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This month’s Friday Five examines recent court rulings on both short- and long-term disability benefits, focusing on key interpretations—including how "earnings" are defined under an employer’s plan. The Saul Ewing ERISA Litigation Team Whether Defendant’s decision to terminate Plaintiff’s long-term...

This month’s Friday Five explores decisions from around the country discussing the concept of reasonableness in various forms. One court rejected the parties’ proffered definitions of the term “working” and instead determined that a dictionary definition was reasonable. Two cases reflect courts...

Saul Ewing LLP is pleased to announce that Amy Kline and Caitlin Strauss have been honored in the 2025 JD Supra Readers' Choice Awards for their exemplary authorship of The Friday Five. This prestigious award recognizes the top authors and firms for exceptional thought leadership over the past year...

This month’s Friday Five addresses cases covering ERISA preemption, the viability of a claim for benefits where the claimant alleges to have not received notice of a prior claim denial, an affirmance by the Circuit Court of a denial of benefits, and District Court reviews of decisions denying...

This month’s Friday Five covers an appellate ruling on a complicated case raising both state and federal claims, an instance of procedural improprieties in the administrative review process informing the court’s substantive benefits decision, an equitable ERISA claim for an administrator’s payment...

This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions including the standard of review for ERISA benefit denials, whether structural conflict entitles a claimant to conflict-of-interest discovery, whether a “relative value units” analysis warrants equitable tolling, whether the administrative record...

This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions including the impact of a COVID furlough on eligibility for LTD benefits, what constitutes a breach of an employer’s fiduciary duty, what defines total proof of disability or is viewed as a severe procedural violation, and the appropriate weight...

When crafting an individual estate plan, you should consider whether a Revocable Trust is right for you. Below is an analysis of an artificial fact pattern and the estate plan I would recommend based on that fact pattern. For a more concise and technical explanation of the benefits of a Revocable...

This month’s Friday Five discusses cases involving ERISA preemption, the methodology for calculating qualified joint and survivor annuity benefits, a dispute over an attempt to supplement the record before the Court, a factual dispute precluding summary judgment on a bad faith claim, and the payroll...

When creating trusts for estate-reduction purposes, nothing compares to the Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust. This type of trust is referred to by the acronym “IDGT.” Called by some as an I-D-G-T and others a word that rhymes with “digit,” the IDGT is an excellent tool for reducing the value of...

Account changes by a loved one are often done in secret, and direct evidence of undue influence is rarely available. In cases where manipulation has led to changes in a beneficiary designation that have caused you harm, the claim typically hinges on whether there was a confidential relationship...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to Long-COVID, a class action RICO suit, the physical illness exclusion to accidental death and dismemberment claims, consideration due to an Administrative Law Judge’s disability determination, and self-reported claims of fatigue. The Saul Ewing ERISA...

The benefits of a Revocable Trust are three-fold. Firstly, assuming that the Revocable Trust is properly funded with all of a person’s assets, a Revocable Trust helps avoid a state’s probate procedure, which can be costly depending on the state’s specific procedure. Secondly, a Revocable Trust is an...

Most Florida residents are aware that Florida has a homestead exemption law, but there is more to it than one might think. There are actually three different sets of laws in Florida that deal with the homestead. One of those is the “save our homes” exemption. The save our homes exemption limits how...

For many clients, the inclusion of revocable and/or irrevocable trusts as part of their overall estate plan is an important feature. Revocable trusts can allow for probate avoidance and estate tax planning, whereas irrevocable trusts can be useful for leveraging the use of gift and estate tax...

This month’s Friday Five discusses cases addressing the effect of continuing to receive benefits during the period of alleged disability, reliance on an employer’s records in making a disability determination, the admissibility of expert and lay testimony from a physician in a trial over LTD...

This month’s Friday Five explores decisions from around the country discussing differences between the scope of discovery and ability to add documents to the record on a claim for review challenging the denial of LTD benefits, LTD and LWOP policies, the breadth of discretion available to claims...

This month’s Friday Five explores decisions addressing the burden of proving accidental death, policy language and “any occupation” disability, an interpleader case where the insurer was not dismissed from the case, the weight to be afforded to non-treating expert opinions and SSDI determinations...

This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions with issues spanning physician power of attorney to preexisting exclusions and the fiduciary duty of an insurance company. The Saul Ewing Employee Benefits/ERISA Litigation Team Whether a provider has sufficiently pleaded the existence of a valid...

This month’s Friday Five explores decisions from around the country discussing differences between LTD and LWOP policies, the breadth of discretion available to claims administrators and the always important topic of timely action by insurers in issuing claims decisions. The Saul Ewing Employee...