Proskauer Rose LLP | USA | 13 Jul 2010
In the wake of Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 130 S. Ct. 2149 (May 24, 2010), in which the Supreme Court held that a party must achieve "some success on the merits" in order to obtain an attorney’s fee award under ERISA, two federal circuits have concluded that the so-called "five-factor test" for determining such awards used by many district courts prior to Hardt remains an......
Proskauer Rose LLP | USA | 13 Jul 2010
For plan counsel, the defense of claims for benefits is often complicated by the rather pro-participant nature of ERISA's rules governing the statute of limitations.
Proskauer Rose LLP | USA | 29 Jun 2010
On June 24, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held, in Durakovic v. Building Service 32 BJ Pension Fund, 2010 WL 2519645 (2d Cir. 2010), that Taft-Hartley funds (administered by boards of trustees consisting of an equal number of union and employer representatives) are inherently conflicted when making benefit determinations, and that this conflict needs to be considered......
Proskauer Rose LLP | USA | 3 Feb 2010
In Pollitt v. Health Care Serv. Corp., 558 F.3d 615 (7th Cir. Mar. 10, 2009), cert. granted (Oct. 13, 2009), the Seventh Circuit vacated and remanded the district court’s finding that the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act (“FEHBA”) preempted a participant’s claim that Health Cares Services Corporation (“HCSC”) acted in bad faith by terminating her son’s coverage and seeking reimbursement......