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Our practice focuses on ERISA and insurance cases. Since the advent of the internet, information has become abundantly prevalent. In dealing with ERISA and insurance issues every day, we have found the following websites to be informative and useful. We have tried to provide a wide array of sites. We have tried to conveniently categorize the sites into related groups and to provide all potential perspectives when it comes to ERISA and insurance issues. Please realize that we are not responsible for the establishment or content of any of the following sites. By providing a link, we do not mean to adopt any views or content expressed as our own. Courts: United States Supreme Court - This is a link to the highest court in the land, the United States Supreme Court. This site provides the court’s docket among other information. United States Courts - This is the official website of the entire Federal Judiciary. There are links to all federal courts as well as other relevant information. United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit - This is the official website to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit which is located in Richmond, Virginia. The Fourth Circuit is comprised of all federal courts located within South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. Other states or the District of Columbia fall within one of the other eleven federal circuits. There is a convenient map showing in which circuits all states or the District of Columbia fall and there is a convenient link to those circuit courts at the above “United States Courts” site. We provide this link, independent of the United States Courts site, because it is the appeals court where most of our appealed cases end up. South Carolina Judicial Department - This is the official website for all courts located in the State of South Carolina, which is our firm's “home base” of operation. United States District Court for the District of South Carolina - This is the official website for the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. The firm can handle cases anywhere in the country through associated counsel, but the majority of the firm’s ERISA and insurance cases are filed with this court. United States Judges’ Biographies - This site provides biographies for all sitting and past Federal Judges as well as additional information relevant to the Federal Court System. Bar Associations: South Carolina Bar Association - This is the official site for the South Carolina Bar Association which is our home state Bar. Since all of the attorneys in our firm are members of the South Carolina Bar and since we are headquartered in South Carolina, we have included this site for our clients and potential clients as the site contains information about us and our practice. Federal Bar Association (General) - This is the site for the national Federal Bar Association. The Federal Bar Association is a professional organization for private and government lawyers and Judges in federal practice. The firm's ERISA and insurance attorneys are members of this bar through the South Carolina Chapter. Federal Bar Association (SC Chapter) - This is the South Carolina Chapter site for the Federal Bar Association. American Bar Association - This is the national professional organization for lawyers. Blogs (Web Blogs): SCOTUS Blog - This is the best known and probably most comprehensive web log (blog) concerning cases pending before and decisions from the United States Supreme Court. Workplace Professors Employment Blog - It is our desire to give links which provide views of individuals who may have a different perspective than us. We have a plaintiff/claimant perspective when it comes to ERISA and insurance cases. This site discusses ERISA and insurance issues from an academic standpoint and is established and maintained by law professors. Health Plan Law - It is our desire to give links which provide views of individuals who may have a different perspective than us. We have a plaintiff/claimant perspective when it comes to ERISA and insurance cases. This site provides the perspective of an attorney (our friend, Roy Harmon of Greenville, South Carolina) who regularly represents health plans and their administrators. West Virginia Business Litigation Law - Developments in Business & Commercial Litigation Law. Pension Protection Act Blog - Everything about ERISA and the Pension Protection Act. ERISA Articles of Note: The Safety Net She Believed In Was Pulled Away When She Fell - This article was published in the Los Angeles Times in 2004. It is an excellent article written by Peter Gosselin. With Peter’s permission, we have provided a link on this site. Subrogation Rights Under ERISA Governed Health Plans - Firm Attorney Rob Hoskins wrote this article on subrogating for South Carolina Lawyers Magazine several years ago. The article was written before the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Sereboff v. Mid-Atlantic Medical Services, Inc., 126 S. Ct. 1869; 164 L.Ed.2d 612 (2006) and should only be read in consideration with the subsequent Sereboff decision. Legal Resources: PACER - This is the official service for the federal court system which allows attorneys and individuals to track case filings in the federal courts. In order to access content on this site, you must be a registered user. Registration is free and can be accomplished on-line. There is a nominal charge for access to court documents of 8¢ per page. You must provide a credit card number in order to register. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure - These rules govern all civil cases filed in Federal District Courts. Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute has graciously provided this site. United States Code - The United States Code is the official code for all U.S. laws. ERISA is found in Title 29 beginning at § 1001 et. seq. This is a link to Title 29. Code of Federal Regulations - The Code of Federal Regulations contains all federal regulations that are implemented by the various Federal Government departments charged with enforcing such statutes. The Code of Federal Regulations pertaining to ERISA are found at 29 C.F.R. § 2509. United States Department of Labor - The Department of Labor is the Federal Agency charged with enforcing ERISA. There is an abundance of information at this website pertaining to ERISA. LEXIS 1 - This is a legal website directory established and maintained by LEXIS which is one of two major legal information providers. SCOTUS Wiki - This is a companion site to the blog devoted to the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS Blog). This site has an abundance of information available about past and pending U.S. Supreme Court cases. National Business Institute - This site pertains to the National Business Institute which organizes and holds continuing legal education (CLE) courses. Firm attorneys frequently speak at CLEs sponsored by NBI. SuperLawyers.com - This website relates to the publication, Super Lawyers, which issues an annual list of the top 5% of lawyers in a particular state broken down into practice categories. Firm Attorney Rob Hoskins is included on this site as being among the top 5% of lawyers in the State of South Carolina in the area of employee benefits and ERISA. Martindale-Hubbell - This site is maintained by Martindale-Hubbell. Martindale-Hubbell is the country’s oldest on-going source of legal ratings. Martindale-Hubbell rates lawyers by assigning two letters to each lawyer. The first letter relates to a lawyer’s legal ability and the second relates to a lawyers ethical ethics. Firm ERISA and insurance Attorney Rob Hoskins is rated AV which is the highest rating Martindale-Hubbell can assign to a lawyer. Bar Registry of Preeminent Lawyers - This site is a subdivision of Martindale-Hubbell. A Martindale-Hubbell rating is assigned to an individual lawyer. The Bar Registry of Preeminent Lawyers addresses ratings for law firms. Foster Law Firm, the creator of this website, is listed in the Bar Registry of Preeminent Lawyers in the areas of employee benefits and insurance. CCM - This site pertains to the Center for Competitve Management which organizes and holds seminars for human resources personnel. Firm Attorney speak at presentations and seminars on ERISA for CCM. General Resources: Wikipedia - This is the famous user created web encyclopedia. Merriam-Webster - This is an online dictionary and thesaurus of the venerable Merriam-Webster Co. Legal Dictionary - This is an online dictionary for looking up legal terms. The Official U.S. Time - This is one of my favorite sites because you can go to it and find out exactly what time it is and you can set all of your time keeping devices by it. National and Local Weather Forecast - This is the Weather Channel’s website. Very good for predicting weather in your “neck of the woods”. Map Quest - This is a great site for directions. Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations - This is a good source for finding familiar quotations. Medical Dictionary - This is a good site for looking up medical terms. Find a Person or Business - This site is 411.com which allows you to find people or businesses and their phone numbers. What is very cool about this site is that you can do reverse telephone number and address searches. The Huffington Post.com - This is a great internet site that deals with political issues. What is very neat about it is that you can see all political donations made by any person. You can check your own donations and the site will give you a map and show you how much and to whom your neighbors are giving political money. Web Forums/Boards: ERISABoard.com - This is a forum where lawyers interested in ERISA can chat about ERISA issues generally and recent developments, court decisions and the law. The registration is free, but ONLY lawyers can register.
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