A federal court has allowed an insurance company to argue a previously waived defense in a disability benefits case, deviating from typical procedural rules. In Safer v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co., 2021 WL 2370381 (E.D. La. June 9, 2021), the plaintiff filed a lawsuit after the insurer denied his claim for long-term disability benefits.
Patent law is not ordinarily the place an ERISA practitioner would look to gain insight concerning ERISA civil procedure. However, in a recent patent ruling issued by the Supreme Court, Kappos v. Hyatt, 132 S. Ct. 1690 (April 18, 2012), the Court presented fodder for rethinking the manner in which ERISA cases are adjudicated. Kappos […]
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving patent law may revive procedural challenges to the means by which Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) cases are adjudicated. In Kappos v. Hyatt, 2012 U.S.LEXIS 3107 (U.S.S.Ct. April 18, 2012), the Supreme Court examined a provision of the Patent Act of 1952 enabling a patent applicant whose […]
Due to the quasi-administrative law paradigm the courts apply in Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) cases, no issue has confounded the courts more than the scope of permitted discovery. In Wise v. Life Ins.Co. of North America, 2012 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 50231 (C.D.Ill. April 10, 2012), the plaintiff, Linda Wise, sought accidental death benefits under an ERISA plan sponsored by her late husband’s employer, Honeywell International Inc. The plan was underwritten and insured by the Life Insurance Company of North America (LINA), a CIGNA company.
A simple issue that has nonetheless confounded the courts in Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) benefits litigation is the question of who may be sued as a defendant.
Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are all-encompassing when it comes to civil matters adjudicated in federal court, when it comes to employee benefit cases brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) statute, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a), courts often set aside basic federal civil procedure. The recent 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of […]