We have all taken note of the run up in filings of very large breach of fiduciary duty cases against plan fiduciaries that are based on the tremendous losses incurred in investments held by plans as a result of the subprime lending mess. The filings themselves are noteworthy, and the numbers, losses and alleged misconduct
You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide From ERISA
Two interesting but different stories that both relate to the broad impact that ERISA has across the workplace. Here, in this first one, you find the story of the Third Circuit concluding that certain death benefits were not pension, but instead welfare, benefits, which did not vest and could be revoked, despite long time
Retaliate for Seeking Benefits?
Probably the only really note worthy decision out of the First Circuit with regard to ERISA while I was out of the office is this one here, in Kouvchinov v. Parametric Technology Corp., which addressed the standards for proving a claim of retaliatory job action in response to a claim for ERISA governed
Recent Case Law on Extra-Administrative Discovery After Glenn
When people start emailing you to inquire about your health, you know you have been away from your blog too long. Rumors of my demise, however, were premature, as I was simply on vacation; normally I keep up with developments and am able to put up some posts while away, but I didn’t get a
What Patry Has to Do With ERISA
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