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This month's Friday Five covers cases relating to issue preclusion, coverage where the policy terms are inconsistent with the parties’ behavior, application of the abuse of discretion standard of review, applicability of a waiver of premium provision and compliance with a mandatory appeals process...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to potential impacts of COVID-19, full and fair review of the claim file, an attempt to use an insurer’s internal policy against itself, and a “second bite at the apple” by amending a complaint for denial of benefits to include a claim for breach of...
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...
This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions that illustrate the importance of the administrative record built by a claims administrator, and the impact that the depth and thoroughness of the record will have on litigation over claims decisions. Whether reviewing claims under the de novo...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to augmentation of the administrative record following new rationales, attempted alternative ERISA causes of action, untimely ERISA claims, plans governed by ERISA even in the absence of a written plan document, and the limited weight given to residual...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to the interpretation of time periods for claims under life insurance and disability plans, a situation where three separate administrators handled a disability benefits claim (but came to different decisions), the Eleventh Circuit’s parsing of...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to interpretation of ambiguous policy terms, evaluation of claimant’s expert witness, inclusion of law firms as appropriate parties from whom plan administrators may seek equitable relief, transfer of cases from the claimant’s choice of venue, and...
This month’s Friday Five addresses cases considering: (1) whether monetary relief in the amount of lost benefits is an available remedy for breach of fiduciary duty; (2) the validity of an ex-spouse’s beneficiary designation that contradicts a subsequent divorce decree; (3) if waiver of a pre...
See Eidelman on Page 11
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to interpretation of regulatory deadlines, the enforceability of discretionary clauses, circuit courts going both ways on appeals from summary judgment rulings in favor of plans, and a benefits award for a former professional football player where the...
David Berk counsels families and their businesses, entrepreneurs and start-up companies in taxation, structuring transactions, contract negotiations and governance issues. David also advises clients on corporate succession planning, trust and estate planning, insurance and retirement planning and...
Bill Nussbaum handles complex litigation for colleges, universities and other institutions of learning that are facing sensitive disputes around issues such as racial and gender discrimination and employee misconduct. His skill at managing legal teams to present difficult cases comes from more than...
Sheldon Satisky concentrates his practice in sophisticated estate planning, wills and trusts, probate and trust administration, post-mortem tax planning, charitable giving, family succession planning and tax issues relating to these matters. He has spoken before various business, professional and...
Amy Kline is a commercial litigator whose practice is focused on the representation of insurers and reinsurers in complex civil litigation. She is co-chair of the firm's Insurance Group and a member of the Executive Committee. Amy has extensive trial and appellate experience in federal and state...
Caitlin Piccarello Strauss is a commercial litigator who represents companies in disputes involving insurance, employee benefits and ERISA, real estate, and restrictive covenants. As a leader of the Firm's Employee Benefits and ERISA Litigation team, she regularly defends insurers in life, health...
Jim Goodrich handles commercial real estate transactions and construction contracts across the United States for developers, owners, higher education institutions and major construction companies. Jim's approach to negotiations is to start with commercially reasonable documents and then to cut to...
Zachary Berk focuses his practice on complex civil litigation matters, with concentrations in business and real estate litigation. His experience also includes representing clients in consumer financial services, intellectual property, employment and trade secret related matters. Zach regularly...
Counsel on Claims, Litigation, Transactions, Opinions and Compliance The legal landscape affecting the insurance industry is constantly changing. Whether the result of technological advances and corresponding risk exposures, ever-evolving case law affecting coverage and bad faith standards, or...
Tom Prevas is a leader in environmental and energy law. Tom's environmental litigation practice includes mass-product environmental litigation, including MTBE, PFAS and climate change, as well as enforcement and private actions relating to pollution and contamination. Recently, he has advised...
Michael Joyce assists clients with litigation, including a wide variety of commercial disputes and insurance matters. His commercial litigation experience includes high-stakes contractual disputes, intellectual property and software cases, trade secret misappropriation and other injunction matters...