Legal News

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin recently addressed an employer's responsibilities to accommodate an employee's religious beliefs. In EEOC v. Walmart Stores East, LP, the court examined whether Walmart was required to...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Zander v. Carlson, 2019 IL App (1st) 181868, November 21, 2019 - Union-appointed lawyers are immune from malpractice lawsuits filed by formerly represented union members, an Illinois appeals court has affirmed. The First District Appellate Court...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Law Partnerships – Age Discrimination Against Law Firm Partners – Owners or Employees – Civil Rights Laws - Von Kaenel v. Armstrong Teasdale, LLP, 943 F. 3d 1139 (2019) - Risk Management Issue: Are law firm partners "employees" and therefore...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

In Fortier v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., 916 F.3d 74 (1st Cir. 2019) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit clarified ERISA's timing requirements with respect to appealing an adverse benefits determination and rejected a claimant's...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

In Rittinger v. Healthy Alliance Life Ins. Co., 914 F.3d 952 (5th Cir. Jan. 31, 2019), and Roebuck v. USAble Life, 380 F. Supp. 3d 852 (E.D. Ark. Mar. 30, 2019), the courts found no abuse of discretion where the ERISA plan administrators denied...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

In Nichols v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 924 F.3d 80 (5th Cir. 2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that when an LTD policy funding an ERISA plan defines "regular occupation" as the way the claimant's job is performed in...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

In Daneman v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42881 (C.D. Cal. March 11, 2019), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California held that an insurer's statement in a claim denial letter that it would reconsider the...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Seeking to control healthcare costs, many group health plans have adopted amendments that lower reimbursement rates for the treatment of end-stage renal disease ("ESRD"), which requires long-term dialysis treatment or a kidney transplant, resulting...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently articulated a new statutory framework for determining whether notice to a putative plaintiff should be issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). At issue was whether a...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

In Shah v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25695 (S.D. Ohio Feb. 19, 2019), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio dismissed a plaintiff insured's bad faith and punitive damages claims where there was a genuine...By: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP