Second Circuit Requires Reevaluation Of ERISA Attorney Fee Judgment

The Second Circuit determined that a district court erred when it denied an attorney fee award to an ERISA plaintiff who had sought benefits from a plan. In so ruling, the Second Circuit first concluded the district court incorrectly determined that the plaintiff had not achieved "some success"—a threshold requirement for an ERISA fee award—because "some success" was achieved by getting the district court to vacate its earlier decision based on an intervening Second Circuit decision. The underlying issue pertained to the appropriate standard of review where a plan allegedly did not have claims procedures that complied with the DOL regulations. The Second Circuit next determined that the district court's ruling failed to adequately apply the five-factor test used to determine the propriety of a fee award. Those factors include: (1) the offending party's culpability or bad faith, (2) the offending party's ability to satisfy an award, (3) whether an award would