This being – roughly – the start of a new month, I engaged in my usual habit of reviewing any ERISA decisions issued in the past month by the courts in the First Circuit, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything while busy with the usual run of business. As it turns out, on
Pension Reform
I have talked before about the depressing topic of the termination of retirement benefits, and the role of ERISA in that scenario. As almost no one failed to notice, the Senate just passed the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which makes “significant changes to practically every retirement plan,” as Jerry Kalish notes. I am fond
Additional Insureds
Hurricane Katrina Insurance Claims
Readers of this prior post know that I had some questions as to whether the Maryland legislature engaged in the necessary amount of due diligence before enacting the Fair Share Act. There is certainly much to be said, though, for the very fact of state legislatures attempting to resolve difficult problems, such as the availability
Coverage Lawyers, and How to Pay Them
It seems like everyone is weighing in on the question of billable hours and alternative fee arrangements these days. My colleague and occasional lunch companion – and forceful proselytizer for abandoning the billable hour – Chris Marston weighed in on his blog the other day on the evils of the billable hour and his belief
Long Term Disabilty Benefits, Human Behavior and Standards of Review
An article in the New York Times yesterday on men who simply won’t go back to work caught my eye because at times expressly and at other times by implication, it delves into the potent mix of cultural and behavioral forces that seem to impact what we offhandedly refer to as “work ethic.” The behavioral
Fielder’s Tentacles
While I have been focused on the interior life, if you will, of the decision in Retail Industry Leaders Association v. Fielder – its reasoning, whether it was correctly decided – others have been focused more on the impact of the decision outside the state of Maryland. Jerry Kalish of the Retirement Plan Blog has
Objectivity in Providing Coverage Advice
With too much on my plate at the beginning of the week, I told David Rossmiller that I was not going to borrow from his terrific post early this week on the thought process needed to provide advice on coverage issues. As the week has gone by, however, I find myself regularly returning to it.
Employment Law and Insurance Defense
I made a prediction some years ago – long before I had a blog on which to note such things – that the rise of employment practices liability insurance (commonly known as EPLI), which covers employment related claims, would eventually transform the market for employment law services, moving it further away from a traditional corporate
A Fine Piece of Insurance Policy Analysis
I turn today from my recent obsession with ERISA preemption and the Wal-Mart case to other arguably unhealthy obsessions, including insurance coverage decisions, contract interpretation and the fine art of drawing a good judge. On Monday, the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued its opinion in American Commercial Finance Corp. v. Seneca Insurance Co.,in which the