkins

A former Ohio immigration judge sued the U.S. Department of Justice in D.C. federal court Monday, alleging she was discriminated against and unconstitutionally fired for her liberal political beliefs while slamming the Trump administration's recent "unprecedented assault" against longstanding civil service laws that protect millions of federal employees.

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Feature

Meet The Attys Arguing Gov't Subpoena Power At High Court

By Mark Payne

Law360 introduces the lawyers appearing at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in a case focused on an anti-abortion crisis center and a state attorney general's attempt to subpoena details on its donors.

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3rd Circ. Says Habba Barred From Serving As Acting US Atty

By Carla Baranauckas

President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer cannot serve as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, the Third Circuit ruled Monday in a precedential opinion holding that her appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and undermined the constitutional safeguards of Senate confirmation.

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Calif. Ban On Fee-Sharing With 'Alternative' Firms Challenged

By Jack Karp

A new law barring California lawyers and firms from sharing fees with out-of-state law firms owned by nonlawyers is unconstitutional and will harm the state's mass tort lawyers and their clients, according to a lawsuit filed last week.

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Analysis

What MDL Judges Can Get Done With A New Civil Rule

By Cara Salvatore

As the first federal procedure rule geared toward multidistrict litigation goes into effect, judges will have a new buffet of best practices to guide them, but little in the way of hand-tying mandates.

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White House Crypto Czar Hired Clare Locke Amid NYT Probe

By Aislinn Keely

The tech founder-turned-White House crypto and artificial intelligence czar David Sacks has hired defamation specialists at Clare Locke LLP to combat a New York Times investigation into potential conflicts of interest arising from his personal tech investments and role as a White House policy adviser.

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Suit Against Erika Girardi's Atty Tossed As 'Shotgun Pleading'

By Madison Arnold

A Florida federal court has dismissed a clothing company's abuse of process suit against an attorney of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne for being a shotgun pleading.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court saw a slate of corporate law clashes this past week, from fast-moving injunction fights in consumer product and real estate markets to multibillion-dollar oversight claims against crypto executives and fresh battles over control for two sports teams.

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