This is a really good day to be returning to my countdown of the top ten most read blog posts of 2024, because just yesterday, the Supreme Court returned to a central issue in ERISA class action and excessive fee litigation: namely, what are the pleading standards and how can they be used to control the scope of such litigation, including avoiding the prosecution of essentially meritless such claims, which benefit only the defense lawyers and, if the defendant or insurer pays a settlement to avoid defense costs, then the plaintiffs’ lawyers as well.
Why does that make today a particularly propitious day for me to return to this countdown? Because the fifth most read post on this blog in 2024 was about this exact topic, with the discussion driven by a summary judgment ruling allowing such a claim to proceed in circumstances where, in point of fact, the case appears to have clearly lacked objective merit. And with that, here is the fifth most popular post from 2024, “Summary Judgment Proceedings in Breach of Fiduciary Duty Litigation: The Lessons of Sellers v. Boston College.”