Ever mystified by what goes on inside that black box with the colorful flat screen on top that sits on your desk at work? Me too, and when I am I check in with my colleague Robert Plotkin, a patent prosecutor who specializes in computer patents. Robert is a fine source of expertise on
California, Health Insurance and ERISA Preemption
There’s an entertaining little story today in the Boston Globe on the question of whether, in the next few weeks, the California legislature and the Governor will roll out a state plan to reform health insurance by adding fees and other obligations to the employer provided health care system with the intent of providing universal
Bad Faith Failure to Settle and the Obligations of Excess Carriers
I wanted to return for a moment to a decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from earlier this month, Allmerica Financial Corporation v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds’ London, in which the court held that an excess carrier that had issued a follow form policy to an insured was not bound by or required
When Does Plan Language Mandate De Novo Review?
I wanted to take a moment over the next couple of posts to return to a couple of cases from earlier this month that are worth a look and a comment, but that I haven’t had a chance to talk about yet. One of them is a decision by Judge Lindsay of the United States
Latest Events at the Anne B. Kingsley Ovarian Cancer Foundation
I think every blog should have an official charity or good cause, and this one’s is the Anne B. Kingsley Ovarian Cancer Foundation. Not only is it a truly good cause, but it also falls under this blog’s bailiwick, given that the Foundation’s founder is long-time insurance industry executive Robert Kingsley. The Foundation is
20th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference
I wanted to pass this along while the electronic brochure was still (fairly) hot off the metaphorical presses and cooling off in my in-box. Here’s the information for West Legalworks’ 20th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference, held in, well, probably the three best places you could pick: Florida in February, and California and New York City
The Joint Defense Privilege in Massachusetts, With a Little Insurance Thrown In For Good Measure
Here’s a dog bites man story: the joint defense privilege exists in Massachusetts. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the topic, the joint defense privilege allows parties on the same side of the dispute in a multiparty litigation to share information amongst themselves and their various attorneys without waiving the attorney client privilege.
A Clear Signal on ERISA, the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act and Criminal Restitution Orders in the First Circuit
Here’s a curious case out of the First Circuit yesterday that is, and isn’t, about ERISA, but hints at how the First Circuit would handle a particular issue of some importance with regard to ERISA’s protection of retirement benefits. I have talked in the past about a decision out of the Ninth Circuit a few
Misrepresentations Under ERISA Plans: Is There A Cause of Action?
Here’s an interesting case out of the First Circuit this week concerning an attempt to use an equitable estoppel theory to force a plan to pay supplemental life insurance benefits even though the former employee covered by the plan had not submitted the necessary health forms to qualify for that coverage. The case, Todisco v.
I Got Them Low Down No Good Pension Blues
On the first Monday morning in August I expect things to lighten up with lots of people on vacation and the like, so I scheduled a breakfast meeting this morning right in the middle of one of Massachusetts’ most congested highways (well, not really in the middle of the highway, more like at a restaurant