Benefits

  • December 19, 2025

    Live Nation 401(k) Suit Arbitration In Calif. Gets Redo

    A California federal judge agreed to reconsider his order from 2023 requiring arbitration of some claims in a federal benefits suit from Live Nation workers alleging excessive fees in their employee 401(k) plan after the Ninth Circuit had remanded the case in August.

  • December 19, 2025

    The 6 Biggest Rulings By Massachusetts' Top Court In 2025

    Massachusetts' top court rejected a novel double jeopardy claim in a headline-grabbing murder case, revived claims against Harvard over a "ghoulish" scheme, and said a Snapchat Bitmoji could show police bias, among other significant rulings this year.

  • December 18, 2025

    Split 6th Circ. Blocks Michigan's Ban On Conversion Therapy

    A split Sixth Circuit panel ordered an injunction on Michigan's conversion therapy ban, ruling the law likely places an unconstitutional restriction on the First Amendment rights of a Catholic charitable organization and a therapist whose faith-based psychotherapy practices fall under the ban.

  • December 18, 2025

    InnovAge Investors Get Final OK For $27M Deal, Atty Fees

    A Colorado federal judge has granted final approval to a $27 million settlement between InnovAge Holding Corp., its underwriters and a class of stockholders accusing the senior healthcare company of making misleading statements in an initial public offering that later caused stock prices to tank after a government audit exposed the alleged falsehoods.

  • December 18, 2025

    7th Circ. Declines To Stay Alcoa Life Insurance Injunction

    An injunction ordering aluminum producer Alcoa USA Corp. to reinstate certain retirees' life insurance benefits will remain active while the company appeals the underlying decision, the Seventh Circuit held Thursday, denying Alcoa's motion to stay the injunction.

  • December 18, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Force Aramark To Arbitrate Aetna ERISA Suit

    Aetna cannot force food services company Aramark to arbitrate allegations the insurer cost it millions of dollars by approving shoddy health benefit claims, a split Fifth Circuit panel affirmed Thursday, saying the parties' agreement doesn't clearly delegate arbitrability to an arbitrator and the claims seek equitable, not legal, relief.

  • December 18, 2025

    Ex-NFL Player Can't Keep $1.9M Atty Fees, 5th Circ. Rules

    Former NFL player Michael Cloud was not owed attorney fees by the NFL's retirement plan from his attempt to attain disability benefits, the Fifth Circuit said Thursday, dealing Cloud another defeat after a previous court victory was reversed.

  • December 18, 2025

    HHS Proposes Hospital Ban On Gender Care For Minors

    The Trump administration moved to block all hospitals that receive federal funding from providing gender-affirming care to minors and issued warning letters to a dozen companies Thursday as part of a sweeping push to halt the care nationwide, even in states with legal protections in place.

  • December 18, 2025

    Ex-NJ Judge's Firing Suit Revived After Discovery Cured

    A New Jersey state judge on Thursday revived a former Garden State workers' compensation judge's suit alleging she was unconstitutionally removed from her job, ruling over the state's objections that she has now substantially complied with the state's discovery requests.

  • December 18, 2025

    AT&T Worker Takes 401(k) Forfeiture Suit To 9th Circ.

    An AT&T worker has turned to the Ninth Circuit after a California federal judge spiked his proposed class action alleging that the telecom giant misspent employee 401(k) plan forfeitures. 

  • December 17, 2025

    Lighting Co. Strikes Deal In 401(k) Forfeiture, Tobacco Fee Suit

    An automotive lighting company told an Illinois federal court Wednesday that it has settled an ex-worker's proposed class action claiming the business mismanaged forfeited 401(k) funds and failed to inform workers who used tobacco how to avoid paying an extra health plan fee.

  • December 17, 2025

    Braidwood Asks For Judgment In ACA Preventive Care Fight

    Christian-owned, for-profit management company Braidwood Management Inc. asked a Texas federal judge Tuesday to end its challenge to an Affordable Care Act provision that requires coverage of lung cancer screenings and preexposure prophylaxis for HIV/AIDS, citing a U.S. Supreme Court finding upholding the provision.

  • December 17, 2025

    Doctors Not Harmed By CDC's Vaccine Guidance, Feds Say

    The federal government argued Wednesday that doctors lack standing to challenge the overhaul of a key federal vaccine committee that has since downgraded the COVID-19 shot, saying healthcare providers haven't been harmed by the policy shifts.

  • December 17, 2025

    6th Circ. Revives NJ Drivers' Wage Action Against Hub Group

    Two drivers alleging that logistics company Hub Group misclassified them as independent contractors have no connection to Tennessee, the Sixth Circuit ruled, departing from a Tennessee federal court's decision that found their suit under New Jersey law couldn't stand.

  • December 17, 2025

    Adderall Telehealth Startup Indicted After CEO's Conviction

    A San Francisco grand jury has indicted California telehealth startup Done Global, alleging it had a role in a healthcare fraud conspiracy that involved submitting false claims to government health programs and distributing $100 million in Adderall and other drugs through subscription services, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. 

  • December 16, 2025

    DOD To Reevaluate Discharges Over COVID Vax Refusal

    The U.S. Department of Defense said on Tuesday that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered a reevaluation of the discharge status of service members who were involuntarily removed from the military after they refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. 

  • December 16, 2025

    4 Big Benefits Policy Moves From 2025's 2nd Half

    President Donald Trump signed an order aimed at expanding retirement plans' access to investing in a wider range of assets in 401(k) plans, while the government hit the brakes on the previous administration's effort to expand the definition of who is a fiduciary under federal benefits law. Here are four significant policy moves from the latter half of 2025 that benefits attorneys should know. 

  • December 16, 2025

    United Airlines Kept Shoddy Fund In $11.8B 401(k), Suit Says

    United Airlines shirked federal benefits law by allowing an underperforming investment fund to weigh down its $11.8 billion retirement plan, according to a proposed class action a worker filed in Illinois federal court Tuesday.

  • December 16, 2025

    $1.4M Deal In Workers' 401(k) Fee Suit Gets Initial OK

    A California federal judge gave initial approval to a $1.4 million settlement that would end claims that security firm Allied Universal levied excessive fees on its workers' retirement accounts.

  • December 16, 2025

    WorldQuant Predictive Technologies Sues Ex-CEO, Lawyer

    The ousted CEO of WorldQuant Predictive Technologies LLC and his attorney brought vexatious lawsuits against the company as part of an effort to dodge an arbitrator's $691,000 award in favor of the AI-driven business solutions provider, the company says in a lawsuit in Connecticut state court.

  • December 16, 2025

    Hospital Owners Sue HHS Over Medicare Payment Rule

    Allina Health System and other nonprofit hospital owners have sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, telling a D.C. federal judge it unlawfully enacted a rule that will cause safety-net hospitals to lose out on billions of dollars of Medicare payments.

  • December 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Honeywell Over Engineer's Retaliation Claims

    The Ninth Circuit rejected an ex-Honeywell engineer's challenge to her firing after voicing concerns about avionic software that was part of a Boeing defense contract, finding any potential fraud to the government was too far removed to support a retaliation claim.

  • December 15, 2025

    Connecticut 'Likely' To Settle Generic Drug Price Cap Dispute

    A pharmaceutical industry trade group and the state of Connecticut have signaled their intent to settle a feud over the interpretation of the state's generic drug price cap law, and a federal judge gave them until Monday to say more about their plan.

  • December 15, 2025

    11th Circ. Rejects ESOP Managers' Individual Arbitration Push

    The Eleventh Circuit on Monday backed a court's decision to keep a lawsuit in Georgia federal court alleging a legal technology company's employee stock ownership plan shares were undervalued in a plan termination, holding that an arbitration provision was unenforceable because it blocked rights under federal benefits law.

  • December 15, 2025

    Judge Exits ESOP Suit Against BDO, Citing His Wife's Tie

    A Massachusetts federal judge recused himself from a proposed class action alleging that accounting giant BDO USA and company executives sold stock at an inflated price to an employee stock ownership plan in a $1.3 billion deal, citing his wife's financial interest in a company involved in the case.

Expert Analysis

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • Steps For Healthcare Providers After Cigna ERISA Settlement

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    Following the Cigna class action's settlement, where Employee Retirement Income Security Act violations arose from Cigna's online provider directory advertising providers as in-network who were actually out-of-network, providers should routinely audit their contract status and directory listings, and proactively coordinate with plans and payor partners, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • What's At Stake In High Court Pension Liability Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in M&K Employee Solutions v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund will determine how an employer’s liability for withdrawing from a multiemployer retirement plan is calculated — a narrow but key issue for employer financial planning and collective bargaining, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Opinion

    DOJ's Tracing Rule For Pandemic Loan Fraud Is Untenable

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    In conducting investigations related to COVID-19 relief fraud, the government's assertion that loan proceeds are nonfungible and had to have been segregated from other funds is unsupported by underlying legislation, precedent or the language establishing similar federal relief programs, say Sharon McCarthy, Jay Nanavati and Lasya Ravulapati at Kostelanetz.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

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