Faulty Fee Comparisons Doom Ameritas Workers' 401(k) Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

Life insurance giant Ameritas defeated a proposed class action alleging an employee 401(k) plan was saddled with excessive fees, after a Nebraska federal judge held workers' allegations that management lapses cost millions failed to state a claim for violating federal benefits law.

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Biz Group Says Centene 401(k) Suit Threatens Investor Choice

By Grace Elletson

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported Centene Corp.'s effort to toss a suit claiming it mismanaged its $4.7 billion retirement plan through excessive management fees and opaque trusts, arguing the suit is improperly attempting to cast certain investment vehicles as inherently untrustworthy.

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5th Circ. Appears Skeptical Of La. Abortion Pill Suit

By Dan McKay

Louisiana's solicitor general faced tough questions Wednesday from a Fifth Circuit panel about the state's standing to challenge federal regulations that allow abortion medication to be mailed to patients in the state.

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Brief

Liberty Mutual Gets Green Light For $13.4M 401(k) Suit Deal

By Patrick Hoff

A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday signed off on a $13.4 million settlement that wraps up a lawsuit accusing Liberty Mutual of loading its employee 401(k) plan with excessive fees and underperforming investments.

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Trump Exec Order Aims To Speed Up Vets' Access To Benefits

By Hailey Konnath

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that looks to expedite veterans' access to benefits — including healthcare, job opportunities and education — by modernizing how the federal government handles veterans' data.

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Texas Justices Deny Bid To Undo $37M Arbitration Award

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to take up a bid by a Dallas-based alternative investment company seeking to toss a $37 million arbitration award in favor of the company's former director.

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3rd Circ. Stands By Upholding Lipitor Pay-For-Delay Suit Toss

By Bryan Koenig

The Third Circuit has refused to rethink its decision backing a New Jersey district court's dismissal of an antitrust suit alleging Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. conspired to delay a generic version of the cholesterol drug Lipitor.

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Bikini Barista Owner Owes Class $1.8M Over Wage Violations

By Ben Adlin

The owner of Seattle-area "bikini barista" company Beehive Espresso is on the hook for more than $1.8 million after a Washington state judge found him liable for numerous pay violations, including tip theft, limits on moonlighting, improper sick leave accounting and failure to pay minimum wage.

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DOJ Says Berkeley Law Is Racially Biased In Admissions

By Craig Clough

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday that the University of California, Berkeley School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants in its 2024 and 2025 admissions cycles by preferring Black applicants because of their race, violating federal civil rights law and recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

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Murdaugh Murder Retrial Venue Shift Fueled By Bias Concern

By Emily Sawicki

A South Carolina trial court has approved a request to move Alex Murdaugh's murder retrial to a different county, finding the disgraced attorney could not expect a fair trial in Colleton County, where his wife and son were killed and where he was previously convicted for the crimes.

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Sugar Buyers Want Paul Weiss DQ'd From Price-Fixing MDL

By Dorothy Atkins

Hershey, J.M. Smucker and other food makers urged a Minnesota federal judge Tuesday to disqualify Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP from representing Domino Foods in sugar price-fixing multidistrict litigation, arguing the firm is conflicted out because it saw their confidential sugar-purchasing data when it was being considered as plaintiffs' counsel.

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Virginia Law Prof Says He'll Take USPTO General Counsel Job

By Jack Rodgers

A University of Virginia School of Law professor who has taught tort, administrative, patent and international intellectual property law there for more than 15 years recently said he plans to become the new general counsel of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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Hogan Lovells Partner Tapped For Mass. Judgeship

By Julie Manganis

A Hogan Lovells Cadwalader senior partner has been nominated to a seat as an associate justice on the Massachusetts Superior Court, the governor's office announced Wednesday.

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Kilpatrick Atty Tapped For Yakima County Bench In Wash.

By Ben Adlin

Washington's governor appointed Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP litigator Bree R. Black Horse to the Yakima County Superior Court bench on Wednesday, filling the first new position added to that court in nearly three decades.

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