Benefits

  • May 16, 2025

    HHS Says Pain Clinic's Delay Hurts $11M Bill Challenge

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday fought a pain clinic's bid in North Carolina federal court for a pretrial win in the clinic's suit challenging $11 million in overpayments for urine drug screening tests, saying the clinic waited too long to bring evidence that the testing was justified.

  • May 16, 2025

    Mich. Judge Gives Final OK To $55M Pandemic Aid Deal

    A Michigan state judge has granted final approval to a $55 million settlement between the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency and people who allege their benefits were improperly clawed back without notice during the pandemic.

  • May 16, 2025

    Intuit Strikes $2M Deal To Wrap Up 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

    Intuit will pay $2 million to end a proposed class action alleging its use of forfeited 401(k) funds to cover employer contributions rather than plan expenses violated federal benefits law, the former employee leading the suit said Friday in California federal court.

  • May 16, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds California's Employee Classification Test

    California's worker-friendly employee classification test doesn't violate the dormant commerce and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the Ninth Circuit ruled Friday, upholding the lower court denial of a preliminary injunction.

  • May 16, 2025

    Stris & Maher Taps DOL Appellate Chief For ERISA Litigation

    Trial and appellate litigation boutique Stris & Maher LLP has expanded its Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation practice with the addition of a veteran U.S. Department of Labor attorney.

  • May 16, 2025

    Trucking Co. Worker Says Tobacco Surcharge Violates ERISA

    An employee of Marten Transport Ltd. is suing the trucking company in Wisconsin federal court, alleging that a tobacco surcharge in its health plan violates federal antidiscrimination law.

  • May 15, 2025

    Lennar Workers Should Arbitrate 401(k) Suit, Judge Says

    Current and former Lennar Corp. employees should have to individually arbitrate a proposed class action claiming the construction company loaded its 401(k) plan with excessive fees and lackluster investment options, a Florida federal magistrate judge recommended, finding the plan's arbitration provision doesn't conflict with federal benefits law.

  • May 15, 2025

    Feds Freeze Parity Enforcement As Agencies Rethink Regs

    Federal agencies said Thursday they will hold off on enforcing a rule requiring employer group health plans to analyze how they restrict coverage for mental health and substance use disorder treatments, citing ongoing litigation aimed at blocking the policy and broader plans to reevaluate enforcement priorities.

  • May 15, 2025

    Flooring Company Miscalculates Overtime, Ex-Manager Says

    A flooring and tile company failed to consider bonuses and incentive compensation it pays employees when calculating their overtime pay rates, a former manager alleged in a proposed class and collective action filed in New Jersey federal court.

  • May 15, 2025

    House Bill Aims To Nix FMLA Leave Cap For Married Couples

    A bipartisan group of U.S. House members floated a bill that aims to strike a provision from the Family and Medical Leave Act that limits leave for married couples who work for the same employer.

  • May 14, 2025

    Chicken Price-Fixing Atty Fees Challenged Again At 7th Circ.

    A class objector in Chicago's massive consolidated suit over broiler chicken price-fixing is again urging the Seventh Circuit to vacate an attorney fee award for class counsel in a $181 million deal for chicken buyers, saying the district court erred in calculating the $51.66 million awarded on remand.

  • May 14, 2025

    Aetna, Cigna Can't Nix Suit Over Late Emergency Benefit Bills

    A Connecticut federal judge ruled Wednesday that Aetna and Cigna can't fully escape a suit from six air ambulance companies claiming the insurers owe $20 million in unpaid or late bills to cover emergency services, ruling they have the legal authority to seek the missing cash.

  • May 14, 2025

    Holding Co. Beats Suit Over 401(k) Investment Roster

    A Berkshire Hathaway-owned industrial holding company doesn't have to face a proposed class action claiming it filled its 401(k) plan with underperforming proprietary target date funds, with an Illinois federal judge faulting plan participants' efforts to compare those funds with other potential investments.

  • May 14, 2025

    Judge Orders Boeing To Share Disclosures, Allow Depositions

    A Virginia federal judge has said Boeing must share disclosures about its "false-stamping" of aircraft testing with three state pension systems that accuse the company and its executives of putting profits over safety, and that some board members must sit for depositions.

  • May 14, 2025

    Starbucks, Ex-VP Settle $830K Bonus Repayment Suit

    Starbucks has struck a deal with a former senior vice president the company previously accused of failing to repay part of his $1 million signing bonus after he quit, according to filings in New Jersey federal court Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2025

    Wells Fargo Asks 9th Circ. To Undo 'Sham' Hiring Class Cert.

    Wells Fargo has asked the Ninth Circuit to intervene and undo the class certification granted to investors who have claimed that the bank's alleged practice of conducting "sham" interviews to meet diversity quotas harmed the bank's stock price when the truth came to light.

  • May 13, 2025

    Nike Seeks Dismissal Of Investors' Sales Strategy Fraud Suit

    Sportswear company Nike and several of its top executives have urged an Oregon federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging the company's stock value declined as it continued to mislead investors on the success of a change in sales strategy, saying the suit improperly uses hindsight to claim fraud.

  • May 13, 2025

    Industrial Retailer Misused Forfeited 401(k) Funds, Suit Says

    Industrial supply company W.W. Grainger Inc. unlawfully used forfeited 401(k) funds to reduce its contributions to the retirement plan rather than cover expenses, costing plan participants millions of dollars in potential retirement benefits, according to a proposed class action in Illinois federal court.

  • May 13, 2025

    UnitedHealth Says Lack Of Contract Sinks Coverage Suit

    UnitedHealth entities urged a Michigan federal judge Monday to toss a lawsuit from a medical supply company that alleges the insurer issued a blanket block on its claims, saying the supplier has no written contract to support its breach of contract allegations.

  • May 13, 2025

    SEC's Uyeda Encourages Opening 401(k)s To Private Assets

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mark Uyeda said Tuesday that regulators should explore how retirement accounts could expand to include private equity investments, arguing that such a shift would put 401(k) plans on par with pension funds.

  • May 13, 2025

    Fla. Medical Cos. Sue Akerman For Malpractice, Fight Fees Bid

    After Akerman LLP filed suit against Rennova Health Inc. and medical laboratories for unpaid fees last month, the healthcare services company swung back with a motion to dismiss that case, while the labs filed their own malpractice lawsuits.

  • May 13, 2025

    11th Circ. Eyes Restarting Seafood Workers' ESOP Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit seemed Tuesday to lean toward reviving a lawsuit from former workers of a seafood company who allege that their employee stock ownership plan was overcharged in a $92 million deal, as judges questioned a lower court's decision to toss the case with prejudice.

  • May 13, 2025

    1st Circ. Vacates $10M Severance Win Over Drafting Error

    The First Circuit threw out a judgment that valued a departing technology executive's severance payout at $10.2 million due to a mistake in the contract, ruling that the company's intended offer of $680,000 in total value could also be reasonably construed from the text of the deal.  

  • May 13, 2025

    Former X Exec Can Drop His Bonus Suit, Avoiding Sanctions

    A former X Corp. executive can drop his suit accusing the social media company of failing to pay out bonuses after Elon Musk took over, a California federal judge ruled, rejecting the company's bid to sanction him for knowing his case was baseless from the start.

  • May 13, 2025

    NFL Benefits Plan Throws Flag On Atty Fee Award To Player

    Former NFL player Michael Cloud should never have been awarded attorney fees by a Texas federal judge after a "complete loss" on appeal of his suit over disability benefits, the National Football League's retirement plan has told the Fifth Circuit.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • How NJ Temp Equal Pay Survived A Constitutional Challenge

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    The Third Circuit recently gave the New Jersey Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights a new lease on life by systematically dismantling multiple theories of the act's unconstitutionality brought by staffing agencies hoping to delay their new equal pay and benefits obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Highlights Complexity Of ERISA Preemption

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in Standard Insurance v. Guy — that the defendant couldn't collect his mother’s life insurance after being convicted of murdering his parents — illustrates how courts must engage in mental gymnastics to avoid the broad reach of Employee Retirement Income Security Act preemption, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers certification cases touching on classwide evidence of injury from debt collection practices, defining coupon settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act, proper approaches for evaluating attorney fee awards in class action settlements, and more.

  • Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where

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    During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

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