Episode 322 -- Checking in on Caremark Cases
Over the last ten years, we have seen a marked shift from the Delaware Chancery Court chipping away at corporate board member liability claims. In a number of seminal cases involving Boeing airplane crashes (In re the Boeing...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its decision in Matney v. Barrick Gold of North America, et al. on Sept. 6, 2023, finding that participants in an employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plan...more
On July 20, 2023, a federal judge in Massachusetts rejected defendants’ request to certify an interlocutory appeal to the First Circuit to clarify the proper pleading standard for ERISA breach-of-duty claims. See Monteiro v....more
Excessive fee class action lawsuits continued to harass plan fiduciaries and the fiduciary liability insurance market in 2022, with 88 new suits filed...more
On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit issued its opinion in Hughes v. Northwestern University, concluding that participants in two Northwestern 403(b) plans plausibly pled fiduciary-breach claims based on...more
Takeaways - The Supreme Court heard arguments in December 2021 in a case that could raise the bar for pleading ERISA fiduciary claims. A split developed in the circuits in 2021 on the arbitrability of ERISA claims,...more
In the first decision since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hughes v. Northwestern Univ., No. 19-1401, 595 U.S. ___ (U.S. Jan. 24, 2022), a Georgia federal district court held in favor of plaintiffs and declined to dismiss...more
To the disappointment of many in the ERISA community, the Supreme Court issued a six-page opinion on January 24th that declined to opine on most of the issues that were before the Court in Hughes v. Northwestern University,...more
On Monday, January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in a case of critical interest to employers offering 401(k) or other defined-contribution retirement plans. In Hughes v. Northwestern University, Case No....more
Hughes v. Northwestern University, No. 19-1401: This case concerns the proper pleading standard for certain breach of fiduciary duty claims brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”)....more
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
On December 6, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in Hughes v. Northwestern University, a case debating the allegations necessary to state a plausible claim for breach of ERISA’s fiduciary duties in cases challenging...more
This quarter’s issue of Inside the Courts — An Update From Skadden Securities Litigators includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided in May-August 2021....more
Angel v. Warrior Met Coal, Inc., C.A. No. 2019-0235-SG (Del. Ch. Jun. 30, 2021) - Under Delaware’s notice pleading standard, a plaintiff’s claim will survive a motion to dismiss if it is “reasonably conceivable” that the...more
Books and Records - Court of Chancery Orders Production of Emails, Denies Production of Privileged Communications in Books and Records Action - Emps.’ Ret. Sys. of R.I. v. Facebook, Inc., C.A. No. 2020-0085-JRS (Del. Ch....more
In a prior alert, we noted that a number of shareholder lawsuits were brought during 2020 in which large corporations and their directors were accused of fiduciary breaches and securities law violations tied to the alleged...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between November 2020 and January 2021. Derivative Litigation - Second Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between July and October 2020. Class Certification - Cryptocurrency – Definition of a Security - Derivative...more
Rule 23.1 of the Delaware Court of Chancery Rules requires a plaintiff asserting a shareholder derivative action to plead “with particularity the efforts, if any, made by the plaintiff to obtain the action the plaintiff...more
The opinion of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in Young-Allen v. Bank of America provides both hope for lenders frustrated by borrowers who delay inevitable foreclosure sales by requiring the lender to comply with every...more
“Employer securities” in retirement plans have been the source of a significant amount of litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). In general, “employer securities” are...more
National Bank Trust v Ilya Yurov & Ors [2020] EWHC 100 (Comm) provides a useful insight to the English Court's approach to pleading and evidencing fraud, emphasising the importance of properly particularised claims and...more
The United States Supreme Court, in a per curiam decision, declined to address whether plan participants sufficiently alleged breach of fiduciary duty claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as...more