News & Analysis as of September 20, 2024

Supreme Court of the United States › Contract Interpretation

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The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the United States and is charged with interpreting federal law, including the United States Constitution. The Court's docket is largely discretionary with only a limited number of cases granted review each term. The Court is comprised of one chief justice and eight associate justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to hold lifetime positions. less -

New York Court of Appeals Rules That $140 Million Disgorgement Payment to SEC Is Not an Uninsurable ‘Penalty’

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP on 12/6/2021

On Nov. 23, the New York Court of Appeals held in a 6-1 ruling that an investment firm’s $140 million disgorgement payment to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was not a “penalt[y] imposed by law” under the firm’s...more

Top SCOTUS Cases that Matter for Tech, Life Sciences and Games Industries – 2018 Term Preview

Fenwick & West LLP on 10/2/2018

As the U.S. Supreme Court kicks off its 2018 term this week, it prepares to take up a series of firsts, including questions about the America Invents Act, securities fraud and privacy-related class action litigation. At the...more

High Court Orders Sixth Circuit To Clean Up Its Retiree Health Benefits Case Law ‘Mess’

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 3/6/2018

Collective bargaining agreements, including those that establish ERISA plans, should be interpreted according to ordinary principles of contract law, the U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed in a per curiam opinion. CNH...more

Supreme Court Reaffirms Rejection of Inferences in Retiree Health Benefit Dispute

Miller Canfield on 2/23/2018

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals decision holding that that former employees of CNH Industrial N.V. were entitled to lifetime, vested healthcare benefits. The opinion, issued yesterday,...more

Put It in the CBA: Supreme Court Once Again Finds Retiree Health Benefits Are Not Vested

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 2/23/2018

On February 20, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States tackled another controversy from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether retiree medical benefits enjoyed by individuals who retired while a collective...more

Tackett Redux: Ordinary Principles of Contract Interpretation Mean No Inference of Vesting

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on 2/22/2018

In an opinion released yesterday, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) must be interpreted according to “ordinary principles of contract law.” CNH Industrial N.V. v. Reese, No. 17-515,...more

Supreme Court Overrules Sixth Circuit (Again) In Class Action Dispute Over Retiree Medical Benefits

BakerHostetler on 2/22/2018

Is Yard-Man really dead this time? This issue should never have arisen, the Supreme Court should not have had to address it in 2015, and it shouldn’t have required Supreme Court attention a second time just three years...more

District Court Rules Johnson Controls Retirees Not Entitled to Lifetime Health Benefits

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on 4/22/2016

A district court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania held that, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s decision in M & G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, 135 S. Ct. 926 (2015), the Third Circuit’s rule that clear and express...more

U.S. Supreme Court Describes “Ordinary Principles of Contract Law”

Smith Anderson on 2/19/2015

In a contract governed by federal law, does “The End” really mean “The End”? Some federal courts have said “no,” but the U.S. Supreme Court has just said “yes.” ...more

U.S. Supreme Court Rebukes Reliance on Yard-Man In Retiree Health Benefit Dispute

Miller Canfield on 1/27/2015

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth Circuit’s reliance on retiree-friendly inferences set forth in UAW v. Yard-Man are incompatible with ordinary principles of contract interpretation and should not be used when...more

Supreme Court Decides M & G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 1/27/2015

On January 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided M & G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, No. 13-1010, holding that ordinary principles of contract law govern the interpretation of pension and insurance provisions of...more

Traditional Contract Rules Determine Whether Retirees Are Entitled to Lifetime Healthcare Benefits

Fisher Phillips on 1/27/2015

Yesterday, in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that courts must apply ordinary rules of contract interpretation when determining whether retiree healthcare benefits vest for life pursuant to the terms of a...more

Health Plans Petition the Supreme Court to Determine Whether FEHBA Preempts State Anti-Subrogation Statutes

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck on 9/29/2014

The Federal Employees Health Benefit Act (FEHBA) governs federal employee health plans and contains a broad preemption clause comparable to the one found in ERISA.1 Despite the similarity, state and federal courts are split...more

After the Supreme Court's Limelight Decision, Attention May Shift to Contract Analysis in Patent Cases

Foley & Lardner LLP on 7/3/2014

In Limelight Networks, Inc. v. Akamai Tech., Inc., the Supreme Court unanimously held that there can be no liability for induced infringement of a patented method where the steps of the method are carried out by separate...more

The Contract Is King: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Two Recent FAA Decisions

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 10/10/2013

The U.S. Supreme Court addressed contract terms bearing on the availability of class arbitration in two opinions this term. The first, Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, confirms a district court’s limited power under the...more

"Business Cases in the US Supreme Court"

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 7/15/2013

The U.S. Supreme Court recently closed its 2012 term with its usual headline-grabbing flurry of June decisions. Several of those decisions, as well as many more that received less publicity, will affect business interests. In...more

In Oxford Health, Supreme Court Requires Class-Wide Arbitration of an Individual Claim

Holland & Knight LLP on 6/21/2013

In its recent decision in Oxford Health Plans LLC. v. Sutter, 569 U.S. ____ (2013), the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that parties to an arbitration agreement still face the risk of class arbitration even if the agreement does...more

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Class Arbitration Ruling Where Parties Asked Arbitrator To Decide the Issue

Ballard Spahr LLP on 6/19/2013

In a rare unanimous decision on an arbitration issue, the Supreme Court upheld an arbitrator's ruling permitting the arbitration to proceed on a class-wide basis....more

Supreme Court Defers to Arbitrator on Class Arbitration

King & Spalding on 6/18/2013

On June 10, 2013, the United States Supreme Court unanimously affirmed in Oxford Health Plans v. Sutter an arbitrator's decision to allow class arbitration based on contractual language in a physician's dispute with a health...more

Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter: You Get What You Bargain For, Including the “Good, Bad, or Ugly”

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation on 6/17/2013

Ever have that feeling that your arbitrator just doesn’t understand you? You may be right, but there’s not much you can do about it. A recent unanimous ruling by the United States Supreme Court should encourage employers to...more

Fenwick Employment Brief - June 2013: U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Classwide Arbitration, Finding Arbitrator “Arguably” (Even if...

Fenwick & West LLP on 6/17/2013

In Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, the United States Supreme Court affirmed an arbitral decision allowing the plaintiff to proceed with classwide arbitration even in the absence of express language to that effect in the...more

Narrow Supreme Court Ruling Upholds Arbitrator's Decision that Parties' Agreement Permits Class Arbitration

Littler on 6/14/2013

In Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, the United States Supreme Court was asked to determine "whether an arbitrator exceeds his powers under the Federal Arbitration Act by determining that parties affirmatively 'agreed to...more

Supreme Court Upholds Arbitrator’s Decision Regarding Class Arbitration

Morgan Lewis on 6/12/2013

Court holds that an arbitrator did not exceed his powers under the Federal Arbitration Act in finding that class procedures were authorized because the parties agreed that the arbitrator could decide the question....more

Supreme Court Holds That Courts Must Defer To Arbitrator’s Decision To Authorize Class Arbitration

Troutman Pepper on 6/12/2013

On June 10, 2013, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held in Oxford Health Plans, LLC v. Sutter that an arbitrator’s decision to authorize class arbitration will not be disturbed under Section 10(a)(4) of the Federal...more

Supreme Court Decision Highlights the Danger of Allowing an Arbitrator to Decide Whether Parties Agreed to Class Arbitration

Morrison & Foerster LLP on 6/12/2013

In Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, No. 12-135 (U.S. June 10, 2013), the Supreme Court unanimously held that where the parties to an arbitration agreement authorize the arbitrator to decide whether their agreement allows...more

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Supreme Court of the United States › Contract Interpretation

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