Ouch. Here’s a story bashing Wal-Mart for having very high plan fees in its 401(k) plan, and wanting to know why in the world it doesn’t negotiate lower fees when it has some ten billion dollars in assets to use as leverage. I am sure the plaintiffs’ class action bar has the same question. A
How Will Climate Change Affect LTD Carriers?
Who knows? The only link between the two subjects that I know of right now is that this blog post is going to touch on both issues.
There are a couple of stories I thought I would pass along today that may be worth reading. In the first, here, I am quoted on climate change
Ten Ways to Stay Out of Trouble
I talk a lot on these electronic pages about compliance. Its really, from my perspective as a litigator, an ERISA lawyer’s take on the old sports saw that the best defense is a good offense. I often say that, in this economy and this investment market, any problems in the operations of a plan will
Disability Insurers, False Claims and Social Security Benefits
Here’s a story worth reading, about a case worth paying attention to, namely the pending First Circuit appeal – argued yesterday – concerning whether a long term disability insurer – namely Unum – engages in false claims when it instructs beneficiaries to also apply for Social Security disability benefits. Simply put, group long term disability
Climate Change Litigation and Insurance Coverage
I have posted in the past about how everything eventually makes its way through the insurance industry, in terms of any types of new lawsuits or liability theories, and as this article makes clear, litigation over climate change will be no different. The suits are coming, and while their viability is yet to be determined
On Attorneys Fees and Hecker
Honestly, I have spent a week scratching my head, off and on, over the Supreme Court granting cert to consider the standards governing when attorneys fees can be awarded in an ERISA case, particularly when they denied cert shortly thereafter in Hecker, which presented the opportunity to address the much more substantive issue
Here’s What the Court Will Do In Conkright v. Frommert
Alright, here we go on Conkright v. Frommert, which will be argued at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. SCOTUS has the full run down of the case and what is at issue right here, and long time ERISA blogger Paul Secunda has an amici brief before the Court on the core issue, which
Is There A Disjunct Between Excessive Fee Cases and the Real World?
Here’s a very interesting article from the Financial Times on the Deere/Wal-Mart line of 401(k) suits, in which class actions are being brought on behalf of plan participants alleging that fees in the plans at issue were too high and insufficiently disclosed. I have discussed in other blog posts the essentially diametrically opposed results in
BusinessWeek on BrightScope
I have posted frequently on BrightScope and their work in rating 401k plans, and in particular about their decision to rate them in a Zillow like manner that can be quickly understood by employees. Here’s a terrific article out of BusinessWeek on the site, and on the people behind it. Its an excellent way to
Blending De Novo and Deferential Review
I just noticed I haven’t posted since last year, for a few weeks to be more accurate, due to the usual end of the year crunch and a briefing schedule in a case overlaid on top of that to boot. No matter the reason, it runs afoul of my general feeling that you shouldn’t host