"[T]he court held that the de novo standard of review applied in this case because Liberty Life failed to comply with ERISA deadlines which applied on remand and did not render a decision until 16 months after the remand order. Next, the court gave substantial weight to Liberty's inherent conflict of interest, noting that Liberty continued to violate the ERISA claims procedure regulations upon remand, committed the same errors that the court identified in the remand order, and violated portions of the remand order that expressly required Liberty to take certain actions." [Spears v. Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston, No. 11-1807 (D. Conn. Sept. 30, 2019)]  MORE >>