When I was in college in D.C. lo these many years ago, a friend of mine’s uncle took us out to dinner at the Watergate complex (still the only time I have ever been inside it). He had been a tech guy at HBO in its early days, when he quit on the spot over
Stephen Rosenberg
Stephen has chaired the ERISA and insurance coverage/bad faith litigation practices at two Boston firms, and has practiced extensively in commercial litigation for nearly 30 years. As head of the Wagner Law Group's ERISA litigation practice, he represents plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, financial advisors, plan participants, company executives, third-party administrators, employers and others in a broad range of ERISA disputes, including breach of fiduciary duty, denial of benefit, Employee Stock Ownership Plan and deferred compensation matters.
Will Climate Change Bring With It an Insurance Apocalypse?
Many of you know that I have been writing about the intersection of the insurance industry and climate change for almost long as this blog has existed. I have long been interested in the economic relationship between the two, as the industry responds to climate losses and, in so doing, forces homeowners and other insureds…
Moral Hazard, Homeowners Insurance and Climate Change
The relationship between climate change and the insurance industry has been a favorite hobbyhorse of mine for over a decade, since I learned that Lloyd’s was closely studying the potential impact of climate change on insurance rates, profits, underwriting and the like. Good for the industry, I said then in my blog, for taking a…
If Football Season Is in the Air, It’s Time to Talk About the NFL’s Concussion and CTE Benefits for Former Players
The Washington Post has a fascinating article today on the operation of the NFL’s disability claim system for addressing benefits due for neurological impacts from professional football. Although likely behind a paywall, the article is certainly worth a read. Its point is really that the system, which is the outcome of a negotiated class action…
What Happens in Massachusetts, Stays in Massachusetts: Determining Whether Unfair Practices Occurred in Massachusetts for Purposes of a Chapter 93A Claim
This is a quick note on a new Chapter 93A decision by the Massachusetts Appeals Court that I want to highlight for a couple of reasons. Chapter 93A, for those readers from out of state, is Massachusetts’ consumer protection and unfair business practices statute. The statute is a very powerful weapon in the right case…
The Supreme Judicial Court Reminds Us That Ambiguity Is Not Something That Exists Just In the Eye of the Beholder
This is a fun but dry (don’t worry – you will get the joke in a second) decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on whether rainwater that accumulates on a roof constitutes “surface waters” for purposes of an insurance policy. Of more practical value to most lawyers and of more interest to me, however…
Why Turning Excessive Fee Class Action Litigation Into More of an Insurer Managed Exposure Will Benefit Both Insurers and Plan Sponsors
Jacklyn Wille of Bloomberg Law, who by now knows more about ERISA litigation than most ERISA litigators, has an interesting article out (you can find it here; subscription may be required), concerning court approval of a “$1.7 million class settlement benefiting participants in an Advance Auto Parts Inc. subsidiary’s retirement plan . . .
Loper, Chevron and the (Underrated) Value of Predictability
I suspect that no one understands as well as an ERISA litigator the extent to which the rules governing judicial decision making either determine the outcome of a dispute or, at a minimum, dictate a specific and limited range of potential outcomes as well as establish the respective odds of each. In the context of…
What Does a $2.45 Million Settlement of an ERISA Class Action Tell Employers and Plan Sponsors About Risk Management?
This is a fascinating story of risk management and the commodification of ERISA class action litigation. It’s the story of a $2.45 million settlement of a class action concerning the alleged use of outdated mortality tables in a pension plan. For many years, including by me in this blog, ERISA lawyers and commentators have been…
Long Covid and the Problem of Subjectivity in LTD Litigation
At this point in my career, I have litigated just about every type of ERISA claim I can think of, from denied benefit claims to deferred compensation/top hat claims to class actions. I have even made new law in the still developing area of equitable relief under ERISA. I got my start in ERISA litigation…