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This month’s Friday Five explores decisions from around the country discussing differences between LTD and LWOP policies, the breadth of discretion available to claims administrators and the always important topic of timely action by insurers in issuing claims decisions. The Saul Ewing Employee...

This month’s Friday Five covers the treatment of job-related stress in assessing an attorney’s disability, the requirements surrounding the qualifications of a medical professional to review a claimant’s medical records in making disability determinations, the requirements for determining disability...

With the recent emergence of Name Image Likeness ("NIL") compensation, alumni associations focused on raising funds to compensate student athletes have been on the rise. But alumni associations in some form or another have been around as long as some of the oldest colleges and universities in the...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to an alleged conflict of interest leading to discovery, two courts’ opposite treatments of subjective pain complaints, a decision that claims of fraud and misrepresentation were not preempted by ERISA and a court’s deference to an insurer’s...

Within the last year ‘ChatGPT’ has become a household name. Some may even know that a company called OpenAI created the chatbot service based on artificial intelligence. What you may not know is that OpenAI applied to register the term “GPT” as a trademark, and that application was recently rejected...

This month’s Friday Five explores decisions regarding the transfer of an ERISA action that was filed in a state where an insurer did not maintain sufficient minimum contacts, an award of attorneys’ fees, costs, and prejudgment interest, deference to an insurer’s interpretation of a plan’s provisions...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to the enforceability of contractual statute of limitations provisions described as a “labyrinth,” ERISA claims when the carrier allegedly misrepresents benefits, federal courts retaining ERISA jurisdiction following a related state court case, a court...

This month’s Friday Five explores a decision ordering an IME prior to a ruling on summary judgment motions, the extent claims reporting records can be sealed, the scope of ERISA preemption in the context of removal, and two decisions awarding summary judgment for the defendant despite the plaintiffs...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to petitions for attorneys’ fees, unpersuasive self-reported evidence of disability, and a dilatory attempt to augment the administrative record. The Saul Ewing Employee Benefits/ERISA Litigation Team Western District of Wisconsin Slashes “Eye-Popping”...

This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions that range from the effect on disability benefits when medical records are not provided after two appeals, to a case that examines how an award of death benefits is determined, to a finding that an insurer’s decision to terminate benefits was not...

This month’s Friday Five explores decisions regarding the timeliness of appeals, the support necessary to sustain an LTD termination decision, a court’s discretion to credit and discredit expert opinions, the circumstances under which an insured may be required to prove they were prejudiced by the...

This month’s Friday Five addresses two cases involving disability claims that touch on Covid-19, a Circuit Court ruling for an insurer, a district court ruling that a 20-year-old regulatory settlement precluded an insurer from relying on the opinions of physicians it hired, and a claim for breach of...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to what constitutes a fiduciary function, a finding of disability despite working full-time, an enforcement of suit limitation clause, the circumstances under which reinstatement is an appropriate remedy, and ERISA preemption. The Saul Ewing LLP...

​The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create various forms of media raises interesting legal issues relating to the protection of intellectual property. Generative AI is being used to create songs that have vocals and other characteristics that mimic the sound and style of famous musicians...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to a plaintiff’s attempts to seal a complaint seeking disability benefits, an administrator’s uncommunicated decision to discontinue its investigation into certain medical conditions, an administrator’s loss of the deferential standard of review for...

This month’s Friday Five explores two recent decisions that discuss limitations on benefits when both physical disability and disability arising from mental illness are alleged, whether remand of a claim by the court constitutes a new appeal or a continuation of the previous appeal, whether an order...

This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions that reflect the precise nature of rules and definitions in the context of ERISA claims. For example, effective dates of CFR code provisions and contractually defined limitation periods can draw specific points on the timeline of a case. Similarly...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to discovery in ERISA benefits cases, an appellate court strictly interpreting ERISA regulatory deadlines, a district court authorizing an ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claim based on alleged misrepresentations from an employer, another district court...