The Fifth Circuit concluded that an individual plaintiff was not entitled to attorneys’ fees, even though she persuaded the Fifth Circuit to vacate and remand a summary judgment decision in favor of the Humana Health Plan, because her victory was “purely procedural.” While ERISA section 502(g)(1) provides that a court “in its discretion may allow … Continue Reading
The Fifth Circuit concluded that a plan participant was not entitled to recover attorneys’ fees for obtaining a remand order requiring the district court to apply a de novo, rather than abuse of discretion, standard of review to the administrative determination of her benefit claim. In so ruling, the Court applied the principles enunciated by … Continue Reading
The Second Circuit determined that a district court erred when it denied an attorney fee award to an ERISA plaintiff who had sought benefits from a plan. In so ruling, the Second Circuit first concluded the district court incorrectly determined that the plaintiff had not achieved “some success”—a threshold requirement for an ERISA fee award—because … Continue Reading
The Ninth Circuit ruled that a district court erred by failing to consider the entire course of the litigation when analyzing a request for attorney’s fees under ERISA and remanded the case for a calculation of fees. A plan participant filed suit against a plan and insurer seeking disability benefits. The plan, in turn, filed a cross-claim against … Continue Reading
The court in Tussey v. ABB Inc., No. 2:06-cv-04305 (W.D. Mo. Dec. 9, 2015), a long-running suit alleging that ABB failed to monitor recordkeeping fees and improperly mapped participants’ investments (previously reported on here), awarded class counsel $11.7 million in attorneys’ fees and affirmed its earlier award of $2.28 million in costs and class representative … Continue Reading
The Third Circuit held that the catalyst theory of recovery applies to ERISA cases when determining whether to award attorneys’ fees. In this case, Plaintiffs (two individuals and two pharmacies) filed suit against Defendant insurance companies for denial of benefits under ERISA. After their motion to dismiss was denied, Defendants paid the claims in full. … Continue Reading
The Second Circuit recently had occasion to provide guidance to the lower courts on the standard for evaluating an ERISA attorneys’ fee application following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 560 U.S. 242 (2010). As previously reported, in Hardt, the Supreme Court observed that ERISA’s fee shifting provision … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous opinion that an unresolved claim for attorney’s fees does not prevent a decision on the merits of an ERISA suit from becoming final for purposes of the deadline to file a notice of appeal to a federal appellate court. Ray Haluch Gravel Co. v. Cent. Pension Fund … Continue Reading
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