Firm Blogs
- Cigna Agrees to Re-evaluate and to Compensate Disability Insureds in the Amount of $77 million
Thu, 23 May 2013 12:14:51 -0800
By Gary Bresee
In a wide ranging re-evaluation of disability claims covering its insureds in California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, Cigna Corporation may pay up to $77 million in past disability income insurance claims. According to a statement by Cigna yeste...
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- Judicial Notice Doctrine Bolstered by Court of Appeal Decision
Tue, 21 May 2013 11:40:34 -0800
A recent California decision should make it easier for insurers to attack allegations at the pleading stage in state court actions.
In Scott v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, the California Court of Appeal clarified that, when ruling on the sufficiency of a plaintiff’s allegations, a trial court ...
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- California Supreme Court Hears Argument on Whether Insurance Code Limits UCL Lawsuits Against Insurers
Fri, 10 May 2013 10:28:18 -0800
By Samuel Sorich and Larry Golub
On May 8, 2013, the California Supreme Court convened to hear oral argument in Zhang v. Superior Court. The case presents the issue of whether conduct of an insurer, which is related to conduct that would violate California’s Unfair Insurance Practices Act, Ins...
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- Cigna Agrees to Re-evaluate and to Compensate Disability Insureds in the Amount of $77 million
Thu, 23 May 2013 11:02:29 -0800
By Gary Bresee
In a wide ranging re-evaluation of disability claims covering its insureds in California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, Cigna Corporation may pay up to $77 million in past disability income insurance claims. According to a statement by Cigna yeste...
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- Attorneys' Fees Reduce ERISA Plan's Recovery From Common Fund
Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:28:07 -0800
By Robert Renner and James Hazlehurst
The United States Supreme Court ruled today that absent an express provision to the contrary, the amount an ERISA plan can recover from a plan participant’s lawsuit against a third-party tortfeasor must be reduced proportionately by the amount of attorneys...
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- Supreme Court Considers Accrual of Statute of Limitations in ERISA LTD Plan
Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:19:53 -0800
On April 15, 2013, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review a case involving the question of when the statute of limitations accrues for judicial review of an adverse benefits determination under an ERISA long-term disability plan.
On November 18, 2010, Julie Heimeshoff (“...
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- Five-Day Extension For Mailing Applies To Deadline To File Timely Cost Bill
Wed, 22 May 2013 08:46:29 -0800
In Nevis Homes LLC v. CW Roofing Inc., 2013 DJDAR 6187(2013) the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District decided a procedural issue pertaining filing a memorandum of costs. The court clarified the rules and stated that no statute or rule of court specifically exempts cost m...
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- Defense Cost Analysis in Complex Environmental Fee Claims
Mon, 20 May 2013 09:32:44 -0800
By David J. McMahon & Jeevan Subbiah
Introduction
Many of our litigation management audits involve complex environmental cleanup cases. In these cases, it is important to first evaluate the underlying matter, including the fact patterns of the various lawsuits, in relation to the contested ...
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- Last Minute Amendment By Counsel To Augment Fee Claim Rejected By Court
Wed, 15 May 2013 12:38:17 -0800
In Duchrow v. Forrest, 2013 DJAR 5534 (2013) the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District decided a unique fee claim arising in a procedural context.
An attorney, the Plaintiff, retained counsel to sue her employer for employment‑related claims. Under the retainer agr...
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- Attorney Fees Not Available In Mixed Motive Retaliation Claims Under Title VII, Seventh Circuit Rules
Mon, 06 May 2013 20:51:46 +0000
Under Title VII, in “mixed motive” discrimination cases (i.e., discrimination motivated in part, but not entirely, by an impermissible factor), an employer may limit Plaintiff’s recovery where it can show that it would have made the “same decision,” regardless of the im...
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- Analysis: Controversy Surrounding Obama’s NLRB Recess Appointees
Fri, 19 Apr 2013 22:16:18 +0000
As an employer, you may be perplexed by the flap over President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and concerned about what it all means for business. Your confusion is justified; the situation remains fluid and no one knows just where the dust will sett...
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- President Obama To Abandon Recess Appointees to the NLRB
Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:39:00 +0000
The drama surrounding President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) took an unexpected twist this week as the President announced his intention to nominate three new members. As we have reported, earlier this year the D.C. Circuit in Canning v. NLR...
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