Target Beats ERISA Suit Over Tobacco Health Surcharge

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Minnesota federal judge on Wednesday tossed a proposed class action alleging that a tobacco fee on Target workers' health plan violated nondiscrimination provisions in federal benefits law, agreeing with the retail giant that the suit failed to state a claim.

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

DOL Proposes E-Delivery Rule For Employer Health Plans

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm unveiled a proposal Wednesday that would provide more opportunities for electronic delivery of employer-provided health plans' mandatory disclosures.

Proposed Rule attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOL IG Says Info-Sharing Pacts Lacked Safeguards

By Irene Spezzamonte

U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony P. D'Esposito testified Wednesday before a U.S. House subcommittee that during the Biden administration, the department shared confidential information with plaintiffs' attorneys without notifying the Wage and Hour Division or the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOL Takes Swipe At Derisking Cases In Bristol-Myers Brief

By Grace Elletson

The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Second Circuit to shut down a suit claiming drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb violated federal benefits law by offloading $2.6 billion in pension liabilities to a risky annuity provider, saying benefit plans stand to suffer if courts greenlight flimsy claims of injury.

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

DOL Asset Manager Exemption Proposal Sent To White House

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits subagency transmitted a proposal affecting a popular exemption to strict prohibitions on many types of transactions involving federally regulated benefit plans to a White House office for review, teeing up the regulation for release.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Players Seek $4M In Legal Fees In NFL Race-Norming Fight

By Alex Lawson

Ex-NFL players who settled a suit over racially discriminatory assessments made by the league's disability and retirement plans are asking a Maryland federal judge for over $4 million in legal fees.

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

Analysis

SpaceX May Not Escape Shareholder Suits' Orbit So Easily

By Sarah Jarvis

SpaceX's recent blockbuster initial public offering includes a novel and untested framework to steer shareholder disputes to Texas' Business Court and arbitration while prohibiting investor class actions, in a move attorneys said will certainly be challenged in court and could lead to the company facing an impractical number of arbitration proceedings.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Late Emails Undercut BCBS Pricing Suit, Walgreens Says

By Lauraann Wood

Walgreen Co. is urging an Illinois federal judge to again sanction a Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer and its subsidiary for allegedly failing to produce key email evidence the pharmacy retailer says "upends" the insurers' 6-year-old claim that it intentionally overcharged them for prescription drugs.

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

TransMedics Sheds Some Claims In Organ Transfer Biz Suit

By Katryna Perera

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday significantly trimmed a proposed shareholder class action alleging that medical technology company TransMedics Inc. and its top brass made misleading statements about the success and cost-effectiveness of its organ donation products and services.

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

Holland & Knight Hit With $1.2B Malpractice Suit

By Madison Arnold

A real estate firm is accusing Holland & Knight LLP and three attorneys of malpractice in a new complaint filed in Florida state court and is seeking up to $1.2 billion in damages after more than 30 states opened investigations into the company's practices.

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

Co. Turned Away Simpson Thacher's Deal Meeting, Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

A retired Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP partner who handled the fundraising round alleged to have destroyed Patriot National Inc. testified in a Florida state malpractice trial Wednesday that the insurance services company waved off his attempt to present details to the board.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Pillsbury Data Breach Suit Voluntarily Dismissed

By Matt Perez

A proposed class action against Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP over a data breach last year has been voluntarily dismissed by the named plaintiffs, following a granted motion to stay in April to discuss mediation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DLA Piper Says Deception, Not Bias, Cost Palestinian Atty Job

By Grace Elletson

DLA Piper urged an Illinois federal judge to toss a Palestinian attorney's suit claiming the firm revoked a job offer out of discrimination, arguing it rescinded the offer because she concealed allegations that she assaulted someone at a protest.

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

DC Bar Leaders Say DOJ Ethics Suit Encourages Misconduct

By Emily Sawicki

Washington, D.C., attorney regulators continue to garner support in their effort to toss a Justice Department lawsuit over alleged "weaponizing" of executive branch lawyer discipline, with D.C. bar organizations, scores of legal scholars and more than 500 former DOJ attorneys backing the disciplinary authorities.

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

Mich. Gets Judge With Blue Slips In 1st For Trump Admin

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted 62-36 on Wednesday to confirm Michael Martin, a longtime federal prosecutor, to the Eastern District of Michigan and Benjamin Flowers, former solicitor general of Ohio, to the Sixth Circuit.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Gov't Attys May Face Broader Duty To Report Misconduct

By Alison Knezevich

Attorneys representing the government could face "more demanding" obligations to disclose misconduct by people within their client organizations than attorneys representing private entities, according to an ethics opinion issued Wednesday by the American Bar Association.

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

Retired Judges Rip Bid To Ban Foreign-Born Federal Judges

By Courtney Bublé

A group of 58 retired federal judges, appointed by presidents of both parties, on Wednesday came out strongly against recent proposals from Republican lawmakers that would require federal judges to be natural-born U.S. citizens and relinquish any citizenship that is not of the United States.

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

US Marshals Can't Make Immigration Arrests In DC Court

By Rae Ann Varona

A D.C. federal judge Wednesday refused to toss a lawsuit from a certified class of immigrants challenging immigration arrests by U.S. marshals in D.C. Superior Court, declaring that the marshals lack authority and necessary training for the arrests.

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

Securities Class Action Deals On Target To Hit 6-Year High

By Katryna Perera

The value of class action settlements is on track to reach a six-year high of $4.4 billion, fueled in part by a handful of "mega settlements" and other high-dollar deals, a Cornerstone Research report released Wednesday said. 

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