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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...

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...

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...

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...

This month’s Friday Five covers the treatment of job-related stress in assessing an attorney’s disability, the requirements surrounding the qualifications of a medical professional to review a claimant’s medical records in making disability determinations, the requirements for determining disability...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to an alleged conflict of interest leading to discovery, two courts’ opposite treatments of subjective pain complaints, a decision that claims of fraud and misrepresentation were not preempted by ERISA and a court’s deference to an insurer’s...

​On February 21, 2024, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (the "PA Supreme Court") issued its decision in Ursinus College v. Prevailing Wage Appeals Board. The Pa Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court's decision that a construction project financed with tax-exempt bonds...

This month’s Friday Five explores decisions regarding the transfer of an ERISA action that was filed in a state where an insurer did not maintain sufficient minimum contacts, an award of attorneys’ fees, costs, and prejudgment interest, deference to an insurer’s interpretation of a plan’s provisions...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to the enforceability of contractual statute of limitations provisions described as a “labyrinth,” ERISA claims when the carrier allegedly misrepresents benefits, federal courts retaining ERISA jurisdiction following a related state court case, a court...

This month’s Friday Five explores a decision ordering an IME prior to a ruling on summary judgment motions, the extent claims reporting records can be sealed, the scope of ERISA preemption in the context of removal, and two decisions awarding summary judgment for the defendant despite the plaintiffs...