On May 24, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, which decisively interpreted the parameters of ERISA's discretionary fee-shifting provision, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(1). In a unanimous decision (Justice Stevens concurring), the Supreme Court held that ERISA § 502(g)(1) permits lower courts the discretionary authority to award attorney's fees to either party, so long as the party has "achieved 'some success on the merits.'" [Quoting Ruckelshaus v. Sierra Club, 463 U.S. 680, 694 (1983)].

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