The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday seemed open to reviving a proposed class action from married energy company retirees who claim outdated life expectancy data caused them to lose out on benefits, with judges questioning the lower court's holding that actuarial assumptions don't have to be reasonable.
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

11th Circ. Seems Open To Reviving Mortality Table Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday seemed open to reviving a proposed class action from married energy company retirees who claim outdated life expectancy data caused them to lose out on benefits, with judges questioning the lower court's holding that actuarial assumptions don't have to be reasonable.

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Hospital Agrees To End Retirement Plan Fee, Investment Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A New York hospital system told a federal court Wednesday it will end a proposed class action alleging it failed to remove underperforming investment options from its retirement plan and keep an eye on administrative costs, losing millions of dollars of employees' savings.

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NCR Pushes For Full 11th Circ. Review In Pension Payout Spat

By Chart Riggall

Software company NCR Corp. asked the full Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to examine a pension payout fight with former executives in the wake of a three-judge panel's ruling last month that the company can't issue lump-sum payments to plan participants as alternatives to promised life annuities.

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Brief

Purdue Can Pay CEO Ch. 11 Bonus After Trimming Comp

By Ben Zigterman

A New York bankruptcy judge Wednesday approved a nearly $3 million incentive program for Purdue Pharma's chief executive after he agreed to reduce his total compensation by $500,000.

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LITIGATION

Chancery Approves $30M Match.com Spinoff Suit Settlement

By Jeff Montgomery

A Delaware vice chancellor approved a $30 million mediated settlement Wednesday to resolve a five-year dispute over the fairness of Match.com's 2019 reverse spinoff from Barry Diller-controlled IAC/Interactive, with stockholder attorneys taking home $6.9 million.

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Chancery Mulls Limited Discovery In $8.7B Cerevel Sale Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

A Delaware vice chancellor said Wednesday he is considering denial of a motion to dismiss as well as limited plaintiff discovery in a suit accusing Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings Inc. insiders of lining up a secondary stock sale ahead of the biopharma's disclosure of a proposed $8.7 billion sale to AbbVie.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Litigation Spending To Keep Growing As Biz Risks Run High

By Jack Karp

Companies are likely to increase their spending on litigation next year, some by over 10%, as legal disputes become more complex, more contentious and more high-stakes, according to a new report out Thursday.

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Ex-Calif. Judge Gets 35 Years For Shooting Wife To Death

By Gina Kim

Former California state court judge Jeffrey M. Ferguson lost his bid for a new trial Wednesday and was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for shooting his wife to death at home in a drunken rage, with the presiding judge expressing sympathy for his "extraordinary" son who tried to save his mother's life.

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Feds Want 3 Years For Girardi Son-In-Law's Chicago Contempt

By Lauraann Wood

Tom Girardi's son-in-law should receive a three-year prison sentence for his admitted role in helping the once-celebrated plaintiffs' lawyer steal millions from Lion Air crash victims, federal prosecutors in Chicago argued Wednesday.

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Winston & Strawn Blamed For 'Anti-Woke' Fintech $1.7B Crash

By Lauren Berg

The trustee of bankrupt "anti-woke" financial technology startup GloriFi on Wednesday launched malpractice litigation against Winston & Strawn LLP in Texas bankruptcy court, accusing the firm and one of its managing partners of putting the interests of the company's founder first and costing the business $1.7 billion in valuation.

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7th Circ. Pick Shrugs Off Conservative Group's Opposition

By Courtney Bublé

During her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin tapped for the Seventh Circuit, fended off opposition to her nomination from conservative groups, antipathy that the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee called a "new low" for the committee.

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House Votes To End DC Judicial Nominations Commission

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 218-211 along party lines on Wednesday to eliminate the commission that vets and picks potential judicial nominees for Washington, D.C.'s local courts.

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Retired Judges Speak Out On 'Threats' To Constitution

By Courtney Bublé

More than 40 retired federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties released an open letter Wednesday, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, saying they sought to underscore the importance of the rule of law at a time when the nation's ideals "are under historic strain."

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Del. Judge's US Atty Application Plan Draws Blanche's Ire

By Lauren Berg

Delaware's chief district judge, a Trump appointee, is seeking applications for the state's U.S. attorney position to prepare for an upcoming vacancy in the interim position, a move that drew the ire of Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday.

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Giuliani Must Pay Attys $1.4M After Missing Bills Claim Fails

By Adrian Cruz

A New York state judge has awarded nearly $1.4 million to Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP in its lawsuit accusing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani of racking up unpaid legal bills for the firm's work in various criminal, civil and administrative matters.

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Criminal Restitution Fails Defendants, Victims, Report Says

By Brandon Lowrey

Federal criminal restitution often fails to benefit victims of crime and throws defendants into a "Sisyphean struggle" with debt, with $100 billion in outstanding restitution deemed uncollectable, according to a report released this week by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

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SEC Policy Shift Could Foreclose Some Investor Class Actions

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a policy statement Wednesday that allows the use of mandatory arbitration by new publicly traded companies as its chief seeks to "make IPOs great again," but Democrats warned the move could shut the door to shareholder class actions.

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Ex-Law Student's Bias Suit In Wrong Forum, 4th Circ. Told

By Patrick Hoff

A Black former student at Washington University School of Law shouldn't be able to revive claims that she was suspended from campus and lost her scholarship after complaining about a professor's race bias because she filed the suit in the wrong state, the law school told the Fourth Circuit.

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Trump Could Swing Fed With This 1 Weird Trick: Ex-Fed Gov.

By Jon Hill

A former top Federal Reserve official told Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday that if President Donald Trump succeeds in quickly ousting Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, it could unlock an obscure mechanism for his allies at the Fed to sway future interest-rate decisions.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Abrams & Bayliss

Austin & Sparks

Bernstein Litowitz

Bondurant Mixson

Chapman & Cutler

Cheronis & Parente

Cohen Milstein

Davidoff Hutcher

Davis Polk

Edelson PC

Engstrom Lee

Gibson Dunn

Girardi & Keese

Grant & Eisenhofer

Jackson Lewis PC

Jones Day

Kessler Topaz

Kirkland & Ellis

Korein Tillery

Lewis Rice

McDermott Will & Schulte

Morris Nichols

Potter Anderson

Prickett Jones

Quinn Emanuel

Ropes & Gray

Saul Ewing

Skadden Arps

Stris & Maher

Troutman

Wachtell Lipton

Winston & Strawn

Woods Rogers

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AbbVie Inc.

American Airlines Group Inc.

American Family Association

BTI Consulting Group Inc.

CME Group Inc.

Drummond

Families Against Mandatory Minimums

Garnet Health

Georgia State University

M & F Worldwide Corp.

Match Group LLC

Match.com Inc.

NCR Corp.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Perceptive Advisors LLC

Purdue Pharma LP

Service Employees International Union

The District of Columbia Bar

The Southern Co. Inc.

Twitter Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office of the President

Federal Election Commission

Federal Reserve System

New York Supreme Court, New York County

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court