Lesbian Spouse of Deceased Cozen Partner Sues Firm and Spouse’s Parents Over Benefits

Married in Canada to a Cozen O’Connor partner, the lesbian spouse of Sarah Ellyn Farley filed a counterclaim in federal court in Philadelphia yesterday staking a claim to benefits following Farley’s death. Naming the firm and Farley’s parents as defendants, Jennifer Tobits says she is entitled to her spouse’s profit-sharing…

Aug 2, 2011 8:27 PM CDT

Get a Plan B: Disability Insurance Needs to Be in Your Insurance Plan

Jun 1, 2011 6:00 AM CDT

Mack Trucks, Volvo Settle Benefits Case Brought by Retirees for $525M

Mack Trucks and its parent company, Volvo, agreed to pay $525 million to retired employees who challenged the company’s proposed reductions to lifetime health benefits in an Eastern District of Pennsylvania class action lawsuit. According to the Legal Intelligencer, Senior U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick gave preliminary approval of…

May 17, 2011 8:24 PM CDT

Scalia Accuses Majority of ‘Blatant Dictum’ in Paving a Second Avenue for ERISA Relief

The U.S. Supreme Court is giving about 25,000 Cigna Corp. employees another chance to force changes in the company’s pension plan. The Supreme Court opinion (PDF) said the employees may be entitled to relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, but not under the provision applied by the federal…

May 16, 2011 3:43 PM CDT

NYC Lawyer Who Was Overpaid Pension Due to Computer Error Loses Legal Bid to Keep It

A former lawyer in the New York City Corporation Counsel’s Office isn’t entitled to keep a pension overpayment caused by a computer error, a judge has ruled. After seven years of pension payments, lawyer Alice Olick learned she had been overpaid $33,000, the New York Law Journal reports. The New…

May 3, 2011 1:49 PM CDT

Suit Claims Ropes & Gray Gave Female Partner’s Clients to Younger Male Lawyers

A fired Ropes & Gray partner has filed an age and sex discrimination suit that contends the firm ousted her at age 63 after she complained that her clients were being transferred to younger male lawyers. Patent lawyer Patricia Martone filed the suit Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, Above the…

Mar 25, 2011 1:27 PM CDT

Ex-Ice Miller Associate Files ERISA Suit, Says Disability Payments re Motorcycle Accident Botched

A former associate of Ice Miller has filed an ERISA suit against the Indianapolis-based law firm contending that it messed up the long-term disability payments he was supposed to receive after a 1987 motorcycle accident that left him unable to work there due to cognitive impairment. Michael Bailey, 50, is…

Mar 22, 2011 10:52 PM CDT

Law Firm Offers Better, Cheaper Medical Benefits via Self-Insurance Plan

If a lawyer or staff member at Stevens & Lee needs medical care, the law firm has a straightforward plan for covering such costs—it simply pays the bill. By self-insuring, it not only is able to continue to offer the same medical benefits in an era of cost-cutting but save…

Mar 15, 2011 5:44 PM CDT

AG of Ill. Sues Over Pension Board’s OK of Benefits to Disgraced Police Commander

After a pension board’s OK last month of a $3,000-a-month pension to a former Chicago police commander accused of playing a leading role in alleged widespread torture of suspects by his officers decades ago, the state attorney general has stepped into the fray. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued today…

Feb 7, 2011 7:01 PM CST

Death of Female Partner Puts Cozen Firm in Center of Same-Sex Marriage Comity Case

The death of a female partner of Cozen O’Connor has put the law firm in the center of a dispute over a cutting-edge same-sex marriage issue—whether a marriage that is legal in one jurisdiction should be recognized as valid in another in which the parties would not have a right…

Jan 10, 2011 6:50 PM CST

Children Conceived with Dead Father’s Sperm May Be Entitled to Survivor Benefits, 3rd Circuit Rules

Children conceived by way of in vitro fertilization with their father’s sperm after he had died cannot be denied Social Security survivor benefits simply because the law has failed to keep pace with advances in reproductive technology, a federal appeals court has held. The posthumously conceived twins in this case…

Jan 7, 2011 11:51 PM CST

Ex-Employees Sue Stern’s Foreclosure Law Firm and Related Company Over Hundreds of Layoffs

After laying off hundreds of employees in the last few months, a law firm and related company known for their mortgage foreclosure work on behalf of lenders are now themselves the target of litigation. The law offices of David J. Stern and a related processing company, DJSP Enterprises, didn’t comply…

Dec 1, 2010 11:11 PM CST

Hospital Tries to Nix Power of Attorney After Daughter Seeks More Care for Her Mom

An adult daughter who holds a power of attorney to make medical decisions for her 86-year-old mother says Dolores Bedin, who is suffering from inoperable pancreatic cancer, isn’t strong enough to go home. But Northwestern Memorial Hospital disagrees. In an effort to get Bedin discharged, the medical center has asked…

Nov 9, 2010 3:13 PM CST

Lawyer Sentenced to Anger Course After Elevator Incident with Social Security Judge

A federal magistrate judge found an Oregon disability claims lawyer guilty of disorderly conduct and sentenced him to a year of probation and an anger management course after a three-year series of incidents between Daniel Bernath and a social security judge escalated into an elevator altercation at an administrative hearing…

Oct 14, 2010 4:38 PM CDT

After 1-Year Wait, Judge Jane Stranch Is Confirmed by Senate for 6th Circuit Seat

After a record-breaking wait of more than one year, a Nashville, Tenn., attorney was confirmed by the U.S. Senate today for a seat on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate voted 71 to 21 in favor of Jane Branstetter Stranch, who has waited longer than any…

Sep 13, 2010 10:52 PM CDT