On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Mar 4, 2020 | Disability Insurance, ERISA, ERISA - Abuse of Discretion, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, ERISA - Fiduciary Duty, ERISA - Standard of Review, Insurance Litigation Blog
In a recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Bain v. Oxford Health Insurance, 2020 WL 808236, the Court held that it is an abuse of discretion for an insurance company to rely on unreasonable medical necessity guidelines, to...
On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Sep 26, 2018 | Disability Insurance, Discovery, ERISA, ERISA - Abuse of Discretion, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, Firm News, Health/Medical Insurance, Insurance Litigation Blog, Life Insurance
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), a 1974 federal law, sets minimum standards for many employee benefit plans and serves to provide protection for individuals in these plans. Discovery in ERISA cases is often limited because the statute’s primary...
On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Jul 25, 2018 | Accidental Death or Dismemberment, Disability Insurance, Disability Insurance News, ERISA, ERISA - Abuse of Discretion, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, Firm News, Health/Medical Insurance, Insurance Litigation Blog, Life Insurance, News
Few Americans can retire on their savings alone. Many workers participate in an employee benefits plans, which serve to provide financial security in case of disability or retirement. In the case of insurers that decide who qualifies for life, health and disability...
On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Apr 29, 2015 | Case Updates, Disability Insurance, Disability Insurance News, ERISA, ERISA - Abuse of Discretion, ERISA - Administrative Record, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, Firm News, Insurance Litigation Blog
On April 22, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision affirming the district court’s decision to award McKennon Law Group PC’s client, an attorney (“insured”), his past-due ERISA plan benefits, as well as attorneys’ fees, costs...
On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Sep 16, 2014 | ERISA, ERISA - Abuse of Discretion, ERISA - Administrative Record, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, ERISA - Fiduciary Duty, ERISA - Standard of Review, Firm News, Health/Medical Insurance
Sometimes an administrator so unashamedly abuses its discretion in handling an insurance claim that its actions constitute a textbook example of “what not to do” for other administrators and the ensuing decision provides a clear illustration of how courts apply an...
On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Dec 11, 2012 | Disability Insurance, Disability Insurance News, ERISA, ERISA - Abuse of Discretion, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, ERISA - Standard of Review, Firm News, Insurance Litigation Blog, News
On November 27, 2012, following a trial before Judge Cormac J. Carney of the United States Federal District Court for the Central District of California, Robert J. McKennon and Scott E. Calvert of the McKennon Law Group secured a victory for their client in a lawsuit...
On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Sep 20, 2012 | Disability Insurance, Disability Insurance News, ERISA, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, Firm News, Insurance Litigation Blog
Are insureds entitled to communications between an insurance company’s in-house counsel and the claims handlers that might otherwise be protected by the attorney-client privilege? Following a new ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, if the claimant is...
On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Apr 27, 2011 | Disability Insurance, Disability Insurance News, ERISA, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, Firm News, Insurance Litigation Blog
Terrance Burnett was eligible for short-term disability (“STD”) benefits and long-term disability (“LTD”) benefits through employee welfare benefit plans funded by his employer, The Raytheon Company, and administered by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company...
On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Jan 14, 2010 | Case Updates, ERISA, ERISA - Abuse of Discretion, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, ERISA - Standard of Review, Firm News, Insurance Litigation Blog, News
Recently, in Montour v. Harford Life & Accident, 582 F.3d 933 (9th Cir. 2009), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in one of its most important cases, adopted a new standard of reviewing ERISA abuse of discretion cases where the insurer has a conflict of...
On Behalf of McKennon Law Group PC | Jan 14, 2010 | Case Updates, Disability Insurance, Disability Insurance News, ERISA, ERISA - Abuse of Discretion, ERISA - Conflict of Interest, Firm News, Insurance Litigation Blog, News
The Ninth Circuit recently addressed, for the first time, whether the standard of review analysis for “top hat”ERISA plans is the same as for other ERISA plans. InSznewajs v. U.S. Bancorp Amended and Restated Supplemental Benefits Plan, 572 F.3d 727 (9th Cir. 2009),...
