Analysis

ERISA Recap: 5 Appellate Rulings To Know From August

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Seventh Circuit kept an Arkansas pharmacy benefit manager rule in place as not preempted by federal benefits law, the Fourth Circuit revived an Altria ex-worker's dispute over benefit plan documents, and the Eleventh Circuit reversed a pretrial win for Royal Caribbean in cruise workers' suit challenging 401(k) funds. Here, Law360 looks at those and two other major appellate decisions from August involving ERISA that benefits attorneys may want to know.

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4th Circ. ERISA Docs Ruling Deepens Split, High Court Told

By Patrick Hoff

A participant in Netflix's employee health plan asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Ninth Circuit's dismissal of his lawsuit alleging that the company unlawfully refused his request for plan documents, arguing that a recent Fourth Circuit decision discredits the streaming giant's argument against a circuit split.

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Siblings At Electric Co. Ink $5.5M Deal To Settle ESOP Feud

By Emily Brill

Three siblings accused of putting their interests above workers' when making decisions about the family business' employee stock ownership plan after their father's death have settled the workers' Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit for $5.5 million, according to a filing in Massachusetts federal court.

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Conn. AG Pans Ex-Utility GM's Bid To Keep Gov't Pension

By Corey Rothauser

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has urged a state judge to revoke or sharply reduce the pension of a former Norwich utility chief convicted of misusing public funds on trips to the Kentucky Derby and a luxury West Virginia resort, arguing his crimes represented a serious betrayal of public trust.

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Humana Says $7.3B Roundup Deal Sidelines Health Insurers

By George Woolston

Humana Inc. alleged in New Jersey federal court that Monsanto Co. is attempting to skirt its obligation to reimburse health insurers for medical expenses stemming from exposure to its Roundup product.

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11th Circ. Backs Aetna In Ex-Worker's Disability Fight

By David Aaro

The Eleventh Circuit upheld a lower court judgment backing Aetna's denial of long-term disability benefits to an engineering firm's former senior vice president, saying he didn't provide necessary documents to meet the test of disability.

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Rent The Runway Inks $9M Deal To End Investor IPO Suit

By Sydney Price

Rent the Runway Inc. and several of its directors, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and underwriters have reached a $9 million deal with shareholders who accused them of concealing major challenges the designer rental company was facing prior to its 2021 initial public offering.

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Jury Says Norfolk Southern Owes $954K In Disability Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A Pennsylvania federal jury said Friday that Norfolk Southern should pay nearly $954,000 to an electrician who claimed he was unlawfully kept out of work for almost a year because of his seizure disorder.

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4th Circ. Backs SSI Denial Despite Disability Challenge

By Corey Rothauser

The Fourth Circuit has upheld the denial of disability benefits to a North Carolina woman who said her physical and mental impairments, including agoraphobia, prevented her from working, ruling in a divided published decision that substantial evidence supported the Social Security Administration's findings.

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Turf Co. Laid Off Foreman Over Workplace Injury, Suit Says

By David Aaro

A landscaping company violated a foreman's disability rights by laying him off shortly after he returned from six weeks of medical leave following an on-the-job injury to his ankle, he said in a lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court.

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Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

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Legal Sector Hiring Grows For 5th Month, But At Slower Pace

By Rachel Rippetoe

The legal sector saw 600 more jobs in August, growing for the fifth consecutive month, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

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3rd Circ. Revives Malpractice Claim Against Kirkland Atty

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey divorcee may once again pursue a legal malpractice claim against a Kirkland & Ellis LLP attorney who she said lost her millions by mishandling estate documents, after the Third Circuit found it could be possible to link her alleged damages to the lawyer's work.

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Quinn Emanuel DQ'd In Defamation Case Over Stock Reports

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas federal court on Friday booted Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP from representing a Hong Kong manufacturing company in its defamation lawsuit against investment research service Muddy Waters LLC after finding that the law firm had received relevant confidential information when it represented Muddy Waters in a related government probe.

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DC Panel's Rare Rebuke Over AI Errors Flags Rules Gap

By Andrea Keckley

A D.C. appellate court panel issued a rare sua sponte sanctions order on Thursday after finding nonexistent case citations in a brief filed by a McCabe Weisberg & Conway LLC attorney representing Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. in a foreclosure action, noting an apparent gap in the rules governing the court's sanctions authority.

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Motley Rice Founder Remembered As Titan Of Mass Tort Bar

By Adrian Cruz

Motley Rice LLC co-founder Joseph F. Rice, who died Thursday, was remembered by former colleagues and friends as a "transformational" attorney and "giant in the civil litigation bar" who spent decades working on some of the most high-profile mass torts and obtaining landmark asbestos, opioid and tobacco settlements.

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Sinema Can't Duck Suit Over Affair With Ex-Security Guard

By Y. Peter Kang

A North Carolina federal judge Friday denied former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's bid to escape the suit brought by the ex-wife of a former member of her security detail with whom she allegedly had an affair, saying the district court indeed has the authority to adjudicate the case.

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Roundup

Injury Law Roundup: Meta's Social Media Addiction Deal

By Y. Peter Kang

A $17.1 billion social media addiction settlement between Meta and 29 states and Johnson & Johnson's $5.5 billion ovarian cancer deal over its talc products lead Law360's Injury Law Roundup.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Morgan Verkamp LLC and Sparacino PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eleventh Circuit held that the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions do not violate the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Attorneys and academics differ over whether the moves by Meta's in-house lawyers ahead of its $17 billion settlement over claims its content harmed children were legal missteps or defensible efforts to manage litigation risk. And the co-founders of a partner-only law firm told Law360 Pulse how their technology reduces intake, billing and other nonbillable tasks that attorneys would normally perform. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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