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Mike Reilly is a nationally recognized labor, employment and employee benefits attorney, named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys in the Nation” for the past five consecutive years by Human Resource Executive®. He has decades of experience providing strategic employment advice, and has represented clients in more than 75 jury trials, arbitrations, bench trials and claims before the EEOC and Washington State Human Rights Commission.

Small and large employers retain Mike for his strategic advice and decades of experience in employment issues and litigation, business decisions and litigation avoidance. Mike provides advice in claims involving discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, disability accommodation, ERISA and non-ERISA employee benefit claims, and wage/hour claims. He served as lead counsel in an employee raiding/trade secret case as reported in the Wall Street Journal, and defends employers in class action claims.

Mike’s remarks on employment issues have been quoted in NewsweekCorporate Legal TimesSeattle TimesEmployee Relations Law JournalPuget Sound Business JournalCFO.com, and other professional journals and management publications. Chambers USA’s Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Businessrates Mike in the top ranking (band one) for his work in labor and employment law, and has described him as “one of Seattle’s top-rate attorneys” who is “truly phenomenal [with] superb legal instincts” and “an amazingly assertive litigator.” His clients include Nordstrom, Seattle Seahawks, Home Depot, KeyBank, Starbucks, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Red Robin and Seattle Chamber of Commerce, among others.

You already know that the final battleground in lawsuits seeking ERISA-governed long term disability (LTD) benefits is whether a prevailing plaintiff should be awarded prevailing party attorney fees.

Should plaintiffs always recover attorney fees when the ultimate decision to deny benefits “was a close call” …and both sides’ positions had merit? No.  And this

You know that the ERISA regulations set out claims procedural requirements.

Whether the claims administrator complied with the claims procedure requirements is often a key battleground when a court is determining if the long term disability claim was improperly denied.

This new case highlights the arguments Plaintiffs’ may make in challenging claims handling, and how

As you know, the federal circuits have varying approaches to resolving ERISA denial-of-benefit cases. Some circuits use Rule 56 summary judgment as a process to resolve these cases, while the trend has been to use Rule 52 bench trials to resolve cases.

A new case highlights that, in cases applying de novo review, Rule 52

Can the ERISA claims administrator “cure” inadequacies, made during its initial claim denial, during the appeal process? Yes.

Did a claims administrator’s recommendation, that a claimant receive a job-accommodation, constitute sufficient proof of disability?  No.

This new case highlights these issues: Canter v. AT&T Umbrella Benefit Plan No. 3, 33 F.

What is the most efficient way to invite the district court to resolve ERISA-benefit claims?

What’s the difference between using Rule 56 motions for summary judgment, versus a Rule 52 Motion for Judgment?

This new case highlights why Rule 52 motions may be the preferred motion to efficiently resolve ERISA benefit claims.  Avenoso v. Reliance

What happens when an ERISA-governed disability claim is denied solely under the “own occupation” provision, but a reviewing district court concludes the claimant is entitled to “own” occupation benefits?

Does an insurer “waive” an evaluation of the “any occupation” provision because the insurer denied the claim solely on the “own occupation” standard? NO.

Can the