Longtime readers of this blog know that I don’t comment on my own on-going cases, but that I will pass along interesting decisions from my cases, without much comment or analysis, when I think they provide some value to readers. In that vein, attached is a recent 22 page opinion in favor of one of
Preemption
Notes on The John Marshall Law Review’s Special Edition on “The Past, Present, and Future of Supreme Court Jurisprudence on ERISA”
Here’s a neat special edition of the John Marshall Law Review, covering Supreme Court Jurisprudence in advance of an employee benefits symposium at the law school. Several of the articles in particular jump out at me as a practitioner as being right on point with key issues playing out in the courtroom; I think it…
Tails I Still Win, Heads You Still Lose: More on the Fiduciary Status Under ERISA of Traditional Banks
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Looks like everybody knows a good story when they see it. Here’s a nice CCH piece on the same Sixth Circuit decision I discussed in my last post, concerning the fiduciary status of a depository institution under ERISA.
Interestingly, the whole deconstructionist/critical legal studies movement (I know I am dating myself by at least…
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: The Privileged Position of Traditional Banks in ERISA Litigation
By Stephen Rosenberg on
All right now, its time to get back up on the horse – the blogging horse, that is. I didn’t actually go on vacation for the last month, believe it or not – I had a major brief concerning a piercing the corporate veil case against a corporate officer due not long after the July…
ERISA Preemption and the Legal Services Plan
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Preemption
I have a bias against writing short posts that just, in essence, pass along someone else’s work, without additional analysis, commentary or spin, which is good in many ways but does mean that it is tough to post when I am particularly busy at my day job. Nonetheless, I did want to pass along this…
ERISA Preemption: Depends on What You Mean by the Word Relate
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Preemption
I really, really like this opinion, to paraphrase Sally Field’s perhaps most famous line (or perhaps not, since she never actually said it.) I like it because it deals really well, and out of a highly respected court, with a question that often bedevils not just courts, but also lawyers trying to determine the scope…
Does the Bell Toll for Discretionary Clauses?
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Preemption, Standard of Review
I have been wondering about the question of whether state insurance commissioners can effectively gut the industry practice of including discretionary clauses in disability policies by refusing to approve forms for use that include them, or whether ERISA preemption precludes that action. I was preoccupied with a trial at the end of October when the…
Preemption, the Supreme Court, and Job Losses
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I had two disparate items that I wanted to post on, one of which I didn’t really think had anything to do with the subject matters of this blog but that, nonetheless, was too cool a graphic not to pass on. Sitting here this morning, though, I figured out how to hook them together, so…
If the Plan Fits, You Must Acquit (Or at Least Preempt)
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Preemption
Here’s an interesting case for you. Here in the First Circuit, we have plenty of case law making clear that theories of liability that serve as alternative enforcement mechanisms to those set forth in ERISA itself are preempted. What about the circumstance where the cause of action is not necessarily an alternative enforcement method but…
On Preemption of Pay or Play Acts and the Supreme Court
By Stephen Rosenberg on
File this, I suppose, in the department of inevitable events – lawyers representing the restaurant industry have filed to have the Supreme Court review the Ninth Circuit ruling finding that the San Francisco pay or play ordinance is not preempted by ERISA. This is one of those instances where you can bet how the case…