Geez, I hope it isn’t something I said. Some of you may remember that a little while back, in a post discussing why I blog predominately on ERISA and insurance issues but only occasionally on intellectual property issues, I mentioned that there were a lot of terrific intellectual property blogs already out there, mentioning in
The End of the Pre-History of Retirement
Here is an entertaining history of retirement in a nutshell, at least up to the new world we inhabit today, in which defined contribution plans govern and employees bear all the risk. What is interesting to note is that this conventional version of the story basically ends with the – effectively, in any event –
A Real World Legal Guide to Issuing Reservation of Rights Letters
Now this is neat. Here is something that, at least to insurance coverage people, is actually pretty cool. In a world in which most published articles in the legal realm take place on a somewhat airy level, we don’t see enough pieces that provide practical information that is useful in dealing with the nitty gritty
Using Up My Fifteen Seconds of Fame
There were a lot of things on my desk I could post about today, but I am going to take the easy – and self-promoting – way out, and pass along this article from Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on the W.R. Grace decision out of the First Circuit on the question of standing in ERISA cases,
Notes for a Friday
Some More Thoughts on the Primacy of the ERISA Plan Document
Judge Gertner of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has an interesting, if brief, ruling that is just out granting a motion to dismiss a severance pay claim under an ERISA governed plan. What caught my eye about it relates back to this post I wrote a few weeks ago, in
The First Circuit on ERISA Standing
Very interesting case out of the First Circuit the other day on the question of whether former employees satisfy ERISA standing requirements with regard to defined contribution plans. Short answer is they do, but the Court’s analysis and discussion is an interesting open field run across a range of issues that are both explicit and
What Effect Does MetLife v. Glenn Have on Discovery in Denial of Benefit Claims?
Apparently none, at least according to the first ruling on this question I have seen out of a court in the First Circuit. In a ruling by a magistrate judge, the United States District Court for the District of Maine has concluded that MetLife v. Glenn does not change the rules in the First Circuit
Understanding ERISA Preemption as a Legitimate Congressional Policy Determination
Many, many people object to ERISA preemption, viewing it as some sort of nasty trick that defendants use to avoid liability in ERISA related cases. Do a quick search for ERISA and preemption on Google Blog and you will find that out pretty quick. But to me, they misunderstand preemption, which was a legitimate policy
Promises, Promises . . .
Rob Hoskins over at the always interesting ERISABoard has an interesting story about a Second Circuit decision that essentially says “too bad” to a plan participant’s waiver/estoppel theory seeking benefits. The story is consistent with what seems to be a trend in which courts frequently fall back to the terms of the actual plan to