Benefits

  • October 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms No Tax Refunds For Retired United Pilots

    United Airlines pilots who said they overpaid payroll taxes because of the early termination of their retirement plan in the company's bankruptcy can't get partial refunds, the Federal Circuit affirmed Thursday, saying procedural issues doomed their case.

  • October 23, 2025

    Judge Dings Law Profs In Judge-Shopping Sanctions Case

    The federal judge behind a controversial sanctions order accusing three attorneys of judge shopping while challenging an Alabama gender care law is pushing back on claims that he lacked jurisdiction, as the ruling is on appeal in the Eleventh Circuit.

  • October 22, 2025

    Judge Voids HHS Rule Banning Gender Identity Discrimination

    A Mississippi federal judge on Wednesday struck down a Biden-era U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule that protected gender-affirming care under the Affordable Care Act, ruling that federal officials exceeded their authority by broadening the definition of sex discrimination to cover gender identity.

  • October 22, 2025

    Investor Advocates Criticize SEC's New Arbitration Stance

    Two investor advocacy groups are speaking out against a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decision to allow some newly public companies to adopt mandatory arbitration clauses, arguing that the move undermines shareholder rights and could make the U.S. a less attractive place to invest.

  • October 22, 2025

    Feds Urge Justices To Back Machinists Fund In Pension Fight

    The federal government wrote in support of trustees of an International Association of Machinists pension fund in a dispute with employers at the U.S. Supreme Court, backing the union's argument that a pension plan actuary could change the methods and assumptions used to calculate withdrawal payments.

  • October 22, 2025

    Trade Desk CEO Pay Suit Pleads 'Bad Faith,' Del. Justices Told

    The Delaware Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in the appeal of the dismissal of a stockholder derivative suit that sought to block an up to $5.2 billion, multiyear chairman's compensation package for global digital marketing venture The Trade Desk.

  • October 22, 2025

    Feds Fight Early Release For Atty Convicted Of $550M Fraud

    Federal prosecutors on Tuesday opposed compassionate release of a Kentucky lawyer who fled the country after pleading guilty to a $550 million Social Security fraud scheme, telling the Sixth Circuit that the lawyer's medical conditions are being adequately treated in prison and the seriousness of his crimes warranted more time behind bars.

  • October 22, 2025

    Deal To End Software Co. Retirement Fund Suit Gets Initial OK

    A California federal judge gave the initial green light to a $925,000 settlement that aims to end a class action alleging software company ServiceNow cost workers millions by letting them funnel their savings into underperforming target date funds in their retirement plan.

  • October 22, 2025

    Retention Bonus Not Subject To Wage Act, Mass. Justices Say

    Massachusetts' highest court ruled on Wednesday that a retention bonus contingent on an employee's willingness to meet certain conditions is not a salary subject to a provision of the state's Wage Act requiring payment on the final day of employment.

  • October 22, 2025

    Amazon Gets Military Leave Suit Thrown Out, For Now

    A New York federal judge walked back an August ruling that certified a thousands-strong class of Amazon workers who alleged they were shorted on pay for stints of military leave, agreeing with the retail giant that the suit should be dismissed.  

  • October 22, 2025

    Hall Benefits Law Expands To NYC With Partner Hire

    National benefits boutique Hall Benefits Law announced Wednesday that it is expanding to New York City with the hire of a former Greenberg & Kaplan LLP of counsel, calling the move a response to rising demand for counsel on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, employee benefits and executive compensation.

  • October 22, 2025

    $850K Deal In Marketing Co. 401(k) Fee Suit Clears 1st Hurdle

    A Wisconsin federal judge gave initial approval to an $850,000 settlement a class action claiming marketing company allowed its $2.4 billion retirement plan to be bogged down by excessive administrative fees, causing workers to lose tens of millions in retirement savings.

  • October 21, 2025

    3rd Circ. Reinstates Union Rep's Pharmacy Fraud Charges

    The Third Circuit said Tuesday that it had revived charges against a union representative at a telecommunications company after finding that federal prosecutors sufficiently alleged that the rep submitted false claims to a pharmacy benefits manager for medically unnecessary testing and medicine.

  • October 21, 2025

    2nd Circ. Weighs Reviving Signature Bank Investor Suit

    The Second Circuit quizzed an FDIC attorney Tuesday over the agency's ability to stop Signature Bank's former shareholders from suing following the bank's collapse, with the judges considering whether to revive a lawsuit accusing Signature's brass and its outside auditor of failing to warn investors about its liquidity problems.

  • October 21, 2025

    Co. Says $28M ERISA Suit Against Union Fund Must Proceed

    A New Jersey federal judge should keep overseeing a $28 million Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit against a Teamsters local and the local's health insurance fund, a roofing and siding manufacturer argued, telling the judge that the dismissal argument lodged by the fund and local is flawed.

  • October 21, 2025

    4th Circ. Dubious Of Class Status In Genworth 401(k) Suit

    The Fourth Circuit seemed likely Tuesday to unravel a nearly 4,000-member class of Genworth Financial employee 401(k) participants who allegedly saw their retirement savings dragged down by underperforming BlackRock target date funds, given that individual investors' returns varied based on how close they were to retirement. 

  • October 21, 2025

    BofA Says COVID-Era Cardholders Flip-Flop On Fraud Claims

    Bank of America NA seeks a partial early win in multidistrict litigation brought over unemployment benefits cards it issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing the plaintiffs went from accusing the bank of failing to stop fraud in the accounts to claiming it was too stringent with its anti-fraud measures.

  • October 21, 2025

    Supreme Court Medina Ruling Erodes Public Health Networks

    Healthcare advocates in more than a dozen states are bracing for Planned Parenthood's ouster from public benefit programs after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June.

  • October 21, 2025

    Food Co. Strikes $4.7M Deal To End ERISA Tobacco Fee Suit

    Food distributor Performance Food Group will pay $4.7 million to settle a proposed class action alleging it violated federal benefits law by charging tobacco users in its health plan an extra fee, according to a filing in Virginia federal court.

  • October 20, 2025

    Argent, North Highland Ink $2.4M Deal In ESOP Fight

    North Highland Co. and its employee stock ownership plan trustee Argent Trust Co. will pay $2.4 million to end a suit from North Highland workers alleging the plan was mismanaged and devalued.

  • October 20, 2025

    Funds Rip Boeing's 4th Circ. Bid To Decertify Max Fraud Class

    Institutional investors have told the Fourth Circuit that they've sufficiently laid out their damages theories to advance certified class claims alleging Boeing kept its stock price trading at inflated levels by repeatedly misrepresenting the safety of its 737 Max fleet after two crashes and a door-plug blowout.

  • October 20, 2025

    Bricklayer, Contractor End Suit Over Shuttling Time

    A bricklayer and a refractory contractor told a Pennsylvania federal court Monday that they agreed to end a proposed class action claiming the company failed to pay workers for the time they spent shuttling to and from the construction of a petrochemical plant.

  • October 20, 2025

    NJ Panel Skeptical That Vacation Time Is Paid Sick Leave

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Monday questioned a concrete supplier's assertion that it complied with the state's Earned Sick Leave Law even without differentiating between workers' vacation time and paid sick leave.

  • October 20, 2025

    Tire-Maker Can't Thwart Asbestos Suits, NC Justices Are Told

    More than a dozen plaintiffs locked in a long-running battle for workers' compensation tied to alleged asbestos exposure at a Continental Tire factory are urging North Carolina's top court to let stand a lower appeals court decision reviving their cases.

  • October 20, 2025

    Guam Fund Seeks OK To Appeal Loss Of Military Leave Suit

    A retirement fund for Guam government employees asked a Guam federal judge to let it appeal an order finding the fund and the U.S. territory liable for shortchanging pension contributions for employees who take paid leave while serving in the military.

Expert Analysis

  • What To Know As SEC Looks To Expand Private Fund Access

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    As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission considers expanding retail access to private markets, understanding how these funds operate — and the role of financial intermediaries in guiding investors — is increasingly important, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Series

    Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion

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    In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • FCA Working Group Reboot Signals EHR Compliance Risk

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    The revival of the False Claims Act working group is an aggressive expansion of enforcement efforts by the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services targeted toward technology-enabled fraud involving electronic health records and other data, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Arguing The 8th Amendment For Reduction In FCA Penalties

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    While False Claims Act decisions lack consistency in how high the judgment-to-damages ratio in such cases can be before it becomes unconstitutional, defense counsel should cite the Eighth Amendment's excessive fines clause in pre-trial settlement negotiations, and seek penalty decreases in post-judgment motions and on appeal, says Scott Grubman at Chilivis Grubman.

  • $95M Caremark Verdict Should Put PBMs On Notice

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    A Pennsylvania federal judge’s recent ruling that pharmacy benefits manager CVS Caremark owes the government $95 million for overbilling Medicare Part D-sponsored drugs highlights the effectiveness of the False Claims Act, as scrutiny of PBMs’ outsized role in setting drug prices continues to increase, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

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    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

  • How Latest High Court Rulings Refine Employment Law

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    The 2024-2025 U.S. Supreme Court term did not radically rewrite employment law, but sharpened focus on textual fidelity, procedural rigor and the boundaries of statutory relief, say attorneys at Krevolin & Horst.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • What Employers Can Learn From Axed Mo. Sick Leave Law

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    Missouri's recent passage and brisk repeal of Proposition A, which would have created a paid sick time benefit for employees, serves as a case study for employers, highlighting the steps they can take to adapt as paid sick leave laws are increasingly debated across the country, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.

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