Benefits

  • August 25, 2026

    Court OKs New England Medical Network's $850K ERISA Deal

    A New Hampshire federal judge has signed off on an $850,000 settlement to claims that a New England medical center network violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, bringing an end to a class action filed in 2022.

  • August 25, 2026

    NJ Judge Sends Exxon Retail Voting Program Suit To Texas

    A New Jersey federal judge Tuesday transferred to Texas a police pension fund's proposed class action against Exxon Mobil Corp. over the oil giant's first-of-its-kind retail shareholder voting program, finding the case does not have a strong enough connection to New Jersey.

  • August 25, 2026

    PG&E Investors Get Final OK For $100M Wildfire Suit Deal

    A California federal judge Tuesday gave final approval to a $100 million deal settling claims California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co., its brass and underwriters misled investors about the company's safety practices ahead of deadly wildfires in the past decade, with lead attorneys securing $21 million in fees.

  • August 25, 2026

    Air Ambulance Co. Settles Suit Over 401(k) Fund Selection

    An air ambulance company told a Colorado federal court Tuesday that it has settled a worker's proposed class action that claimed the business failed to cut pricey share classes from its $633 million retirement plan and harmed workers' savings.

  • August 25, 2026

    6th Circ. Urged To Affirm Tobacco Fee Suit Toss

    A trade group representing large employee benefit plan administrators wrote in support of insurance giant Progressive at the Sixth Circuit, asking the appellate court to back dismissal of a proposed class action alleging the insurer wrongfully charged workers more for healthcare who used tobacco and refused COVID-19 vaccination. 

  • August 25, 2026

    7-Eleven Reaches Deal To End Worker's Tobacco Fee Suit

    7-Eleven struck a deal to settle a proposed class action claiming it didn't give workers who used tobacco but agreed to quit an adequate chance to avoid paying a $720 annual health plan fee, according to a filing in Texas federal court.

  • August 25, 2026

    Vedder Adds Benefits And Exec Comp Pro From Winston Taylor

    Vedder has added a seasoned employee benefits and executive compensation partner from Winston Taylor LLP to join its practice as a new shareholder in Chicago, where she will advise clients on a wide range of retirement, health and welfare benefits issues, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • August 24, 2026

    Merck Loses HHS Suit Over Medicare Drug Price Program

    A D.C. federal judge shot down Merck's challenge to the Inflation Reduction Act's Drug Price Negotiation Program on Monday, ruling that the pharmaceutical giant's voluntary participation in connected Medicare and Medicaid programs meant that its inclusion in the negotiation program doesn't constitute an unconstitutional taking.

  • August 24, 2026

    Facebook Investors Move For Class Cert. After High Court Test

    Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP are pushing to lead a class of Facebook Inc. investors who claim to have lost billions of dollars in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, saying they are well-positioned to spearhead the case after defeating a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.

  • August 24, 2026

    ATI Retirees To Appeal Toss Of Pension De-Risking Suit

    Former ATI employees will ask the Third Circuit to reopen a proposed class action alleging the aerospace company put their retirement benefits at risk by converting $1.5 billion in pension obligations to insurance-backed annuities, according to a filing in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • August 24, 2026

    Building Products Co. Narrows Suit Over 401(k) Options, Fees

    An Illinois federal judge trimmed a proposed class action against a building products company and its investment manager alleging that workers lost millions on underperforming 401(k) funds and excessive fees in their retirement plan, while leaving the door open for the ex-workers who sued to revise their claims.

  • August 24, 2026

    Wis. Grocery Chain Settles Manager OT Suit For $7.5M

    A Wisconsin grocery chain and a group of department managers have asked a federal court to preliminarily approve a $7.5 million settlement resolving claims that the workers were misclassified as overtime-exempt, a deal expected to cover roughly 1,000 current and former employees.

  • August 21, 2026

    6th Circ. Revives Freddie Mac Subprime Suit From '08 Crash

    The Sixth Circuit Friday revived a long-running securities suit brought by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System against Freddie Mac and several of its former executives, holding that a district court erred in granting a summary judgment win for the government-backed enterprise and also denying class certification.

  • August 21, 2026

    UC Health Pension Plan Defeats Doc's Denied Benefits Suit

    An Ohio federal judge tossed a doctor's suit claiming he was wrongfully denied pension benefits when UC Health bungled his years of qualifying service, ruling the calculations that concluded he was not eligible for payments were fair game under the plan's terms.

  • August 21, 2026

    NJ Medicaid Fee Law Barred By ERISA, Trade Groups Argue

    A coalition of restaurant, retail and hotel industry groups has urged a New Jersey federal court to strike down a state law requiring businesses to pay a fine when their employees are enrolled in the state Medicaid program, arguing the statute conflicts with federal benefits law.

  • August 21, 2026

    OhioHealth Faces Suit Over Insurance Contract Terms

    An Ohio health system has been hit with a proposed class action over its contractual restraints that a union health plan alleges prevent cheaper insurance providers from gaining a foothold in the market.

  • August 21, 2026

    11th Circ. Ruling Could Help ERISA Suits Survive Until Trial

    The Eleventh Circuit's decision to reopen a suit from a former Royal Caribbean worker claiming 401(k) participants lost millions on underperforming target-date funds could make it easier for plaintiffs to get to trial in cases accusing companies of retirement plan investment picks that violate federal benefits law, attorneys said.

  • August 21, 2026

    Radiology Co. Board Members Can't Dodge ESOP Trial

    A Colorado federal judge declined Friday to let board members of radiology company Envision escape a suit headed to a bench trial over claims they orchestrated an inflated $163.7 million stock sale to an employee stock ownership plan, ruling it's too contested whether they had control of the deal.

  • August 21, 2026

    Insurers Owe No Coverage For $40M Retirement Plan Deal

    Three excess insurers owe no coverage for a $40 million settlement that a church retirement plan administrator reached to resolve claims of self-dealing, a California federal court ruled, finding the claims were connected to wrongful prior acts.

  • August 21, 2026

    Army Immunity Ends Defrauded Families' Malpractice Claims

    A New Jersey federal judge tossed legal malpractice claims against attorney Natalie Khawam Case and the law firm she founded, finding that a group of Gold Star families could not show that their underlying allegations against the U.S. Army would have survived the Federal Tort Claims Act's limits on suing the government.

  • August 20, 2026

    Coal Co. Loses 4th Circ. Challenge To Black Lung Benefits

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday upheld a Black Lung Benefits Act award to a former underground electrician, finding that an administrative law judge reasonably relied on two medical experts who linked his chronic lung problems to nearly 12 years of coal mine work.

  • August 20, 2026

    Coal Producer Must Face Suit Over Retirement Plan Fees

    A coal company can't escape a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully allowed its employee retirement plan to pay exorbitant recordkeeping fees, an Oklahoma federal judge ruled Thursday, saying workers' allegations that other plans paid far less were sufficient to stay in court.

  • August 20, 2026

    Judge Denies Bid To Move AT&T ERISA Case To State Court

    A California federal judge has denied a former AT&T employee's bid to move his class action suit alleging violations of state labor law over a tobacco surcharge on employee health plans from federal to state court.

  • August 20, 2026

    Vestis, Aramark Opposition To Cert. Bid 'Absurd,' Judge Told

    A group of institutional investors urged a Georgia federal court to certify claims accusing uniform supplier Vestis Corp. and food and facilities services giant Aramark of making misleading statements about Vestis' operations prior to its 2023 spinoff from Aramark, saying several of the defendants' arguments opposing certification have been addressed.

  • August 20, 2026

    Amgen Reaches Deal To End Ex-Worker's Tobacco Fee Fight

    Biotech giant Amgen Inc. struck a deal to end a proposed class action alleging a $150-a-month fee on the health plans of employees who used tobacco violated federal benefits law, according to a filing in California federal court Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: What Cross-Selling Truly Takes

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    Early-career attorneys may struggle to introduce clients to practitioners in other specialties, but cross-selling becomes easier once they know why it’s vital to their first years of practice, which mistakes to avoid and how to anticipate clients' needs, say attorneys at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: Practical Use Cases In Chambers

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    U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard in the Southern District of California discusses how she uses generative artificial intelligence tools in chambers to make work more efficient and effective — from editing jury instructions for clarity to summarizing key documents.

  • Series

    Trail Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Navigating the muddy, root-filled path of trail marathons and ultramarathons provides fertile training ground for my high-stakes fractional general counsel work, teaching me to slow down my mind when the terrain shifts, sharpen my focus and trust my training, says Eric Proos at Next Era Legal.

  • What's At Stake In Possible Circuit Split On Medicaid Rule

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    A recent Eleventh Circuit decision, reviving Florida's lawsuit against a federal rule that reduces Medicaid funding based on agreements between hospitals, sets up a potential circuit split with the Fifth Circuit, with important ramifications for states looking to private administrators to run provider tax programs, say Liz Goodman, Karuna Seshasai and Rebecca Pitt at FTI Consulting.

  • Malpractice Claim Assignability Continues To Divide Courts

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    Recent decisions from courts across the country demonstrate how different jurisdictions balance competing policy interests in determining whether legal malpractice claims can be assigned, providing a framework to identify when and how to challenge any attempted assignment, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin & Lodgen.

  • Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Closure Highlights Labor Law Stakes

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    The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's recently announced closure, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied relief from an injunction mandating that the newspaper restore terms from its previous collective bargaining agreement, illustrates that prematurely declaring an impasse and implementing unilateral changes carries risk, says Sunshine Fellows at Freeman Mathis.

  • Prepping Employee Health Plans For This Year's Compliance

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    2026 employee health plan compliance will kick off with a major privacy compliance deadline, requiring a coordinated set of document updates, vendor confirmations and enrollment communications to allocate attention effectively between new requirements and existing protocols, say attorneys at Neal Gerber.

  • Series

    Teaching Logic Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Teaching middle and high school students the skills to untangle complicated arguments and identify faulty reasoning has made me reacquaint myself with the defined structure of thought, reminding me why logic should remain foundational in the practice of law, says Tom Barrow at Woods Rogers.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Resilience

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    Resilience is a skill acquired through daily practices that focus on learning from missteps, recovering quickly without internalizing defeat and moving forward with intention, says Nicholas Meza at Quarles & Brady.

  • How Specificity, Self-Dealing Are Shaping ERISA Litigation

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    Several recent cases, including the U.S. Supreme Court's forthcoming ruling in Anderson v. Intel, illustrate the competing forces shaping excessive fee litigation, with plaintiffs seeking flexibility, courts demanding specificity, fiduciaries facing increased scrutiny for conflicts of interest, and self-dealing amplifying exposure, says James Beall at Willig Williams.

  • Traditional FCA Enforcement Surges Amid Shifting Priorities

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s January report on False Claims Act enforcement in fiscal year 2025 reveals that while the administration signaled its intent to expand FCA enforcement into new areas such as tariffs, for now the greatest exposure remains in traditional areas like healthcare — in which the risk is growing, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

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    Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court

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    While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.

  • 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

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    Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

  • Series

    Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

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