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Benefits

  • June 16, 2025

    Petroleum Co. Owes $21M In Withdrawal Liability, Fund Says

    Petroleum company Sieveking Inc. was hit Monday with a $21 million withdrawal liability suit in Illinois federal court by a pension fund that says the company should be paying off its balance while it asks an arbitrator to weigh in.

  • June 16, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Delaware's Court of Chancery this past week sought answers in the high-stakes battle over the constitutionality of newly enacted Delaware corporation law amendments, which will hitch a ride to the state's Supreme Court via a suit contesting a $117 million acquisition of Clearway Energy Inc. by its majority shareholder.

  • June 16, 2025

    Lowe's Faces Worker Class Claims Over Tobacco Surcharge

    Lowe's overcharges its employees for health insurance if they are tobacco users in violation of federal benefits law, according to a proposed class action filed Monday in North Carolina federal court.

  • June 16, 2025

    Fund Firm Must Face Investors' Suit Over Missing $18.5M

    A Pennsylvania federal judge allows claims brought by former Exelon employees against the estate of a deceased retirement fund manager to proceed to discovery, ruling the employees, who claim they haven't been able to find their invested funds since the fund manager died, have sufficiently pled fraud and other counts.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ohio Tells 6th Circ. PBM Case Doesn't Target Federal Work

    Ohio urged the Sixth Circuit to send its case accusing Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics of driving up prescription drug prices through rebate schemes back to state court, arguing the case doesn't target any federal government work by the pharmacy benefit managers.

  • June 16, 2025

    Energy Transfer Agrees To $15M Settlement In Pipelines Suit

    Energy Transfer and a group of investors have reached a $15 million settlement to resolve a class action claiming the company misled them about its $3 billion Mariner East 2 and Revolution pipeline projects, after a trial date for the case was scratched last month.

  • June 16, 2025

    HIV, AIDS Patients Denied Class Cert. In CVS Bias Fight

    A California federal judge has refused to certify a proposed class of HIV and AIDS patients alleging CVS Pharmacy Inc. violated federal disability bias protections by making their medication harder to access, finding the proposed group failed to meet the commonality standards under federal law. 

  • June 16, 2025

    JPMorgan Chase Beats ERISA 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

    A California federal judge has tossed a proposed class action claiming JPMorgan Chase & Co. misused 401(k) plan forfeitures to cover its contributions, noting dismissals from other federal courts on similar claims challenging how employers have used the unvested funds.

  • June 16, 2025

    X Workers Say Musk Personally Liable In Severance Spat

    Elon Musk should be held personally liable for workers' unpaid severance benefits claims, the former X Corp. employees told a Delaware federal court, saying he retained so much control over the social media company that the company alone cannot be at fault.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ex-Mich. Worker Gets 3.5 Years For 'Awful' $1.5M COVID Fraud

    A former employee for the state of Michigan was sentenced Monday to spend 41 months in prison and pay $1.5 million in restitution, the amount of a conspiracy a federal judge called "awful" to defraud the government of money meant for unemployment assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • June 16, 2025

    ESOP Urges Court To Keep IRS Rule Challenge Alive

    An employee stock ownership plan and its related parties urged a Wisconsin federal court Monday not to toss their case against the IRS alleging the agency targeted them with additional tax reporting rules, saying the lawsuit does not illegally stop the agency from collecting taxes.

  • June 16, 2025

    High Court Won't Revisit Landmark Religious Freedom Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded a case from a Roman Catholic diocese in New York on Monday, bypassing for now the chance to overturn a landmark ruling that restricts First Amendment religious freedom challenges.

  • June 13, 2025

    5th Circ. Says No Private Right Of Action In No Surprises Act

    The Fifth Circuit has ruled a pair of flight ambulance providers cannot pursue their lawsuit seeking to enforce out-of-network billing dispute resolution awards against a health insurance company, saying there's no private right of action built into a 2022 law that protects patients from surprise medical bills.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ga. Bank Ends Ex-Workers' Suit Over Liquidation Of Shares

    A Georgia-based bank agreed to settle a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully forced former workers out of its employee stock ownership plan, preventing them from receiving their share of a $23.3 million dividend on company stock, according to a filing Friday in federal court.

  • June 13, 2025

    Fired CSX Worker Says FMLA Claims Are Timely

    A former CSX Transportation Inc. employee's suit claiming he was fired for taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act were on pause while a similar class action was being litigated, he told a Florida federal judge Friday, urging the court to reject the transport company's dismissal bid.

  • June 13, 2025

    PwC Can't Get Sex Harassment Suit Kicked To Arbitration

    A New York federal judge declined to toss a former PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP principal's lawsuit alleging male colleagues berated her and took credit for her work before forcing her out, ruling a law curbing mandatory arbitration covered claims that she was mistreated because of her gender.

  • June 13, 2025

    'Outcry' Led To Workers' Comp Change, Conn. Attys Told

    A Connecticut Supreme Court ruling that empowered administrative law judges to award ongoing disability benefits created such an outcry that lawmakers intervened in order to cap the costs for entities that would shoulder those bills, attorneys at the state bar association's annual conference heard Friday.

  • June 13, 2025

    Akerman Seeks To Move Malpractice Suits From Medical Cos.

    Akerman LLP has asked to have two malpractice cases from medical laboratories moved from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade County, where the firm's related unpaid fees case against Rennova Health Inc. is being litigated.

  • June 13, 2025

    Midyear Report: 5 ERISA Decisions Attys Should Know

    The U.S. Supreme Court revived retirement plan mismanagement allegations against Cornell University, the Sixth Circuit restarted a yacht company's suit against its health benefits administrator and American Airlines took a hit for emphasizing socially conscious investing in its 401(k) plan decisions. Here are five important decisions that came down in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases during the first half of this year.

  • June 13, 2025

    CVS Wants To Halt Ark. Law Banning PBM-Owned Pharmacies

    CVS urged an Arkansas federal judge to block a new state law from taking effect that would ban pharmacy benefits managers from owning pharmacies in the state, arguing the law shirks the U.S. Constitution by tamping down competition and discriminating against out-of-state businesses.

  • June 13, 2025

    $69M UnitedHealth 401(k) Deal Gets Green Light

    A Minnesota federal judge granted final approval to a $69 million settlement agreement ending a class action claiming UnitedHealth Group kept underperforming funds in its 401(k) plan to preserve a business relationship with Wells Fargo.

  • June 13, 2025

    Firms Get $275K Refund After $5M Overbilling Probe

    Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP, Thornton Law Firm LLP and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP will get a total of about $275,000 back after collectively spending more than $5 million on a lengthy investigation into overbilling and other fee improprieties, a Massachusetts federal judge said Friday.

  • June 12, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Hartford's Denial Of Benefits To Ex-PwC Exec

    The Seventh Circuit on Thursday refused to revive a lawsuit by a former PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP executive accusing the accounting firm's disability insurance provider of wrongly denying her long-term disability benefits for her fibromyalgia, affirming a lower court's "detailed and diligent opinion" that found her condition limiting, but not disabling.

  • June 12, 2025

    'Forum Shopping' Center Stage At 6th Circ. Drug Pricing Args

    As part of an expansive effort to tee up U.S. Supreme Court review, pharmaceutical industry-backed opponents of Medicare's drug price negotiations entered less-than-hospitable territory at the Sixth Circuit, where judges pointedly questioned a local business group's basis for challenging a national healthcare program.

  • June 12, 2025

    Humana, Aetna Underpaid For 340B Drugs, New Suits Say

    Humana and Aetna are facing new claims in a trio of suits filed in North Carolina federal court alleging they underpaid health systems for drugs purchased through the federal 340B drug discount program.

Expert Analysis

  • Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations

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    In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.

  • Discretionary Compensation Lessons From 7th Circ. Ruling

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Das v. Tata established that contract disclaimers don't automatically bar claims under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, underscoring the limits of compensation systems that purport to grant employers unilateral discretion, say attorneys at Schoenberg Finkel.

  • Justices Likely To Stay In ERISA's Bounds On Pleadings

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    The arguments in Cunningham v. Cornell showed the U.S. Supreme Court's willingness to resolve a circuit split regarding Employee Retirement Income Security Act pleading standards by staying within ERISA's confines, while instructing courts regarding what must be pled to survive a motion to dismiss, says Ryan Curtis at Fennemore Craig.

  • Series

    Adventure Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Photographing nature everywhere from Siberia to Cuba and Iceland to Rwanda provides me with a constant reminder to refresh, refocus and rethink the legal issues that my clients face, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.

  • 5 Ways To Create Effective Mock Assignments For Associates

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    In order to effectively develop associates’ critical thinking skills, firms should design mock assignments that contain a few key ingredients, from messy fact patterns to actionable feedback, says Abdi Shayesteh at AltaClaro.

  • 8 Lessons Yellow Corp. Layoffs Can Teach Distressed Cos.

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    A Delaware bankruptcy court’s recent decision, examining trucking company Yellow Corp.’s abrupt termination of roughly 25,500 employees, offers financially distressed businesses a road map for navigating layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Mentorship Resolutions For The New Year

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    Attorneys tend to focus on personal achievements or career milestones when they set yearly goals, but one important area often gets overlooked in this process — mentoring relationships, which are some of the most effective tools for professional growth, say Kelly Galligan at Rutan & Tucker and Andra Greene at Phillips ADR.

  • Series

    Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

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    Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

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    Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.

  • Issues To Watch In 2025's ERISA Litigation Landscape

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    Whether 2024’s uptick in new Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases will continue this year will likely depend on federal courts’ resolution of several issues, including those related to excessive fees, defined contribution plan forfeitures, and pleading standards for ERISA-prohibited transaction claims, say attorneys at Groom Law.

  • Justices Could Stitch Up ERISA Circuit Split With Cornell Case

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    In Cunningham v. Cornell, scheduled for oral arguments next week, the U.S. Supreme Court has the opportunity to provide uniform pleading standards for Section 1106(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the lack of which has vexed circuit courts and benefits counsel for years, says Scott Tippett at Offit Kurman.

  • Series

    Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Opinion

    No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

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    A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • 5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

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    In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.

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