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U.S. Ninth Circuit/
Amgen ERISA Case Is Back Again to Haunt the 9th Circuit
By Jonathan R. Tung, Esq. on January 27, 2016 | Last updated on March 21, 2019
It looks like Ninth Circuit Judge Kozinski was particularly prescient in his prediction. SCOTUS has handed down a reversal to the federal appeals court, thus starting another round of litigation of securities allegations against the pharma maker, Amgen.
Amgen has been through the Ninth Circuit for two rounds already on grounds that the company knew long ago that the company's stock was overvalued and yet continued to allegedly violate ERISA. An excellently written summary of Amgen's court troubles was summarized by FindLaw's Casey Sullivan.
Dual Suits
The suit originates from issues that began long before news got out that several of its most profitable drugs could have been potentially fatal for millions of people. This is because company retirees say that the company actually knew that trials for the drugs were already pointing to bad news as early as the late 1990s.
Amgen is an unenviable position of having to handle at least two major lawsuits from multiple angles. The ERISA lawsuit is coming from one group of investors alleging what essentially amount to knowing violations of fiduciary duties owed to investors. Yet another group of plaintiffs are suing based on the company's alleged pumping up of the stock price.
A "Presumption of Prudence"
The Supreme Court upheld class certification for those who were allegedly injured because of artificial inflation of the Amgen stock. But the ERISA case is actually more telling. It appears that there is some fundamental disconnect between how the Ninth Circuit and SCOTUS understands the ruling in FifthThird, a case that is directly on point because it settles the issue of "presumption of prudence." In that case, SCOTUS ruled that there is no "presumption of prudence" for employee stock ownership plan fiduciaries except save only for their "duty to diversify."
In the words of the ruling: "The court leaves to the District Court in the first instance whether the stockholders may amend it in order to adequately plead a claim for breach of the duty of prudence guided by the standards provided in Fifth Third." In any case, "[the court] has not found sufficient facts and allegations to state a claim for breach of the duty of prudence."
Jim Hamilton's World of Securities Regulation (Jim Hamilton Blog)
Costco Slave Labor Suit Dismissed (FindLaw's California Case Law Blog)
L.A. Gas Leak Spews Methane, Lawsuits (FindLaw's California Case Law Blog)
Raymond 'Shrimp Boy' Chow Guilty on All 162 Criminal Counts (FindLaw's California Case Law Blog)


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What is it like to fly Cathay Pacific premium economy?
Kay, one of the lovely flight attendants
It's easy to fall in love with the flawless service of Cathay Pacific premium economy service.
Our flight to Hong Kong from New York's JFK promised to be the longest we had ever booked: 15 hours and 20 minutes from gate to gate, not including the time entailed getting to and from airports. I can't tell you that it went quickly. That's enough time (theoretically) to read a couple of books, watch a few full-length feature movies and catch some shuteye.
Despite my anxiety over the length and distance of the flight, our time onboard Cathy Pacific premium economy was relatively comfortable and relaxed, so much better than what we had anticipated.
We had checked into the costs of flying business class to Asia and the costs were prohibitive. Yet the thought of flying crunched up in economy seats seemed daunting. Premium economy seating seemed like a great compromise and our globetrotting son had flown Cathay Pacific premium economy several times, urging us to give it a try.
Founded in 1946, this flag carrier of Hong Kong now flies to some 90 destinations in 30 countries, and operates five nonstop flights per day between New York City and Hong Kong.
A founding member of the Oneworld Alliance, Cathay Pacific also has a subsidiary called Dragon Air that operates flights to other Asian-Pacific destinations.
Living Room (as it's called in the trade)
We flew on Flight CX841, a Boeing 777-300ER with four classes of service: first-class, business, premium economy and new economy. After we got over the "seat envy" of passing through the cabin with lie-flat business class seating, we settled into seats 33D and E in the premium economy section of the plane.
There were only 34 seats in our intimate-size cabin with its own lavatory, which was very nice. Seats were configured 2-4-2 in five rows (By the time we booked, we were only able to secure seats in the center section of the cabin, which turned out not to be a problem.)
With a pitch of 38" and width of 19.5," the seats were quite comfortable, sufficiently padded, and came with a multi-position footrest. These premium economy seats offer six additional inches of pitch (over economy) with a comfortable recline for dozing. Overhead bins are more than ample for carryon luggage.
Tip: The worst seats in the house had to be those in Row 30 of our cabin. Although they had plenty of legroom, passengers from the left side of the plane had to pass over the outstretched legs of these passengers to go to and from the lavatory on the right side of the plane.
Service and Food
No small feat on a snowy day: Our flight left and arrived on time.
Check-in at JFK was easy with a courteous and professional agent at the desk. The airline doesn't have its own lounge at JFK but partners with British Airways, which operates the comfortable Galleries Lounge.
Overhead bins are more than ample for carryon luggage. Our bags were on the carousel at the international airport in Hong Kong soon after we passed through relatively short lines at immigration and customs
The bilingual Cathay Pacific flight crew was extremely gracious and efficient, far better trained and more hard-working than those we've encountered on many American and international carriers. They seemed happy, which is unusual given the state of the airline industry today.
Service throughout our flight was flawless: Pillows, full-length blankets, and noise-cancelling headphones were on each seat when we boarded. In the seat pocket, was an eye-catching amenity kit, made of felt with illustrated black and white scenes of street life in Hong Kong; it contained eyeshades, earplugs and a toothbrush.
Cathay Pacific amenity kit
Flight attendants handed out hot towels and a choice of juice or water even before we left the tarmac. A short time later, they returned with meal menus and explained we would be served breakfast soon after takeoff and dinner halfway through the flight. Then they walked through again with a round of water bottles. By the time they arrived with antiseptic towels, my husband quipped, "I don't even have time to read the paper."
There was one more round of complimentary beverages (alcoholic or soft drinks) with smoked almonds before we were served breakfast, a choice of an American breakfast or congee (a rice-based porridge that's traditional in Asian breakfasts). Based on the "when in Rome theory," I opted for the congee, which was delicious. It was flavored with ginger, green onions, and abalone, and served with fresh fruit and a croissant.
My introduction to congee, rice porridge
Dinner was a duck stew that was adequate but nothing memorable, served with an appetizer of smoked salmon and potato salad. For dessert, flight attendants handed out small cups of creamy Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
Duck stew with plum sauce, pineapple, jasmine rice and bok choy
The state of the lavatories might well be the best measure of a carrier's service. They were as clean and fragrant when we were close to arrival in Hong Kong as they were when we left New York. Most other airlines practice benign neglect.
Entertainment and Technology
Each seat had its own inflight entertainment system with a choice of first-run movies, art house movies, Asian and Chinese cinema (with subtitles), and new releases. A nice countdown clock allowed us to keep track of the remaining time until our destination.
Engaging animated safety video
The personal monitor had a handy USB port and also allowed passengers to stream movies from an iPod, iPhone or iPad.
Given our experience, Cathay Pacific premium economy would be our go-to choice for any long-haul flight to Asia. The cost of premium economy fare is about 30 percent higher than economy but well worth it given the comfort, perks and service we received.
For more information, including routes, see the Cathay Pacific website.
On Holy Smithereens: Cathay Pacific London to Hong Kong in Business Class.
Also on More Time To Travel:
What is it like to fly Aeromexico?
What is it like to fly British Airways?
What is it like to fly China Eastern Airlines?
What is it like to fly Delta Connection?
What is it like to fly Interjet?
What is it like to fly JetBlue?
What is it like to fly a Jet Blue Embraer 190?
What is it like to fly KLM Economy Comfort?
What is it like to fly Swiss International Airlines?
What is it like to fly United BusinessFirst?
What is it like to fly Volaris?
What is it like to fly WestJet?
airlineCathay PacificCathay Pacific premium economycongeefeaturedfeatured imagefeatured postfull-imagefull-widthHong Kongpremium economywhat is it like to fly
by Irene S. Levine
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Wow, how nice, Irene! I'm admire your bravery taking such a long flight! When you first told me how long the flight was I didn't think I could handle being on a plane that long. This looks comfortable and doable. I would definitely upgrade too. No way I could do Coach more than a few hours! Enjoy every minute of your adventure!
Thanks! I only wish I could have slept more of the time:-)
Benadryl on the way back:)?
Nice review. I'll be flying PE from JFK to HKG in May and am excited to see if I have the same experience. I'm 6'1 so the biggest thing for me is the comfort of the seat and the ability to get at least 6 hours of sleep in!
Tsering Sonam
Nice little review here. I have flown Cathay pacific JFK-HKG number of times. I just want to point out that Premium economy cost up to 60% more than economy now which is sad news coz I love Cathay pacific premium economy.
We've found that the cost of the premium economy upgrades vary by flight and season. Yes, 68% would be steep!
Galleries Lounge at JFK: Plenty of everything
Visiting Harbour City mall in Hong Kong

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


According to MarketingProfs, half of millennials surveyed ignore digital ads, yet only 15% say they ignore direct mail. There are just too many digital ads out there to make an impact, and standing out is very tricky. It's become white noise to millennials who have grown up learning how to install ad blockers and turn off their brains to flashing banners and pop-up videos while surfing the web.
It also comes down to an issue of trust. As my colleague Alan Sherman noted in his latest blog, internet ads have become a breeding ground for scams and fraud attacks. However, mail is much less likely to be a trap, and millennials know it. 90% of millennials find direct mail reliable, which is probably why 64% would rather search for useful information in physical mail than in email, and 57% made a purchase after receiving a direct mail offer.
If you're sick of digital ads spamming your inbox and social media, and you know you can trust mail, wouldn't you turn to mailed offers when making a purchasing decision? Millennials do!
77% of millennials pay attention to direct mail, and what's more, 87% say they like receiving direct mail. So, yeah, mail gets noticed.
The whole purpose of a mailpiece is to drive response to a call center, brick-and-mortar location, or a website. And with that one goal in mind, savvy marketers do everything they can to spark a reader's interest and gain a response.
A well designed, carefully crafted direct mail piece offers a prospect just enough information to create interest and the desire to know more. It lists the best benefits, the greatest features, and all the ways your problems will be solved if you make a purchase. It doesn't cover every little detail; if it did, readers would be turned off by all the small print and number of forms, especially millennials who love short, to-the-point, Twitter-esque messages.
Direct mail design plays a huge role in creating intrigue with its use of formats, graphics, colors, and personalization (read any of our Executive Creative Director Mike Dietz's blogs). All the design elements, from the font size to the envelope format, are assembled to attract attention and guide the prospect's eyes to the most important messaging points, building intrigue and a desire to learn more every step of the way.
The only thing keeping millennials from using a direct mail piece to access your website is you. Make your call-to-action easy to use and understand and millennials won't have an issue with pulling out their phones to scan a QR code (which, by the way, has been made infinitely easier for Apple users through the new iPhone software), or type in a short URL. Bonus points if it's a personalized landing page (and if you don't know why, read Brent Doering's recent blog on the power of driving prospects from a mailpiece to a personalized landing page).
Whether it's a digital ad or a direct mail piece, the real hurdle in getting millennials to visit your site is making it worth their while. Offer videos, articles, and other relevant content to sweeten the deal and make going online a no-brainer. Need more tips for how to reach millennials by using direct mail in combination with other channels? Download our free compilation here.


A Gathering of Family and Friends will be held from 4-7 PM on Friday, May 10, 2019 at the O'Connell Family Funeral Home of Baldwin, WI. Funeral Services for Lois will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, May 11, 2019, at First Reformed Church of Baldwin. Memorials are preferred to First Reformed Church of Baldwin.