Fla. College, Ex-Worker End Suit Over Retirement Plan Costs

By Patrick Hoff

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has resolved a former employee's lawsuit claiming the school loaded its retirement plan with expensive investment options and failed to keep administrative expenses in check, according to a Tuesday filing in Florida federal court.

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AT&T Avoids Plan Participant's 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

An AT&T worker failed to state a claim for violations of federal benefits law in a proposed class action alleging that employee 401(k) plan forfeitures were misspent, a California federal judge found, tossing the suit.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Can Appeal Pension Suit To 2nd Circ.

By Kellie Mejdrich

Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb and its investment manager can ask the Second Circuit to review a decision from September denying their motion to dismiss a pension dispute for lack of standing, a New York federal judge ruled.

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Mass. Health Co. Settles 401(k) Suit Over Pricey Fees, Funds

By Grace Elletson

A Cambridge hospital system agreed to settle a proposed class action claiming it mismanaged its $280 million retirement plan and cost workers millions in savings by failing to reduce management fees and trim costly funds from the plan, according to a Massachusetts federal court filing.

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MVP: Latham's David Della Rocca

By Kellie Mejdrich

David Della Rocca of Latham & Watkins LLP served as lead benefits counsel on high-profile mergers and acquisitions over the past year, including Cox Communications' $34.5 billion merger with Charter Communications and Permira's $7.2 billion acquisition of Squarespace, earning him a spot as one of 2025 Law360 Benefits MVPs.

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Investment Co. Inks Deal To End Royal Caribbean 401(k) Fight

By Patrick Hoff

Russell Investments Trust Co. has agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve class action claims that it loaded Royal Caribbean's employee retirement plan with underperforming proprietary funds while serving as its investment manager, the plan participant leading the suit has told a Florida federal court.

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1st Circ. May Nix Trump Funding Freeze In 'Weird' Case

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit on Tuesday hinted that a federal judge may have been in bounds when blocking the Trump administration from withholding certain funds for states, expressing skepticism that the judge's order was improper or overly broad.

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Litigation Funding Could Create Ethics Issues For Attorneys

A litigation investor’s recent complaint claiming a New York mass torts lawyer effectively ran a Ponzi scheme illustrates how litigation funding arrangements can subject attorneys to legal ethics dilemmas and potential liability, so engagement letters must have very clear terms, says Matthew Feinberg at Goldberg Segalla.

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Bonus Spotlight

BigLaw Begins To Fall In Line With Cravath Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, McDermott Will & Schulte LLP and Dechert LLP are among the law firms following the lead of Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP on year-end associate bonuses this week, with at least five large firms matching the market leader within a day of Cravath's Tuesday announcement.

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Troutman Owes $3.7M In Atty Fees After $1M Malpractice Loss

By Jake Maher

Troutman Pepper Locke LLP must pay $3.7 million in attorney fees to a healthcare tech company that won on malpractice claims against the firm in 2024 after six years of litigation and an eight-day bench trial, a New Jersey state judge has ordered.

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Dissent Accuses Redistrict Ruling Of 'Judicial Misbehavior'

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit judge denounced the judge who penned a federal court order blocking Texas' newly redrawn congressional map, saying in a Wednesday opinion the order blocking the redistricting amounts to the "most blatant exercise of judicial activism" he had ever seen.

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Halligan Says Grand Jury Never Saw Final Comey Indictment

By Jared Foretek

U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan acknowledged Wednesday that the full grand jury in the James Comey case never saw or voted on the final version of the indictment that was handed up to the court in the case. An attorney for Comey said the clarification was grounds for dismissal.

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Alaska Senator Pushes For Better Vetting After Judge Scandal

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said on Wednesday that after a federal judge in his state resigned in disgrace last year, he decided he had to revamp his selection process for judicial nominees.

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Pillsbury Asks 2nd Circ. To Guard $4M Client Fee From SEC

By Aaron Keller

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on Wednesday urged the Second Circuit to allow it to keep a $4 million advance payment retainer from the since-convicted former CEO of a bankrupt cybersecurity company, but the law firm conceded it should have clarified its rights after the government sought an asset freeze.

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Latham DQ'd From Sleep Apnea Device Co.'s Patent Fight

By Madison Arnold

A Delaware federal court has disqualified Latham & Watkins LLP from representing the creator of a sleep apnea implant in its patent dispute after the firm served as counsel to the rival's underwriters, saying the "appearance of impropriety is glaring."

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The House's Plan B For Repealing Provision On DOJ Lawsuits

By Courtney Bublé

If the Senate does not take up a bill to repeal a provision in the government funding package allowing senators investigated by former special counsel Jack Smith to sue for damages, a Republican House member is already making contingency plans.

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Justices Told Presidential Firing Limits Is An 'Originalist' Idea

By Katie Buehler

A bipartisan collection of current and former government officials has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a 90-year-old ruling that empowers Congress to prohibit the president from firing certain agency officials at will, claiming the precedent has roots that date back to the country's founding and reflects key separation of powers principles.

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