Trump Order Aims To Help More Workers Save For Retirement

By Kellie Mejdrich

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at expanding workers' access to a low-cost retirement plan via a new government website, touting a $1,000 federal contribution match available under authority that Congress provided in a 2022 retirement law, the Secure 2.0 Act.

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Ex-Husch Blackwell Partner Urges Discovery In ERISA Dispute

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

A former Husch Blackwell LLP partner has urged a Missouri federal court to ignore the firm's request for summary judgment in a dispute over employee retirement benefits, arguing discovery should proceed in the proposed class action.

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Brief

BofA Denied Quick 4th Circ. Appeal In 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina federal judge has turned down Bank of America Corp.'s request for a quick appeal of his order denying the bank's request for an early exit from a proposed class action alleging forfeitures were misspent from workers' 401(k) plans.

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Kroger's Health Plan Tobacco Fee Shirks ERISA, Suit Says

By Grace Elletson

Supermarket giant Kroger violated federal benefits law by requiring workers to pay an extra fee through their health plan if they used tobacco while failing to give them a fair opportunity to avoid the charge, according to a proposed class action filed in Ohio federal court.

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PBGC Resolves Black Employee's Race Discrimination Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. agreed to settle a Black employee's suit claiming he was passed over for a promotion in favor of a less qualified white woman because of his race and history of race bias complaints, according to a filing in D.C. federal court.

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Fla. Judge Denies FTC Sanctions In Fake Health Benefits Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge Wednesday denied the Federal Trade Commission's request for sanctions against two siblings accused of destroying evidence in a lawsuit claiming they sold $91 million of fake Affordable Care Act plans, saying it's "too much of a leap" to find they violated a temporary restraining order.

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Express Scripts, Cigna Seek End To Ohio PBM Price Suit

By Mark Payne

After the Sixth Circuit ruled that a legal dispute between Ohio and a group of pharmacy benefit managers belongs in federal court, Express Scripts and Cigna now want dismissed the lawsuit accusing them of participating in an antitrust conspiracy that is driving up prescription drug prices. 

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Generac Beats Investor Suit Over COVID-Era Sales

By Katryna Perera

A Wisconsin federal judge on Thursday dismissed, with prejudice, a proposed securities class action accusing home generator company Generac Holdings Inc. and its top brass of failing to keep up with a surge in business during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding the investors failed to cure deficiencies in their prior complaint.

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Acadia Investors Get Final OK For $179M Deal, Atty Fees

By Katryna Perera

A Tennessee federal judge has given final approval to a $179 million settlement between investors and Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc., ending a class action that alleged the company misled investors about the strength of its U.K. operations.

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Painting Co. Loses $350K Fee Bid In Union Pension Row

By Emily Brill

A painting company that defeated litigation claiming it owed a union pension fund $427,000 can't make the fund cover its roughly $350,000 in legal fees, a New Jersey federal judge ruled, saying the company could only clinch fee coverage if the fund acted unreasonably, which it didn't.

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Ex-Housing Official Said Convictions Shouldn't Cost Pension

By Julie Manganis

The former director of a public housing authority who pled guilty to hiding his full $325,000 a year income from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said that conviction and others should not result in the loss of his pension, in a complaint filed Wednesday in Massachusetts state court.

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Series

Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

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How They Won It

How Sullivan & Cromwell Won An $18B 'Bet The Country' Case

By Chris Villani

It is not often that a Second Circuit ruling is hailed as "the greatest legal achievement in national history" by a country's president, but that's what happened after a team from Sullivan & Cromwell LLP persuaded the appellate panel to nix an $18 billion judgment against Argentina.

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Jones Day Beats Sanctions Bid In $2M Fee Dispute

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois state judge has ruled that Jones Day can pursue punitive damages on several of its claims in a lawsuit alleging a former client made a series of unlawful transactions to avoid paying over $2 million in legal fees, and also denied sanctions sought by the ex-client against the firm.

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Google $700M Deal Nears Approval As Judge Questions Fees

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge said Thursday he would likely give final approval to Google's $700 million antitrust deal with states and consumers, but criticized the accompanying request for $85 million in attorney fees, calling the 100,000 hours the consumers' counsel said they spent on the case "grotesquely bloated."

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'Christian Witch' Says Jenner & Block Must Face Vax Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

A former Jenner & Block LLP employee told an Illinois federal judge that she didn't need to disclose that she's a "Christian witch" in order to seek an exemption to the law firm's COVID-19 vaccine requirement, urging the court to reject her ex-employer's bid to toss the case.

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Senate Advances Mont. Judge Pick Rated Unqualified By ABA

By Courtney Bublé

A judicial nominee for the District of Montana who was the only nominee of the second Trump administration so far to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association advanced out of committee on Thursday.

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Judge Denies Push To Stop Closed Immigration Hearings

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. federal judge denied a Minnesota human rights organization's request to block immigration judges from restricting public and press access to proceedings, ruling that it failed to show an immediate threat of future harm from unlawful hearing closures.

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J&J Says Ill. Ruling Backs Beasley Allen's DQ From Talc Suits

By George Woolston

Johnson & Johnson told a New Jersey federal court that a recent ruling in Illinois backs the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over its talcum powder.

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LSC Decries House Subcommittee's Proposed Budget Cut

By Marco Poggio

The nation's largest funder of civil legal aid condemned a House appropriations proposal to slash its budget for fiscal year 2027 by more than half, warning Thursday the reduction could leave nearly 3 million Americans without help for critical civil legal problems.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

A pair of door manufacturers ended a landmark private merger challenge, state enforcers are gearing up for a potential Live Nation breakup bid following a crucial jury win, and a separate group of states and DirecTV are challenging Nexstar's $6.2 billion deal for rival broadcaster Tegna.

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Hub Hires: Weil Gotshal, Reed Smith, Morgan Lewis

By Chris Villani

April showers bring legal hires in Boston, with several attorneys on the move. Weil Gotshal snagged an international trade lawyer from Kirkland & Ellis, Morgan Lewis added an attorney from Hunton, and Reed Smith continued to expand its new Boston office.

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