In Criss v. Union Security Ins.Co., 2014 WL 2707774, 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 79300 (N.D.Ala. June 11, 2014), Judge William Acker, Jr. challenged the current methodology utilized by courts in adjudicating benefit disputes brought under ERISA. The court based its premise on the universally recognized legal maxim, nemo judex in causa sua; i.e., “No man should be […]
DeBofsky & Associates recently partnered with United Policyholders on an amicus brief in the high-profile ERISA case of Rochow v. Life Insurance Company of North America.
In Gordon v. Deloitte & Touche LLP Group Long Term Disability Plan, 2014 U.S.App.LEXIS 6688 (9th Cir. April 11, 2014), the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was called upon to decide the question of whether an expired limitations period may be revived by insurer’s conduct after the time for bringing suit had ended.
Statutes of limitation can be very confusing in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases. Since the provision of ERISA that authorizes claimants to sue to recover benefits (29 U.S.C. Section 1132(a)(1)(B)) lacks its own statute of limitations, courts borrow the most analogous limitations period under state law. But if the benefit plan contains its own […]
Congress authorized claimants seeking employee benefits due under ERISA to bring a ‘civil action’ to recover benefits due or obtain appropriate equitable relief. 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a). The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure contemplate only one form of civil action; and civil actions are to be adjudicated utilizing the procedures specified by the civil procedure […]
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act law creates a number of perverse incentives for insurers that administer benefit claims. Without the availability of remedies beyond the restoration of benefits due, insurers can earn significant profits on delayed payments. A recent 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, Rochow v. Life Ins. Co. of North America, […]