Just this month, the Ninth Circuit revisited the relationship between ERISA and Article III constitutional standing, recently addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Thole v. U.S. Bank, 140 S. Ct. 1615. In Winsor v. Sequoia Benefits & Ins. Servs., LLC, the Ninth Circuit held...
A federal court in Wisconsin recently allowed a putative ERISA class action in Lucero v. Credit Union Ret. Plan Ass’n to proceed to discovery on the claim that a 401(k) plan paid excessive recordkeeping fees. This decision highlights an important trend in ERISA litigation. Lucero...
ESG stands for “environmental, social and corporate governance”. In very broad strokes, ESG consists of criteria used to measure a company’s socially responsible behavior. Although the contours of ESG are still vague, there are various concrete factors that fall within each of these three categories,...
A “managed account” is a discretionary portfolio management service that makes investment decisions for individual participants within the confines of a 401(k) plan and its fund options. This service is fundamentally computerized advice (aka “robo” advice), but with the help of a personal representative. Managed...
While social distancing restrictions associated with COVID-19 are on the wane, lawsuits seeking reimbursement for COVID-19 testing are on the rise. The issue is whether federal legislation passed at the onset of the Pandemic allows out-of-network test providers essentially to name their price for the...
The Ninth Circuit just reversed decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Wit v. United Behavioral Health, which had ordered United Behavioral Health (“UBH”) to reprocess thousands of claims for behavioral and mental health treatment. Wit is an ERISA...
Yet another battle in the actuarial equivalence fight has just been resolved—and is immediately headed for appellate review. In Belknap v. Partners Healthcare System, Inc., the Plaintiff argued that the annuity payment he received from his plan was not the “actuarial equivalent” of the single...
Investments in Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are becoming more and more mainstream. Driven by outrageous returns, and presenting outrageous volatility and risk, both traditional institutional and individual investors have started to dip their toes into this uncharted territory. New guidance from the Department...
One of the more fascinating developments in group health plan law has been the growth of antitrust claims by group health plans against drug manufactures who allegedly agree to delay the production of generic drugs once a patent has expired. A federal judge in California...
Early reports suggested that a pension fund for Kentucky teachers lost approximately $13 million invested in Sberbank, one of Russia’s largest banks. The pension plan quickly refuted these stories, reporting that the plan sold its interests on Feb. 23, the day before Russia invaded Ukraine...
Just this month, the Supreme Court issued its much anticipated decision in Northwestern University, the first time the Court has been called upon to examine a lawsuit alleging that a 401(k) plan’s investment and fees were mismanaged. Although a narrow decision, the case was a...
Since the first round of cases were filed in 2006, plaintiffs’ counsel have raised hundreds of lawsuits challenging the prudence of fees and investments in 401(k) plans. One of the critical issues in those cases is what needs to be included in a complaint to...
Lawsuits by out-of-network medical providers against ERISA plans and their third party administrators rank as one of the most common ERISA-type cases being raised these days. In these cases, out-of-network medical providers purport to provide services to patients—often substance use or mental health treatments—and then...
Fiduciaries are not guarantors of an investment’s success. Rather, all they are asked to do is be diligent, prudent, and loyal in managing an investment’s success—the ultimate success or failure of the investment does not determine whether a fiduciary has properly complied with their duties. ...
Regular followers of ERISA litigation know that the so-called 401(k)/403(b) “fee” cases have dominated the ERISA litigation space ever since the first tranche was filed in 2006. Literally hundreds of cases have been filed against defined contribution plan fiduciaries, resulting in the payment of billions...
Vanilla ERISA claims seeking plan benefits may well be the most common lawsuit encountered by federal judges. Even so, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not expressly contemplate how these ERISA claims for benefits—with their unique limits on discovery and discretionary standard of review...
The United States Supreme Court’s constitutional standing decision in Thole continues to reverberate throughout ERISA litigation. In Scott v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc., the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota dismissed challenges to United’s cross-plan offsetting practices because the plaintiffs, plan participants, themselves...
In Negron v. Cigna Health and Life Ins., the Plaintiffs alleged that CIGNA misinterpreted their standardized group health plans and caused pharmacies to charge participants with higher copays than was proper. Plaintiffs sought to certify a class of all participants in the various group health...
Andrew HollyAndrew represents clients in a wide range of complex civil matters.
Nick BullardNick is a trial partner in Dorsey’s office in Minneapolis. ...
Tim ArendsChair of the Benefits and Compensation practice group, Tim devot...
Shannon BjorklundShannon provides advice and litigation assistance to companies...
Tim GoodmanTim Goodman works with employers on medical plans, retirement pl...
Paul HeiringIn addition to litigating a broad range of ERISA cases, Paul Hei...
Alan IversonAlan is a litigator in Dorsey’s trial group with a focus on cli...
Stephen P. LuckeSteve represents businesses, employers, insurers, and fiduciarie...
Melinda MaherMelinda is a Partner in the Benefits & Compensation practice group....
Marianne O'BaraMarianne works regularly with numerous non-U.S. companies and t...
Kirsten SchubertKirsten helps clients large and small navigate all aspects of com...
Michael VovesEmployee Benefits, Minneapolis
