Seventh Circuit reads plan language to discount plaintiffs’ rate argument *

USA - March 20 2013
Judge Posner of the Seventh Circuit provided a remedial lesson in calculating a present value before getting down to the legal merits in a recent…

Co-authors: Christopher Busey, Brian M. Stolzenbach.

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First Circuit declares unconstitutional a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act *

USA - June 7 2012
On May 31, 2012, in Gill, et al., v. Office of Personnel Management, et al., Case Nos. 10-2207 & 10-2214, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit unanimously declared unconstitutional Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”).

Co-authors: Ian H. Morrison .

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Sixth Circuit rejects alternative-investment theory for measuring damages in stock-drop case, holds plaintiff benefitting from alleged fiduciary breach cannot proceed *

USA - May 29 2012
On Friday, in Taylor v. KeyCorp, Nos. 10-4163, -4198, -4199, (6th Cir. May 25, 2012), the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal in an ERISA stock-drop case, holding the remaining proposed named class plaintiff lacked standing because she could not establish an “injury in fact” when she sold the majority of her holdings in the company stock for a profit at a time she claims the stock was artificially inflated.

Co-authors: Megan E. Troy , Ronald J. Kramer.

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Moench presumption is here to stay: two appellate courts affirm dismissal of stock drop cases at pleadings stage *

USA - May 16 2012
On May 8, 2012, the Eleventh and Second Circuits affirmed two district court dismissals of “stock drop” cases at the pleadings stage, joining the long line of recent decisions that demonstrate skepticism towards stock drop claims. 

Co-authors: Megan E. Troy , Ian H. Morrison .

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Seventh Circuit rules that private disability plans may offset payouts with dependent social security disability benefits *

USA - March 22 2012
On March 2, 2012, in Schultz v. Aviall, Inc. Long Term Disability Plan (Case No. 11-2889), the Seventh Circuit held that two private disability insurance plans may reduce payouts by the amount a participant’s children receive in Social Security benefits as a result of the participant’s disability.

Co-authors: Ian H. Morrison , Alexis Hawley .

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