Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

First Agency, Inc., et al. v. Dakotas and Western Minnesota Electrical Industry Health and Welfare Fund, etc.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, No. 16-1846, 16-3319, 16-3375 · judgment August 3, 2017

Certiorari denied · March 19, 2018

Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

In this insurance coverage dispute, did the Eighth Circuit mistakenly apply this Court’s clear direction for interpreting Section 502(a)(3) of ERISA, and specifically this Court’s recent decision in Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan, 577 U.S. ___ (2016), when it held that Plaintiff ’s standard request for declaratory relief sought “equitable relief ” under Section 502(a)(3)?
Did the Eighth Circuit err when it affirmed the lower court’s interpretation of the two insuring documents based on outdated ERISA cases involving “federal common law”?

For petitioner
Jonathan B. Frank
Maddin Hauser

For respondent
Bryan James Morben
Kutak Rock, LLP

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Related
Vide, 17-1008

Mar 19 2018
Petition DENIED.
Feb 21 2018
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/16/2018.
Jan 16 2018
Brief of respondent Dakotas and Western Minnesota Electrical Industry Health & Welfare Fund in opposition filed.
Dec 13 2017
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 16, 2018)