Analysis

Circuit Rift On Pension Credit May Catch Supreme Court's Eye

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Seventh Circuit recently established how to credit employers for a previous partial withdrawal from a multiemployer pension fund when calculating liability for a complete exit, resulting in a split with the Ninth and Eleventh circuits and raising the likelihood the issue could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys said.

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Blue Shield Still Facing Therapy 'Ghost Network' Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge ruled Wednesday that Blue Shield of California must face the majority of claims brought in subscribers' proposed class action alleging the insurer maintained a "ghost network" of mental-health providers that didn't exist or accept new patients, saying the suit adequately claims contract terms were not met.

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Federated Hermes Can't Evade 401(k) Self-Dealing Claims

By Matthew Santoni

Investment manager Federated Hermes Inc. must face most of a proposed class action from current and former employees over its alleged use of retirement funds to prop up its own underperforming investments, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Wednesday.

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Healthcare Co. Trims But Can't Escape Retirement Plan Suit

By Patrick Hoff

Nonprofit healthcare system Virtua Health can't avoid a proposed class action alleging its 401(k) plan unlawfully offered a risky and underperforming investment option that provided excessive compensation to plan service providers, a New Jersey federal judge ruled.

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Pension Worker's Scheme Targeted Law Enforcers, SEC Says

By Sydney Price

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday a limited liability company and a pension plan administrator have agreed to settle claims they targeted current and retired law enforcement officers in Florida to raise $860,000 in investments.

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'Hanging In There' Doesn't Ax Disability Claim, 9th Circ. Says

By Lauren Berg

"Hanging in there" and working through the pain of a worsening disability is not a reason to reject the testimony of someone seeking Social Security benefits, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

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NY Times Board Failed To Probe Anti-Israel Bias, Fla. Says

By Craig Clough

The New York Times Co.'s directors failed to address anti-Israel bias in the paper's coverage despite concerns about a freelancer who praised Adolf Hitler and repeated complaints from a newsroom whistleblower, a Florida state agency and a conservative think tank told a New York state court Wednesday.

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Vein Tech Maker Escapes Suit Over DOJ Kickback Probe

By Katryna Perera

A New York federal judge has tossed, for now, a proposed investor class action alleging that vein disease device maker Inari Medical Inc.'s share price fell after it disclosed an investigation into its compliance with federal anti-kickback laws, finding the suit does not plausibly show Inari was paying healthcare providers unlawful kickbacks, among other things.

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Conn. Panel Seeks Info On Intervenor Standing In Setoff Case

By Danielle Ferguson

A Connecticut appellate court has asked for more information about whether intervenors challenging caps that could cut millions of dollars of benefits in a state-managed rehabilitation of PHL Variable Insurance Co. are actual policyholders who have standing to be involved in an appeal.

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Opinion

Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

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Litigation Spending To Keep Climbing While Biz Risks Mount

By Ryan Boysen

Big companies will increase their litigation budgets yet again next year, as navigating legal risk is now an essential element of achieving strategic business goals, according to a new report.

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Seyfarth Failed To Guard Client Data From Hack, Suit Alleges

By Lauren Berg

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on Thursday was hit with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court accusing it of failing to protect its current and former clients' personal information after the Chicago-based law firm this month disclosed a recent data breach.

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PACER Experiences Outages Of Some Court Dockets

By Matt Perez

PACER, the online public repository of federal court documents, experienced technical errors on Wednesday and Thursday preventing some users from accessing certain court dockets.

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New Eastern La. Judge's 5th Circ. Bid Goes To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Anna St. John of the Eastern District of Louisiana, who was confirmed to her current post in March, is one step closer to being elevated to the federal appeals bench.

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Fla. Judge To Get Reprimand For Remark On Shooting Attys

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a public reprimand of a state district court judge for "intemperate and caustic" comments about shooting attorneys during a hearing.

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Congressional Probes Raise Legal, 'Reputational' Risks

By Phillip Bantz

An array of companies and executives may face investigations over their dealings with the Trump administration if Democrats take control of Congress, raising the possibility that some may refuse to comply. But experts say holding out hope for a mass pardon or expecting the Justice Department not to pursue contempt charges is a risky bet.

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Analysis

5 Circuit Splits To Watch At The High Court

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court has been deciding fewer and fewer cases over the past three decades, with its caseload reaching a historic low just last term. While attorneys believe several factors have contributed to that trend, they say one of the most consequential is the court's apparent declining interest in resolving circuit splits. 

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Trump's Antitrust Pick Advances Amid Independence Worries

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the antitrust division at the U.S. Department of Justice advanced to the Senate floor on Thursday, despite Democratic concerns about agency independence.

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Sen. Hyde-Smith's Opponent Seeks Blue-Slip Transparency

By Courtney Bublé

Four years ago, Scott Colom — the son of the first African American elected to the chancery bench in her region of Mississippi — was nominated for a federal judgeship. Now he's running for Senate against the senator who blocked his confirmation.

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Ed. Dept. Committee Sidesteps ABA Accreditation Issue

By Ryan Boysen

A key U.S. Department of Education committee on Thursday declined to weigh in on whether an American Bar Association council should remain a federally recognized accreditor of law schools, a day after the panel deadlocked on different proposals over the hot-button issue.

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