Analysis

5 Employee Benefits Takeaways On The GOP Tax Bill

By Kellie Mejdrich

Congressional Republicans' sweeping tax and policy bill, which President Donald Trump sought and then signed, contains multiple provisions that caught the attention of employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys, including new changes to high-deductible health plans and an employer-side deduction limit affecting highly compensated employees. Here are five takeaways from employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys on what's in — and out of — the GOP megabill.

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Texas Judge Partially Voids DOL's ERISA Rollover Rule

By Patrick Hoff

A Texas federal judge partially invalidated an investment advice regulation from President Donald Trump's first administration involving employee retirement savings and rollover transactions, ruling the U.S. Department of Labor exceeded its authority when it handed down a new interpretation of federal benefits law.

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Univ. of Rochester Sued For 'Excessive' Retirement Plan Fees

By Lauren Berg

The University of Rochester was hit with a proposed class action Wednesday in New York federal court over allegations it caused its $7.2 billion employee retirement program to pay millions in excessive administrative fees.

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DOL Urges 9th Circ. To OK Toss Of HP 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Ninth Circuit to reject HP Inc. workers' bid to revive a proposed class action alleging forfeited employee 401(k) plan contributions were mismanaged, arguing a lower court properly tossed the case for failure to state a claim for violating federal benefits law.

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2nd Circ. Won't Touch Morgan Stanley Deferred Comp Ruling

By Patrick Hoff

The Second Circuit refused to upend part of a lower court's ruling that former Morgan Stanley financial advisers' deferred compensation fell within the reach of federal benefits law, saying the financial firm couldn't clear the high bar necessary to undo the decision.

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Stitch Fix Must Face Most Claims In Investor Action

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has declined to toss a revised complaint alleging that Stitch Fix Inc. and two of its former executives deceived investors about the impact of a new business line, saying the suit adequately made the case that the defendants knowingly made misleading statements.

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Series

Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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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Atlanta Atty's Death In Texas Floods Shocks Colleagues

By Emily Johnson

Josephine Hardin, an Atlanta-based Huff Powell & Bailey attorney who died last week in flash flooding in Texas, is being remembered for making colleagues "laugh out loud, come together, and think deeply about the needs of others" and making an impact as a volunteer at a local legal nonprofit.

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Analysis

Courts Face Early Push To Expand Justices' Injunction Ruling

By Katie Buehler

In the two weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed federal judges' ability to issue universal injunctions, Trump administration attorneys have begun pushing to expand the decision's limits to other forms of relief used in regulatory challenges and class actions. So far, judges don't appear receptive to those efforts. 

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Bove Faults 'Heavy-Handed' Jan. 6 Cases

By Courtney Bublé

Third Circuit nominee Emil Bove, who is currently serving in the U.S. Department of Justice, in his post-hearing questionnaire obtained by Law360 on Friday, drew what he says is a distinction between condemning violence against law enforcement officers and over-prosecution of Jan. 6 rioters.

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Analysis

DOJ Poised To Pounce On Data Security Violators

By Phillip Bantz

Companies and individuals that are not yet in compliance with the U.S. Department of Justice's sweeping, complex new national data security program should expect to face probes and potentially enforcement actions sooner than later, experts say.

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3rd Circ. Revives Benicar MDL Fees Suit Against NJ Law Firm

By Carla Baranauckas

The Third Circuit on Friday revived a proposed class action against Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman LLC attorneys that claims they took excessive fees from plaintiffs' settlements in multidistrict litigation over the blood pressure drug Benicar, remanding the dispute for the district court to determine whether it has jurisdiction over the case.

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NCAA's $2.8B NIL Deal Nets Athletes' Firms Over $455M In Fees

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge Friday approved approximately $455 million in attorney fees for class counsel in the NCAA's $2.78 billion class action settlement that, for the first time, will provide for revenue sharing with college athletes, with additional fees set to roll in annually for 10 years.

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Litigation Funder Can't Escape Crash Loans Suit, Court Told

By Jake Maher

A married couple suing a litigation funding firm and multiple law firms, alleging they steered the couple into high-interest loans, told a New Jersey state court that they adequately pled fraud and urged the court not to dismiss their case against the funder.

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Calif. Panel Says Arbitration Provider Immune From Fraud Suit

By Irene Spezzamonte

An arbitration provider is immune from a logistics company's suit accusing it of not properly vetting its arbitrators, including one who oversaw a wage and hour suit against the company, a California appeals panel ruled, affirming a lower court's decision to nix the case.

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Claims Stack Up Against Texas Judges Accused Of Tampering

By Emily Sawicki

A Texas judge embroiled in a scandal involving allegations of witness tampering has been suspended without pay following a federal indictment alleging she pressured a subordinate to withhold testimony in a separate proceeding against a local justice of the peace.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen HS2 hit with a defamation claim by two ex-employees who blew the whistle on alleged under-reporting of costs, Craig Wright and nChain face legal action brought by its former chief financial officer over a fraud scheme, and pro-footballer Axel Tuanzebe bring a clinical negligence claim against his former club Manchester United F.C. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Carma has accused its former chief legal officer and president of misappropriating the brand licensing company's trade secrets, filing a $10 million lawsuit in Illinois federal court. Meanwhile, T-Mobile became the latest company to end DEI programs under pressure from the Federal Communications Commission's chair. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, Gilbert Harrell Sumerford & Martin PC and Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eighth Circuit vacated the Federal Trade Commission's planned "click-to-cancel" rule, which would have required companies to allow customers to ditch their subscriptions with a single click.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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