Insurance

Expert Analysis

• Justice Department's ACA Reversal Raises FCA Questions

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice's about-face on Affordable Care Act constitutionality may discourage potential whistleblowers from coming forward unless the DOJ clarifies its plans to enforce the False Claims Act, says Cleveland Lawrence III of Mehri & Skalet.

• Rebuttal

  Jury Trials, Though In Decline, Are Well Worth Preserving

  

  In a recent Law360 guest article, the author applauded the disappearance of jury trials as an inefficient, costly mechanism, but in doing so he overlooked the greater value of jury trials for our justice system, says Stephen Susman, executive director of the Civil Jury Project at NYU School of Law.

• A Broader View Of The US Supreme Court Bar

  

  During the past 15 years, three widely read articles bolstered by starstruck media have promulgated the incorrect perception — sorely in need of revision — that the U.S. Supreme Court bar is limited to a handful of elite lawyers, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy.

• 'Act Of War' Questions In Cyberattack Insurance Case

  

  Mondelez's suit against Zurich over coverage for the NotPetya ransomware attack is the first time a war exclusion has been litigated in the cyber insurance context, and it could have a significant impact on property and cyber policies, say Daniel Garrie and Peter Rosen of JAMS.

• Inside DOJ's Recent Charitable Copay Foundation Settlements

  

  On April 4, the U.S. Department of Justice announced three settlements of False Claims Act cases, offering a glimpse into the ways the DOJ believes pharmaceutical companies have used charitable copay foundations to cover copays of government health program beneficiaries, circumvent anti-kickback laws and artificially bolster high drug prices, say attorneys with Skadden.

• State Net

  Court Battles Slow Trump Health Care Rollbacks

  

  A D.C. federal court recently struck down Trump administration waivers allowing two states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients. The case is part of a larger partisan struggle in which President Donald Trump and Republican state attorneys general continue their efforts to dismantle Obamacare, says Lou Cannon of State Net Capitol Journal.

• Opinion

  Jury Trials Are In Decline For Good Reason

  

  A recent Law360 article reported on federal judges bemoaning jury trials' nationwide decline, but these laments are unfounded as jury trials have been replaced by better alternatives, says J.B. Heaton of J.B. Heaton Research.

• Series

  Why I Became A Lawyer: A Circuitous Path To The Law

  

  Instead of going to college after high school, I followed in my father’s footsteps and became an electrician. Later I became an electrical engineer, and then an IP attorney. Every twist and turn along the way has made me a better lawyer, says Joseph Maraia of Burns & Levinson.

• Miss. Insurers Should Beware The Voluntary Payment Doctrine

  

  Recent decisions from the Fifth Circuit and Mississippi Supreme Court in Colony v. First Specialty illustrate that an insurer attempting to hedge its bets by voluntarily paying a settlement amount while also disputing coverage may risk precluding itself from seeking indemnity, say David Kroeger and Huiyi Chen of Jenner & Block.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Conrad Reviews 'The Jury Crisis'

  

  In "The Jury Crisis," jury consultant and social psychologist Drury Sherrod spotlights the vanishing jury trial, providing a fascinating canary-in-the-coal-mine warning for lawyers, litigants and society at large, says U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad of the Western District of North Carolina.