Benefits

  • November 08, 2024

    5 Ways Trump's Election Could Change Employee Benefits

    Donald Trump's election to a second term as president has attorneys preparing for potentially significant changes to tax, investment and health policy that could directly affect the administration of employee benefit plans. 

  • November 08, 2024

    Cigna Agrees To End Behavioral Health Underpayment Suit

    Cigna and a billing contractor have agreed to resolve claims that they violated federal benefits law by colluding to underpay out-of-network claims for substance use disorder treatments, according to a filing in California federal court.

  • November 08, 2024

    Judge Won't Pause Housing Order In LA Campus Suit

    A California federal judge has refused to pause his order requiring the federal government to put out contract offers for the construction of temporary housing on a Los Angeles campus that's at the heart of a class action filed by disabled, homeless military veterans who accused the federal government of misusing the property.

  • November 08, 2024

    Pot Co. Employees Accuse Billionaire Owner Of Fraud

    Former executives of troubled medical marijuana startup Parallel are suing its former CEO and heir to the Wrigley gum fortune, claiming the billionaire paid them in "worthless" shares that he overvalued, resulting in tax bills they can't afford.

  • November 08, 2024

    Attys Ask 11th Circ. To Affirm Arbitration Denial In ERISA Case

    The American Association for Justice has urged the Eleventh Circuit to find that a legal technology company's arbitration clauses are unenforceable, arguing that the company should face workers' Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit in court.

  • November 08, 2024

    Mitsubishi Chemical Dodges Ex-Worker's ERISA Suit, For Now

    A New York federal judge tossed a former worker's suit claiming Mitsubishi's chemical unit retained pricey and underperforming funds in its $700 million retirement plan while failing to cut fees, finding his claims were either half-baked or he failed to show he suffered an injury.

  • November 07, 2024

    Trans Patients Say Fla. Ban On Care Should Be Bias Tested

    A proposed class of transgender individuals asking for the reversal of a ruling blocking Florida's ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care told the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday that hostile discrimination analysis of statutes applies to classes beyond those recognized as "suspect" or "quasi-suspect."

  • November 07, 2024

    ACLU Asks 11th Circ. To Back Ga. Deputy's Trans Health Win

    The full Eleventh Circuit shouldn't roll back a transgender deputy's win in her lawsuit challenging a Georgia county's refusal to pay for gender-affirmation surgery, the American Civil Liberties Union and legal groups argued Thursday, saying the U.S. Supreme Court's Bostock decision made clear that such policies violate federal law.

  • November 07, 2024

    Vanguard Investors Ink $40M Settlement In Tax Liability Suit

    Vanguard investors have asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to give the first green light to a $40 million settlement reached with the firm over it allegedly breaching its fiduciary duty when it triggered a sell-off of assets that left investors with massive tax bills.

  • November 07, 2024

    Sutter Health Could Face Retrial On Antitrust Claims In March

    Sutter Health is headed back to trial after the Ninth Circuit said "highly relevant" evidence was excluded from the 2022 trial where the hospital chain defeated claims that it had driven up the cost of insurance, and the court overseeing the matter says March is the earliest it can do.

  • November 07, 2024

    Bass Pro Shops Settles Challenge To Tobacco Health Plan Fee

    Bass Pro Shops struck a deal to end a proposed class action in Missouri federal court claiming the outdoor retailer improperly charged employees an extra $2,000 a year through their health plans if they used tobacco, according to a docket entry Thursday.

  • November 07, 2024

    Teva Can't End Inhaler Antitrust Suit But Gets Claim Nixed

    A Massachusetts federal court refused Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.'s attempt to end a case accusing it of orchestrating a decade-long scheme to delay generic competition for its QVAR asthma inhalers, but cut allegations that Teva paid Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. not to launch its version.

  • November 07, 2024

    Same PBM Conduct Means Same Insulin Price Trial, FTC Says

    Federal Trade Commission staffers want Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx kept together in a single in-house case accusing the pharmacy benefit managers of artificially inflating insulin prices through unfair rebate schemes, arguing they are all "accused of violating the same laws by engaging in the same type of conduct."

  • November 06, 2024

    Honeywell Cites Clorox Case In 401(k) Forfeiture Suit Toss Bid

    Honeywell has urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a proposed class action alleging that it violated federal benefits law over its practice of using forfeited 401(k) contributions to offset its retirement plan contributions rather than covering plan expenses, pointing to a California decision involving similar claims.

  • November 06, 2024

    Morgan Stanley Denied ERISA Deferred Comp Ruling Redo

    A New York federal judge denied Morgan Stanley's request that the court rethink its order compelling to individual arbitration a proposed class action from former financial advisers seeking deferred compensation to individual arbitration, keeping a holding intact that found disputed benefits were subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • November 06, 2024

    5th Circ. Backs Gas Co. In Ex-Worker's Severance Pay Suit

    The Fifth Circuit declined Wednesday to revive an oil and gas company worker's suit claiming he should have received severance after he resigned when his job duties changed following an acquisition, ruling that a plan committee backed up its finding that the job switch didn't qualify for exit pay.

  • November 06, 2024

    Telephone Co. Escapes 401(k) Recordkeeping Fee Suit

    An Iowa federal judge tossed a proposed class action alleging mismanagement of a telephone and data company's employee 401(k) plan, concluding Wednesday that workers had not sufficiently backed up allegations of excessive recordkeeping and administrative fees.

  • November 06, 2024

    RV Co. Execs Denied Quick Appeal After DOL Bench Trial Win

    An Arizona federal judge refused to greenlight an immediate appeal of a ruling that a group of recreational vehicle company executives improperly allowed the business to broker an inflated $105 million employee stock ownership sale, knocking down concerns that U.S. Department of Labor guidance improperly drove the outcome.

  • November 06, 2024

    LA Says Police Lt.'s Military Leave Support Still Deficient

    A retired police lieutenant still failed to support his claims that he was denied a promotion because of his military service despite the court giving him a chance to fix deficiencies in his allegations, the city of Los Angeles told a California federal court.

  • November 06, 2024

    Mass. Voters Back Gig Driver Unions, Setting Up Possible Suit

    Massachusetts voters on Tuesday handed Uber and Lyft drivers a novel route to unionization, likely setting up a legal challenge to the measure that experts predict will face an uphill climb.

  • November 05, 2024

    Trump Has Official Immunity. What About His Aides?

    Whether the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity extends to subordinates who follow a president's orders has become a more pressing question in the wake of Donald Trump's projected election win, according to legal experts.

  • November 05, 2024

    How Trump Can Quash His Criminal Cases

    Donald Trump's projected victory at the polls also translates to a win in the courts, as the second-term president will have the power to end both of his federal criminal cases. And the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity would shield him from any consequences for ordering his charges to be dismissed, experts say.

  • November 05, 2024

    An Early Look At Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist

    With former President Donald Trump projected to win the 2024 presidential election and the Republicans' success in securing the U.S. Senate majority, Trump may now get the chance to appoint two more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, cementing the court's conservative tilt for decades to come.

  • November 05, 2024

    GOP's Senate Win Hands Future Of The Judiciary To Trump

    Republicans were projected to take back the White House and Senate and possibly the House early Wednesday, putting the GOP in position to back Donald Trump's agenda and his slate of young, conservative judicial nominees. 

  • November 05, 2024

    The Firms With An Inside Track To A New Trump Admin

    Law firms that have represented Donald Trump and the Republican Party on everything from personal legal woes to election-related lawsuits could see the risks of that work pay dividends as Trump is projected to secure a second term in office.

Expert Analysis

  • Verizon Benefits Ruling Clears Up Lien Burden Of Proof

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    A Rhode Island federal court recently ruled that a Verizon benefits plan could not recoup a former employee’s settlement funds from the attorney who represented her in a personal injury case, importantly clarifying two Employee Retirement Income Security Act burden of proof issues that were previously unsettled, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • 4 Steps To Navigating Employee Dementia With Care

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    A recent Connecticut suit brought by an employee terminated after her managers could not reasonably accommodate her Alzheimer's-related dementia should prompt employers to plan how they can compassionately address older employees whose cognitive impairments affect their job performance, while also protecting the company from potential disability and age discrimination claims, says Robin Shea at Constangy.

  • Del.'s Tesla Pay Takedown Tells Boards What Not To Do

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    The Delaware Chancery Court’s ruthless dissection of the Tesla board’s extreme departures from standard corporate governance in its January opinion striking down CEO Elon Musk’s $55 billion pay package offers a blow-by-blow guide to mistakes Delaware public companies can avoid when negotiating executive compensation, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Series

    Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.

  • Musk Pay Package Ruling Offers Detailed Lesson On Del. Law

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    Anat Alon-Beck and John Livingstone at Case Western Reserve University discuss the specifics that led Delaware's chancellor to rescind Elon Musk's $55.8 billion Tesla pay package on Jan. 30, how the state’s entire fairness doctrine played into the ruling, and its bigger-picture impact on the executive compensation landscape.

  • Del. Ruling Adds Momentum For Caremark Plaintiffs

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent opinion in Lebanon County Employees' Retirement Fund v. Collis could be viewed as expanding plaintiffs' ability to viably plead a Caremark claim against directors, so Delaware companies should be on heightened alert and focus on creating a record of board oversight, say attorneys at V&E.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

  • 5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money

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    As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.

  • Series

    Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • NY, Del. May Be Trending Against Noncompete Enforceability

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    While neither New York nor Delaware has statutory restrictions on noncompete provisions, recent legislative actions and judicial decisions indicate a trend against enforcement of restrictive covenants in both equity award and employment agreements, says Irene Bassock at Cohen Buckmann.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52

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    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.

  • The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2023

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    Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2023, and explain how they may affect issues related to antitrust, constitutional law, federal jurisdiction and more.

  • Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success

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    Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.

  • Opinion

    CFPB Must Clarify When Anti-Fraud Benefits Offset Harms

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ill-explained orders against two banks, concerning legitimate unemployment accounts that were frozen in attempts to control COVID-era fraud, illustrate an urgent need for bureau guidance on when the systemwide benefits of a potentially unfair practice outweigh the risk of harming a minority of consumers, says Jonathan Joshua at Joshua Law Firm.

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