United States Supreme Court
Hardt v. Reliance Std. Life Ins. Co., 09-448
In an action alleging that defendant violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) by wrongfully denying her benefits claim, the Fourth Circuit's order vacating the district court's award of attorney's fees to plaintiff is reversed where 1) a fee claimant need not be a -prevailing party- to be eligible for an attorney-s fees award under 29 U.S.C. section 1132(g)(1); and 2) a court may award fees and costs under sectionb 1132(g)(1), as long as the fee claimant has achieved some degree of success on the merits.
Appellate Information
- Decided 05/24/2010
- Published 05/24/2010
Judges
Court
- United States Supreme Court