TRUST LAW AS REGULATORY LAW: THE UNUM/PROVIDENT SCANDAL AND JUDICIAL REVIEW OF BENEFIT DENIALS UNDER ERISA

The Unum/Provident scandal draws attention to a major failing in how the federal courts have understood their role in reviewing benefit denials under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA").1 Most disability insurance in the United States (apart from the Social Security program) is employer-provided,2 and hence ERISA-governed.3 Many, probably most, of the victims of the Unum/Provident scandal were participants and beneficiaries of ERJSA-covered disability insurance plans.