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Benefits
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October 04, 2024
DOL Urges 11th Circ. To Back Arbitration Denial In ESOP Row
The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Eleventh Circuit to reject arbitration in a proposed class action alleging a legal technology firm undervalued company shares when it shut down its employee stock ownership plan, arguing that the arbitration provision clashed with federal benefits law.
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October 04, 2024
Pool Equipment-Maker Sinks Shareholder Suit, For Now
A New Jersey federal judge Wednesday dismissed a proposed investor class action against pool supply company Hayward Holdings Inc. over claims that the company concealed it was struggling with ballooning inventory and lowered demand, saying the investors do not sufficiently explain why the alleged misstatements cited in the complaint are actionable.
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October 04, 2024
High Court Bar's Future: Jenner & Block's Adam Unikowsky
In many ways, Adam G. Unikowsky of Jenner & Block LLP has traveled a tried-and-true path — Harvard, elite clerkships, BigLaw — to the upper echelons of U.S. Supreme Court advocacy. But his route to the forefront of the bar's next generation has been less conventional than it might appear, and he spoke with Law360 about how he's climbed so high — and how he excels by avoiding rhetoric that "judges really, really hate."
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October 04, 2024
4 Benefits Appellate Arguments To Watch In October
The Fourth Circuit will consider a drugmaker's challenge to a West Virginia state law restricting access to the abortion drug mifepristone and Ohio pension funds are seeking to revive an investor class action at the Second Circuit, while the First and Ninth Circuits will take up executive compensation disputes. Here are four appellate arguments in October involving employee benefits that attorneys may want to keep on their radar.
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October 04, 2024
Up First At High Court: Civil Rights, Ghost Guns, Atty Fees
The U.S. Supreme Court reconvenes Monday to start a brand-new term, with the justices first hearing arguments related to prerequisites for litigating federal rights in state courts, ghost gun regulations, and whether a death row inmate is entitled to a new trial after a state admits that prosecutorial misconduct might have led to his conviction.
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October 04, 2024
Justices Take Up Cornell University Workers' ERISA Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear Cornell University employees' push to revive a class action alleging their retirement plan was mismanaged, giving the high court a chance to weigh in on the pleading standards for a prohibited transaction claim under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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October 03, 2024
Texas Transgender Health Rule Suit Paused For Gov't Appeal
A Texas federal judge said he'd stay a lawsuit from Texas and Montana challenging new federal protections for transgender healthcare while the Biden administration appeals the court's July order freezing the new rule.
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October 03, 2024
Ex-Twitter Exec's Advice May Sink Bonus Suit Class Cert. Bid
A California federal judge on Thursday appeared flabbergasted that a former X Corp. executive seeking class certification in a suit over unpaid bonuses had previously advised Elon Musk against paying out the compensation, telling the former executive's lawyer, "I seriously wonder if perhaps you've put him in legal jeopardy."
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October 03, 2024
11th Circ. Rejects Bid To Block Fla. Law Banning Trans Care
The Eleventh Circuit said Thursday it would not reconsider a decision that allowed a Florida law that bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restricts it for adults to take effect.
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October 03, 2024
3rd Circ. Upholds Insurer's Win In Construction Co. Wage Row
An insurer for a paving and construction company has no duty to defend it against two class actions accusing the company of underpaying its employees, the Third Circuit ruled Thursday, finding an exclusion barring coverage for "wage and hour violations" is applicable.
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October 03, 2024
3rd Circ. Backs Added Payout For Late Royal Bank CEO
The Third Circuit on Thursday backed a lower court's decision that Royal Bank of America's retirement plan must add another $368,000 onto the roughly $4 million lump-sum payment already given to the financial institution's late former chief executive officer, calling the plan's arguments it need not pay that amount "nonsensical."
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October 03, 2024
4th Circ. Orders Damages Redo In Metal Worker Benefits Fight
The Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday that a Maryland-based sheet metal manufacturer violated federal benefits law by underpaying contributions it owed to a group of union benefit plans, but said a trial court needs to take another shot at calculating damages.
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October 03, 2024
12 Lawyers Who Are The Future Of The Supreme Court Bar
One attorney hasn't lost a single U.S. Supreme Court case she's argued, or even a single justice's vote. One attorney is perhaps "the preeminent SCOTUS advocate." And one may soon become U.S. solicitor general, despite acknowledging there are "judges out there who don't like me." All three are among a dozen lawyers in the vanguard of the Supreme Court bar's next generation, poised to follow in the footsteps of the bar's current icons.
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October 03, 2024
Okla. Campus Police Officer Gets Trial In Age Bias Suit
An Oklahoma federal judge on Thursday teed up for trial a former campus police officer's claims alleging a school district refused to rehire him because he was 65 and had lodged complaints about a superior, but threw out his allegation that he was deprived of his due process rights.
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October 03, 2024
Texas Takes Aim At Insulin Manufacturers For Price-Gouging
Texas sued several major insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers in Texas state court on Thursday, accusing the companies of running quid pro quo deals to bump insulin prices by as much as 1,000% and violating Texas laws around deceptive trade practices.
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October 03, 2024
Sens. Question If Payouts Taint Execs' Push For US Steel Deal
Two U.S. senators wrote to U.S. Steel's president and CEO on Wednesday seeking guarantees that a $72 million "golden parachute" deal wasn't driving the executive's willingness to support a $14.1 billion merger with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel.
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October 03, 2024
Jones Day Parental Leave Bias Claims Must Go To Jury
Jones Day will have to defend its family leave policy at trial against two married ex-associates who claim it is discriminatory and violates District of Columbia law, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday in what he said was a close call.
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October 03, 2024
American Airlines Uses Outdated Mortality Data, Retiree Says
American Airlines used decades-old mortality data and interest rates to calculate retirees' pension payments, collectively costing them millions of dollars in retirement benefits, a former employee has told an Illinois federal court.
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October 03, 2024
Chancery Tosses Barry Diller From Match.com Class Suit
Media mogul Barry Diller escaped for a second time a Delaware Court of Chancery stockholder challenge to Match.com's $30 billion reverse spinoff from IAC Interactive, in a post-U.S. Supreme Court remand decision that also kept alive related, previously dismissed claims against five allegedly Diller-loyal "dual fiduciaries."
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October 03, 2024
Citgo Will Increase Pensions $10M To End Mortality Table Suit
Citgo will increase the value of pensioners' retirements by $10 million to settle a class action alleging it shorted early retirement payouts by basing the allowances on outdated mortality tables that used data from the 1970s, according to filings in Illinois federal court.
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October 02, 2024
EXp Investors Accuse Execs Of Ignoring Sex Assault Culture
Shareholders of eXp World Holdings Inc. have hit the real estate brokerage company's top-brass with a derivative lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court Wednesday, claiming they intentionally ignored repeated reports that its top "influencers" were drugging and sexually assaulting real estate agents at company events, thereby exposing the company to millions in liabilities.
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October 02, 2024
Ex-PBM Worker Says He Bribed Co-Workers In $160M Fraud
A former employee of a pharmacy benefit manager told a Texas federal jury on Wednesday that he accepted more than $180,000 in bribes over five years from a Houston man accused of running a multimillion-dollar healthcare fraud, testifying that he would often accept money to bribe his co-workers with.
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October 02, 2024
10th Circ. Affirms Microsoft, Premera Tab For ERISA Violations
The Tenth Circuit upheld a six-figure award for a family that claimed Microsoft and Premera Blue Cross unlawfully refused to cover their son's stay at a residential treatment center, but struck down the family's trial court win on their mental health parity claim.
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October 02, 2024
Class Cert. In Bonus Suit Against X On The Verge Of Failure
A California federal judge appeared inclined to deny a former X Corp. employee's class certification bid in his suit claiming the social media platform failed to pay promised bonuses after Elon Musk took over, urging the parties to tackle whether a renewed motion is necessary.
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October 02, 2024
Nvidia Inks Deal In 401(k) Mismanagement Suit
Nvidia struck a deal with a group of former employees to end a proposed class action in California federal court alleging the technology company shirked federal benefits law by failing to decrease recordkeeping fees and investment costs in its $1 billion 401(k) plan.
Expert Analysis
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Opinion
Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.
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2 Recent Suits Show Resiliency Of Medicare Drug Price Law
Though pharmaceutical companies continue to file lawsuits challenging the Inflation Reduction Act, which enables the federal government to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices, recent decisions suggest that the reduced drug prices are likely here to stay, says Jose Vela Jr. at Clark Hill.
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4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.
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How American Airlines ESG Case Could Alter ERISA Liability
Spence v. American Airlines, a Texas federal case over the airline's selection of multiple investment funds in its retirement plan, threatens to upend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's legal framework for fiduciary liability in the name of curtailing environmental, social and governance-related activities, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Opinion
5th Circ. NFL Disability Ruling Turns ERISA On Its Head
The Fifth Circuit's March 15 ruling in Cloud v. NFL Player Retirement Plan upheld the plan's finding that an NFL player was not entitled to reclassification because he couldn't show changed circumstances, which is contrary to the goal of accurate Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims processing, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.