A health care company has agreed to settle a federal benefits class action from employee retirement plan participants alleging mismanagement, the parties told a California federal court Friday.
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Sutter Health Settles Retirement Plan Mismanagement Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A health care company has agreed to settle a federal benefits class action from employee retirement plan participants alleging mismanagement, the parties told a California federal court Friday.

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Honeywell Escapes Ex-Employee's 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Patrick Hoff

Honeywell International defeated a proposed class action alleging it violated federal benefits law when it used ex-employees' forfeited 401(k) funds to offset its retirement plan contributions rather than cover administrative expenses, with a New Jersey federal judge finding the company's actions complied with the plan's terms.

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Prudential Freed From 401(k) Mismanagement Suit

By Grace Elletson

A New Jersey federal judge tossed a class action claiming Prudential bogged down its retirement plan with underperforming funds while also funneling money into a proprietary investing tool that benefited the company over employees, ruling the case lacks proof that mismanagement occurred.

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ENFORCEMENT & COMPLIANCE

DOL Sues Over New York BBQ Co.'s $99M Stock Plan Deal

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor sued Argent Trust Co. and several New York City restaurant operators in federal court, alleging they violated federal benefits law by causing a barbecue company's employee stock ownership plan to pay $99 million for overvalued company stock in a leveraged transaction.

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LITIGATION

6th Circ. To Group FedEx, Kellogg Pension Data Appeals

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Sixth Circuit on Thursday rejected a request to stay a case alleging FedEx Corp. uses outdated actuarial assumptions in calculating certain retirees' annuities, pending a similar appeal from Kellogg Co. retirees, saying it would instead group the cases together.

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Analysis

A Look Back At 2024's Major Securities Litigation Moments

By Katryna Perera

The private securities litigation bar experienced a busy 2024, with meaningful and significant rulings in almost all of the nation's leading courts, and corporations, investors, government agencies and executives fighting over pay packages, disclosures, class certifications and mergers.

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Fla. Labs Appeal $7.3M Conn. Jury Verdict Favoring Cigna

By Carolina Bolado

Three Florida substance abuse testing laboratories filed notice Thursday promising to appeal a $7.3 million loss to Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. over billings for recurring tests on drug treatment patients the insurer said were not medically necessary.

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BANKRUPTCY

Yellow Corp. Layoff Notices Had Too Little Info, Judge Says

By Rick Archer

A Delaware bankruptcy judge has shot down some of trucking company Yellow Corp.'s defenses against claims it failed to give proper notice of more than 25,000 layoffs just before it entered Chapter 11, saying the notices it sent weren't informative enough.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

MoFo, Irell Latest Firms To Unveil Competitive Bonuses

By Aebra Coe & Hailey Konnath

Morrison Foerster LLP and litigation boutique Irell & Manella LLP have joined a chorus of firms announcing associate bonuses that meet or exceed the BigLaw standard for associate bonuses this year, with MoFo offering up to $218,200 and Irell handing its lawyers as much as $175,000.

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Approach The Bench: What Judges Had To Say This Year

By Cara Bayles

Jurists weighed the benefits of partisan elections, praised innovations in telehearings and worried about the future of the profession in nearly a dozen interviews with Law360 this year.

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Gunster $8.5M Data Breach Deal Needs More Info, Judge Says

By Matt Perez

A Florida federal judge this week denied preliminary approval of an $8.5 million settlement in a data breach class action against Gunster and demanded more information on payouts, the plaintiffs' standing in the case and a historical breakdown of settlement rates.

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NJ Bar's Diversity Plan Isn't Biased, Panel Says

By Tracey Read

A New Jersey state appeals court reversed and remanded on Friday a lower court's ruling that found the state bar association's diversity practices to be an unlawful, discriminatory quota system.

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Analysis

How Lawyers May Sue The Trump Administration … Again

By Cara Bayles

During the last Trump administration, BigLaw firms challenged White House policies, focusing on immigration, environmental regulations and healthcare. This time around, attorneys could rely on old tools, and some new tactics, to stall the executive branch.

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Biden Exceeds Trump's Record On Judges By One

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Friday the last two judicial nominations from President Joe Biden, making his total of lifetime judicial appointments 235, just one over President Donald Trump's 234.

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High Court Bar's Future: Williams & Connolly's Sarah Harris

By Katie Buehler

Sarah M. Harris of Williams & Connolly LLP never planned on being a U.S. Supreme Court advocate, or even an appellate one. She stumbled upon that career path after realizing her initial goal of becoming a national security or government lawyer wasn't the right fit.

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Legislators Key To Court Fee Relief, Chief Justices Say

By Cara Salvatore

Two state high court chief justices and a top judicial administrator have told the National Center for State Courts that while they've been able to make significant progress in abolishing unfair court fines and fees, lawmakers have been vital in enacting these changes.

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No, Microsoft Isn't Driving DOJ's Google Antitrust Suit: Judge

By Bryan Koenig

A D.C. federal judge pushed back Friday on Google's efforts to paint Microsoft as the true plaintiff in the Justice Department's search monopolization lawsuit, casting doubt during a hearing that Google should get even more information about Microsoft's relationship with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

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Feature

Litigator On The Roof: The Acting, Singing Mass. Solicitor

By Chris Villani

The top appellate lawyer in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General will be ringing in the new year by performing a comical cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, the latest show in a lengthy side career in music.

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Another Texas Judge Exits X's Advertising Boycott Suit

By Lauren Berg

The second Texas judge to oversee litigation filed by Elon Musk's X Corp. accusing the World Federation of Advertisers and others of conspiring to withhold advertising revenue from the company has recused himself from the case.

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Hagens Berman Settles Suit Over Effexor Deal Atty Fees

By Bryan Koenig

A pharmaceutical reseller's in-house counsel and founder moved Friday to drop a Mississippi federal court breach of contract suit accusing Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP of stiffing him on his share of a $13 million attorney fees award from an antitrust class settlement, citing a resolution to the dispute.

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Girardi's Mental Health To Be Evaluated At NC Federal Prison

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge said Friday she will order Tom Girardi to receive a psychiatric evaluation at a North Carolina federal correctional facility after she recently delayed his wire fraud sentencing to determine if he should be committed to a medical facility instead of prison due to his dementia diagnosis.

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Q&A

A Judge Reflects: West Wing Call, 'Alford Plea?' Early Exit

By Hayley Fowler

When Chief Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III of the North Carolina Business Court hangs up his robes for the last time on Dec. 31, he'll leave behind a white-hot docket of high-profile cases and a profusion of opinions that helped mold the court into a tribunal fit to rival Delaware's Court of Chancery.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Andrea Keckley

This week's Legal Lions leader comes from the public sector, as federal prosecutors secured a $650 million settlement from McKinsey & Co. to resolve a lawsuit over the consulting giant's role in Purdue Pharma's promotion of OxyContin.

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen the University of Southampton sue a drone-maker over the rights to an uncrewed aircraft patent, Importers Service Corp. and its subsidiary ISC Europe take action against a former director who allegedly owes the company over £1.1 million ($1.4 million), and DAC Beachcroft face a fraud claim by a "prolific litigant." 

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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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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Addleshaw Goddard

Ahmad Zavitsanos

Akerman LLP

Alston & Bird

American Center for Law & Justice Inc.

Andrews & Springer

Armstrong Teasdale

Arnold & Porter

Barrett Law Group

Blacks Solicitors

Bradley Arant

Brito PLLC

CMS Cameron McKenna

Cantey Hanger

Capozzi Adler PC

Carella Byrne

Charles Russell Speechlys

Choate Hall

Covington & Burling

Cravath Swaine

DAC Beachcroft

Davis Wright Tremaine

Dechert LLP

Dhillon Law Group

Domnick Cunningham

Fenchurch Law

Fieldfisher

Fisher & Phillips

Forsters LLP

Fried Frank

Friedman Oster

Gardner Firm PC

Gatehouse Chambers

Gibbons PC

Gibson Dunn

Girardi & Keese

Glancy Prongay

Glenn Agre

Goodwin Procter

Gowling WLG

Gunster Yoakley

Gupta Wessler

Hadsell Stormer

Hagens Berman

Halunen Law

Haynes & Boone

Hearn Law Firm PLLC

Hogan Lovells

Holman Fenwick

Holwell Shuster

Hueston Hennigan

Hugh James

Irell & Manella

Izard Kindall

Jackson Lewis PC

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Kaufman Dolowich

Keker Van Nest & Peters

Kirkland & Ellis

Kutak Rock

Labaton Keller

Lankenau & Miller

Latham & Watkins

Law Office of Rajeh A. Saadeh

Law Office of Susan E. Kaufman

Margolis Edelstein

Mayer Brown

Milbank LLP

Miller Shah LLP

Morgan & Morgan

Morgan Lewis

Morris James

Morrison Foerster

Motley Rice

Nabarro LLP

Norton Rose

O'Melveny & Myers

Orrick Herrington

Pachulski Stang

Patterson Belknap

Paul Weiss

Paynter Law Firm

Perkins Coie

Previant Law Firm

Quinn Emanuel

Raines Feldman

Raisner Roupinian

Reynolds Porter

Robbins Geller

Robinson Bradshaw

Ropes & Gray

Rosensteel Fleishman

Rosman & Germain

Ross Aronstam

Roythornes Solicitors

Sanford Heisler

Sidley Austin

Siri & Glimstad

Skadden Arps

Spector Constant & Williams

Sullivan & Cromwell

TLT LLP

Trenk Isabel

Trowers & Hamlins

Vartabedian Hester

Vinson & Elkins

Walsh Pizzi

Ward Hadaway

White & Case

Wiley Rein

Wilkinson Stekloff

Williams & Connolly

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

Wilson Sonsini

Winston & Strawn

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Civil Liberties Union

American Constitution Society

Apple Inc.

Atlantic Coast Conference

BBQ Holdings Inc.

BNP Paribas SA

Beazley PLC

Boy Scouts of America

British American Tobacco PLC

CVS Health Corp.

Cincinnati Financial Corp.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Duke Energy Corp.

Essity AB

Evercore Inc.

Exxon Mobil Corp.

FedEx Corp.

Federalist Society

GP Global

Google LLC

Gulf Petrochem FZC

HP Inc.

Honeywell International Inc.

Inovalon Holdings Inc.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Judicial Watch Inc.

Kellogg Co.

Lambda Legal Defense & Educational Fund

Macquarie Group Ltd.

Macquarie Infrastructure Corp.

Mars Inc.

Match.com Inc.

McKinsey & Co. Inc.

Meadow

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Mozilla Corp.

NVIDIA Corp.

Natixis SA

New Jersey State Bar Association

Nordic Capital Ltd.

Our Children's Trust

Pfizer Inc.

Princeton University

Prudential Financial Inc.

Purdue Pharma LP

ROC Nation LLC

Reynolds American Inc.

Rocket Cos.

Saint-Gobain SA

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Spotify Technology SA

Starr International Co. Inc.

Sutter Health

Tesla Inc.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

The Cigna Group

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The New York Times Co.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC

The Walt Disney Co.

TikTok Inc.

TransUnion LLC

Twitter Inc.

Unilever PLC

United Steelworkers

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Valero Energy Corp.

Walmart Inc.

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

Wells Fargo & Co.

Western Environmental Law Center

World Economic Forum

Yellow Corp.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arkansas Teacher Retirement System

Central Intelligence Agency

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Companies House

Delaware Court of Chancery

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Georgia Court of Appeals

Internal Revenue Service

Ohio Supreme Court

Texas Supreme Court

The Crown Prosecution Service

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

US Office of Management and Budget