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Benefits
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July 01, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Two multimillion-dollar settlement approvals, a $25 million fee-shifting demand, and a biotech merger spoiled by murder: This was just the beginning of the drama last week in the nation's preeminent court of equity. Shareholders in satellite companies filed new cases, a cannabis company headed toward trial, and there were new developments in old disputes involving Tesla and Truth Social.
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July 01, 2024
Judge Chips Away At BofA COVID Card Fraud Claims
Bank of America can't escape a proposed class action over its allegedly insufficient security measures affecting prepaid debit cards for unemployment benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic, though a New Jersey federal judge has, for now, tossed some of the suit's allegations.
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June 28, 2024
Chevron's End Is Just The Start For Energized Agency Foes
By knocking down a powerful precedent that has towered over administrative law for 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court's right wing Friday gave a crowning achievement to anti-agency attorneys. But for those attorneys, the achievement is merely a means to an end, and experts expect a litigation blitzkrieg to materialize quickly in the aftermath.
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June 28, 2024
Texas Justices Back Ban On Gender Affirming Care For Minors
The Texas Supreme Court upheld a state ban on medical treatments that affirm the gender identity of transgender youths, saying Friday that the legislature "made a permissible, rational policy choice," though a dissenting justice said the court allowed the state "to legislate away fundamental parental rights."
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June 28, 2024
In Chevron Case, Justices Trade One Unknown For Another
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule a decades-old judicial deference doctrine may cause the "eternal fog of uncertainty" surrounding federal agency actions to dissipate and level the playing field in challenges of government policies, but lawyers warn it raises new questions over what rules courts must follow and how judges will implement them.
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June 28, 2024
Ontrak Exec Conviction Shows Trading Plans Aren't Shields
Executives who use so-called Rule 10b5-1 trading plans to buy and sell shares of their company's stock don't have an automatic shield against insider trading charges, attorneys said following the first criminal conviction of an executive based exclusively on his use of the plans, which are facing increased scrutiny from financial regulators.
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June 28, 2024
Match Group Should Escape Investor Claims, Judge Says
A proposed class action brought by shareholders of dating website operator Match Group Inc. should be tossed for now because it failed to show how the company allegedly misled the markets about an integration process, a Delaware federal magistrate judge determined.
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June 28, 2024
Texas Justices Back Union Leave Clause's Constitutionality
A clause in a firefighters union's collective bargaining agreement that permits taking paid leave for negotiations does not violate the Lone Star state's constitution, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday while reversing an award of attorney fees and sanctions against some of the plaintiffs.
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June 28, 2024
Cabot $40M Deal To End Investors' Fracking Suit Gets 1st OK
A Texas federal judge agreed to grant preliminary approval of a $40 million cash settlement Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. agreed to pay to resolve an investor class action accusing the company of misrepresenting its environmental regulatory compliance in Pennsylvania.
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June 28, 2024
Jury Convicts Seattle Doctor In NBA Health Fraud Case
A Manhattan federal jury on Friday found a Seattle doctor guilty of healthcare fraud and other charges related to a scheme to submit bogus claims for payment to an NBA healthcare plan, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
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June 28, 2024
Legal Tech Co. Seeks Arbitration Of ESOP Row At 11th Circ.
A legal technology company is urging the Eleventh Circuit to back arbitration of workers' claims that they lost $35.4 million when their employee stock ownership plan bought undervalued company shares, arguing that the lower court misstepped by finding that the agreement flouted rights under federal benefits law.
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June 28, 2024
Uber Driver Axes Coverage Claims Against Co.'s Insurer
An Uber driver agreed to dismiss his claims against an insurer for Uber after he filed a suit in Massachusetts federal court accusing it and the ride-hailing company of wrongly refusing to offer him underinsured motorist coverage after he said he was severely injured in an accident.
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June 28, 2024
3 Biggest Benefits Policy Developments From 2024's 1st Half
The U.S. Department of Labor and other agencies finalized significant changes to regulations affecting employee benefits in the first half of 2024. Here are three policy moves that benefits attorneys should have on their radar.
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June 28, 2024
9th Circ. Backs Mining Co.'s Defeat Of Driver's FMLA Suit
The Ninth Circuit upheld a mining company's jury win over a truck driver's lawsuit claiming he was fired because he took time off after a workplace injury, saying Friday that employers don't have to rely on medical evidence to challenge a doctor's diagnosis under federal medical leave law.
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June 27, 2024
BofA, JPMorgan, Others To Pay $46M To End Rate-Swaps Suit
Several major U.S. and European banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG, reached a $46 million deal on Thursday to resolve a long-running multidistrict litigation over an alleged plot by the banks to limit market competition over interest rate swaps.
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June 27, 2024
Uber, Lyft Cut $175M Deal To End Mass. Worker Status Fight
Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. on Thursday agreed to pay a combined $175 million and provide drivers with a suite of benefits to settle an employee classification lawsuit brought by the state of Massachusetts.
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June 27, 2024
11th Circ. Upholds Radiology Practice's FMLA Suit Win
The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday backed a Florida radiology practice's defeat of a doctor's lawsuit alleging he was fired because he requested medical leave, ruling a lower court didn't err when it blocked him from presenting evidence he hadn't previously disclosed.
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June 27, 2024
6th Circ. Dismisses Doctors' ACA Trans Healthcare Appeal
The Sixth Circuit dismissed on Thursday an appeal from a group of doctors attempting to block the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing prohibitions on gender-identity discrimination under the Affordable Care Act, finding subsequent agency action overruled the doctors' claims.
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June 27, 2024
DOL Benefits Chief Defends Fiduciary Rule Before GOP Panel
The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits agency on Thursday defended recently finalized policy expanding the definition of a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, drawing criticism from a Republican-controlled panel of House lawmakers at an oversight hearing.
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June 27, 2024
Yale Tells 2nd Circ. Workers Aren't Owed ERISA Jury Trial
Yale University told the Second Circuit a group of workers can't be granted a new jury trial in their suit claiming their $5.5 billion retirement plan was loaded with high fees, stating high court precedent says they're ineligible for a jury trial under the relief they're seeking.
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June 26, 2024
BofA COVID Benefit Card Suit Trimmed After Prior Order Axed
A California federal judge has trimmed a suit brought against Bank of America NA by a proposed class of unemployment and disability benefits card recipients while also agreeing with them that a federal magistrate judge erred in holding that the bank's top brass lacked "uniquely relevant information" concerning discovery in the suit.
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June 26, 2024
VA Can't 'Short-Circuit' Racial Bias Suit With Appeal, Vet Says
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs should not be allowed to challenge a Connecticut federal judge's decision to let a Black Marine Corps veteran proceed with his systemic-discrimination suit against the department because it has not met the standards for lodging an interlocutory appeal, the plaintiffs have argued.
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June 26, 2024
Ex-Philly Labor Leader Gets 4-Year Embezzlement Sentence
Brian Burrows, formerly the president of Philadelphia's International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, has been sentenced to four years of prison and three years of probation for his role in an embezzlement scheme alongside fellow union exec John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
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June 26, 2024
Conn. Insurance Chief Can Limit Struggling Insurer's Payouts
A Connecticut state court imposed a temporary moratorium on certain benefits that a private equity-owned life insurer can pay out to policyholders until a rehabilitation plan can be confirmed for the failing carrier, granting the state insurance department's petition for a rehabilitation order.
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June 26, 2024
Veteran Says Starbucks Fired Him Over Parental Leave
Starbucks retaliated against an Army veteran who took time off after the birth of his child by firing him during a Teams call, a lawsuit in Washington federal court claims.
Expert Analysis
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To Hire And Keep Top Talent, Think Beyond Compensation
Firms seeking to appeal to sophisticated clients and top-level partners should promote mentorship, ensure that attorneys from diverse backgrounds feel valued, and clarify policies about at-home work, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.
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2nd Circ. Goldman Ruling May Hinder Securities Classes
The Second Circuit's recent Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v. Goldman Sachs decision, decertifying a class of investors and seemingly resolving a decadelong dispute, makes it substantially more difficult for plaintiffs to certify securities classes based on generic misstatements — a significant win for the defense bar, say attorneys at Willkie.
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Perspectives
More States Should Join Effort To Close Legal Services Gap
Colorado is the most recent state to allow other types of legal providers, not just attorneys, to offer specific services in certain circumstances — and more states should rethink the century-old assumptions that shape our current regulatory rules, say Natalie Anne Knowlton and Janet Drobinske at the University of Denver.
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Opinion
10th Circ. Remand Of ERISA Claims To Insurer Is Problematic
The Tenth Circuit recently gave the defendant another bite at the apple in David P. v. United Healthcare by remanding Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims for reprocessing, but the statute lacks any provision authorizing remands of ERISA cases, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure
Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'
Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.
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4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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Opinion
3 Ways Justices' Disclosure Defenses Miss The Ethical Point
The rule-bound interpretation of financial disclosures preferred by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — demonstrated in their respective statements defending their failure to disclose gifts from billionaires — show that they do not understand the ethical aspects of the public's concern, says Jim Moliterno at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
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Caregiver Flexibility Is Crucial For Atty Engagement, Retention
As the battle for top talent continues post-pandemic, many firms are attempting to attract employees with progressive hybrid working environments — and supporting caregivers before, during and after an extended leave is a critically important way to retain top talent, says Manar Morales at The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.
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How A Union Fight Played A Key Role In Yellow's Bankruptcy
Finger-pointing between company and union representatives appears to be front and center at the early stages of trucking company Yellow’s bankruptcy case, highlighting the failed contract negotiations' role in the company's demise, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
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In-Office Engagement Is Essential To Associate Development
As law firms develop return-to-office policies that allow hybrid work arrangements, they should incorporate the specific types of in-person engagement likely to help associates develop attributes common among successful firm leaders, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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SEC Focus On Perks Offers Insights On Cooperation
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent settlement with Stanley Black & Decker is the latest example of the SEC's continued focus on executive perquisites and highlights what type of cooperation may be required to avoid a civil money penalty, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Perspectives
A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial
Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.
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How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness
Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Should Be Mandatory
Despite the Appellate Rules Committee's recent deferral of the issue of requiring third-party litigation funding disclosure, such a mandate is necessary to ensure the even-handed administration of justice across all cases, says David Levitt at Hinshaw.