Benefits

  • March 18, 2024

    7th Circ. Wants Del. High Court's Input On Stock Shares Row

    The Seventh Circuit on Friday asked Delaware's top court to clarify a ruling it made earlier this year upholding the enforceability of forfeiture-for-competition provisions in limited partnership agreements, saying it found "meaningful differences" between that case and an ex-manager's bid before it to keep the stock sale proceeds he earned before working for a competitor.

  • March 18, 2024

    Leerink Enticed Goldman Exec With False Promises, Suit Says

    An investment banker says she was lured away from a senior position at Goldman Sachs to Boston-based Leerink Partners with what turned out to be a meaningless job title and false promises of guaranteed bonuses, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Massachusetts state court.

  • March 18, 2024

    Insurer Settles Target Manager's Suit Over Disability Benefits

    An insurance company reached a deal with a Target Corp. manager to end his lawsuit alleging the company unlawfully stopped the disability payments he was receiving to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a George Floyd protest, a filing in Wisconsin federal court said.

  • March 18, 2024

    Decline In EBSA Funding May Hurt Mental Health Parity Efforts

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm warned Congress in its latest budget request that it may have to scale back its efforts to implement federal mental health parity laws and the No Surprises Act by 2025.

  • March 18, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Multimillion-dollar e-cigarette settlements, $4 billion in stock buybacks and a $6.1 million appraisal tweak were among the big-dollar items logged in the Delaware Court of Chancery's ledger last week. Also on the docket: a Panama port project, a news outlet's defamation case, drone disputes and a flood of mail from Tesla shareholders. In case you missed it, here's all the latest from the Chancery Court.

  • March 18, 2024

    Hospital Network Let $1B Plan Pay Excessive Fees, Suit Says

    A Northern California hospital network cost workers millions of dollars by failing to leverage the "mammoth" size of its retirement plan to get a better deal on recordkeeping and administrative fees, according to a proposed class action.

  • March 18, 2024

    Doctor Can't Yank NBA Fraud Plea, Feds Insist

    Prosecutors have told a Manhattan federal judge that a doctor accused of assisting a group of NBA players in creating false documents to defraud the league's healthcare plan shouldn't be allowed to yank his guilty plea, arguing evidence shows his guilt and that too much time has passed.

  • March 18, 2024

    4th Circ. Preview: Airport Mishap, Inmate Pay Launch March

    The Fourth Circuit's spring session will task the court with refereeing a power struggle between Virginia regulators and the authority that runs Washington, D.C.'s airports — stemming from a workplace amputation — and delving into the "honest belief" doctrine's role in a Family Medical Leave Act case.

  • March 15, 2024

    Texas Justices Side With Dallas In Retirement Fund Row

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday handed a win to the city of Dallas in its fight against a retirement fund, saying the fund doesn't have veto power over city lawmakers in a dispute over an ordinance that enshrined term limits for fund board members.

  • March 15, 2024

    Cornell Workers Want High Court Review Of ERISA Fee Suit

    A group of Cornell University employees asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review their sweeping class action accusing the university of mismanaging its employees' retirement savings, saying the Second Circuit deepened a circuit split over what it takes to bring prohibited transaction allegations under federal benefits law.

  • March 15, 2024

    Sanderson Beats Chicken Buyers' Antitrust Retrial Attempt

    Direct chicken purchasers who lost a price-fixing trial against Sanderson Farms cannot have another shot at bringing their case to a jury because their first trial was fair, and their circumstantial evidence couldn't defeat the company's competing proof, an Illinois federal judge has ruled.

  • March 15, 2024

    9th Circ. Pauses Benefits Case Awaiting UBH Challenge

    The Ninth Circuit has told a trial court to halt what United Behavioral Health has called an improper revival of a proposed class action alleging the insurance company illegally denied coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment.

  • March 15, 2024

    Ohio Ambulance Co. Says HR Firm Botched Tax Returns

    An Ohio ambulance company accused its human resources management firm of failing to accurately prepare and submit amended tax returns that would have allowed the company to claim pandemic-era tax credits, according to a complaint filed in an Ohio federal court.

  • March 15, 2024

    GE Reaches Settlement Deal In Ex-Workers' Severance Fight

    General Electric Co. told a Kansas federal court it has reached a deal to resolve a federal benefits lawsuit from two former wind farm workers who alleged they were shortchanged on severance, a settlement coming after the energy giant lost a motion to dismiss the case in December.

  • March 15, 2024

    IRS Asked To Change Effective Date In Part-Time Worker Rule

    The effective date for proposed IRS rules on participation of long-term, part-time employees in retirement plans would violate administrative law if not changed in final regulations, an attorney speaking for a benefits organization told the agency and the U.S. Treasury Department at a hearing Friday.

  • March 15, 2024

    Apple, Investors Cut $490M China Sales Deal Ahead Of Trial

    Apple has made a $490 million deal to resolve a shareholder class action accusing the company and its top brass of misleading investors about iPhone sales in China in a legal fight that was slated for a September jury trial, according to court documents filed Friday in California federal court.

  • March 15, 2024

    DOL Says PBGC Overpayment Returns Don't Violate ERISA

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm says it won't take enforcement action against pension plans that return overpayments made by the nation's pension backstop agency during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Congress continues to probe an accidental $127 million overpayment to a Teamsters plan.

  • March 15, 2024

    $3B In Employment Tax Credits Claimed In Scheme, Feds Say

    Three New Jersey men who said they were leaders of religious and charitable organizations fraudulently claimed nearly $3 billion in employment tax credits from a federal pandemic loan program, according to a criminal complaint filed in New Jersey federal court.

  • March 15, 2024

    Biz Groups Back Yale Win In 2nd Circ. ERISA Battle

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce told the Second Circuit that Yale University employees are trying to set a "wildly impractical" standard in their request for a new jury trial after they were awarded zero damages in their suit accusing the school of saddling their retirement plan with high fees.

  • March 14, 2024

    NC Tells Appeals Court Worker Was Transferred, Not Demoted

    The state of North Carolina has asked a state appeals court to uphold a state agency's determination that a Department of Health and Human Services employee was not unlawfully demoted, arguing that the facts indicate that the worker was merely reassigned.

  • March 14, 2024

    Extended Workers' Comp Needs High Bar, NC Justices Told

    The North Carolina Department of Public Safety told the state's top court Wednesday that injured workers must clear a higher hurdle to keep collecting disability benefits after their initial workers' compensation runs out, saying an appellate court got it wrong by applying a more lax standard.

  • March 14, 2024

    Mass. High Court Says Tufts Win In Tenure Case 'Premature'

    Tenured professors at Tufts University whose salaries were slashed under a newly enacted requirement that they bring in at least half their income through research grants will have another chance to prove those pay cuts undermine academic freedom, Massachusetts' highest court said Thursday.

  • March 14, 2024

    8th Circ. Questions Patient Standing In ERISA Claims Dispute

    An Eighth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday of reviving a suit from patients insured by UnitedHealth Group alleging a billing practice known as cross-plan offsetting violated federal benefits law, with judges questioning whether the patients sufficiently established injury.

  • March 14, 2024

    NFL Had Ample Cause To Deny Disability Benefits, Court Says

    A Texas federal judge has tossed a former NFL player's suit against the league for denying him permanent disability benefits, following the recommendation from a magistrate judge who determined that, although injuries ultimately ended his football career, eight different doctors had said he was capable of working.

  • March 14, 2024

    NBA Ref Fired Over COVID Vax Refusal Can Get Benefits

    A Manhattan federal court ruled that an NBA referee who was fired for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons can get his retirement benefits, rejecting the league's contention that the prospect of his reemployment made him ineligible.

Expert Analysis

  • The Future Of ERISA If High Court Ends Chevron Deference

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decisions in two cases involving fishing company challenges to regulatory requirements could weaken or repeal Chevron deference, meaning U.S. Department of Labor regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act may be heavily scrutinized, modified or vacated by federal courts, say Naina Kamath and Julie Stapel at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Employers, Prep For Shorter Stock Awards Settlement Cycle

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    Companies that provide equity compensation in the form of publicly traded stock will soon have one less day to complete such transactions under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq rules — so employers should implement expedited equity compensation stock settlement and payroll tax deposit procedures now, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Navigating ACA Reporting Nuances As Deadlines Loom

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    Stephanie Lowe at Liebert Cassidy walks employers through need-to-know elements of Affordable Care Act reporting, including two quickly approaching deadlines, the updated affordability threshold, strategies for choosing an affordability safe harbor, and common coding pitfalls.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • Del. Ruling Stands Out In Thorny Noncompete Landscape

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    In Cantor Fitzgerald v. Ainslie, the Delaware Supreme Court last month upheld the enforceability of forfeiture-for-competition provisions in limited partnership agreements, providing a noteworthy opinion amid a time of increasing disfavor toward noncompetes and following a string of Chancery Court rulings deeming them unreasonable, say Margaret Butler and Steven Goldberg at BakerHostetler.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

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