Life Sciences

A Likely Tipping Point For Nonlawyer Ownership Of Law Firms

The Arizona Supreme Court's recent decision to eliminate prohibitions on nonlawyer ownership of law firms may show that the organized bar's long-standing rhetoric that such rules are essential to protecting the legal profession's core values is overblown, say Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law and Bradley Wendel at Cornell Law School.

The Challenges Facing Trump's Drug Pricing Order

President Donald Trump's executive order on international reference pricing for Medicare drugs is likely to either languish in Congress or die in court, but more modest drug pricing reform measures may be viable in the coming year, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

Beware DOJ's Statutory Tool For Fighting COVID-19 Fraud

Companies engaged in commerce related to COVID-19 or that have received Paycheck Protection Program funding should familiarize themselves with a fraud statute, under which the U.S. Department of Justice has been successful in obtaining injunctions even before defendants are charged with a crime, say attorneys at V&E.

DOJ Support Of SEP Injunctions Should Stabilize Licensing

The U.S. Department of Justice's recent letter to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which explicitly supports standard-essential patent owners in their pursuit of injunctive relief and favors a diminished role for antitrust enforcement in intellectual property disputes, bodes well for rebalancing the licensing market, say attorneys at Mintz.

A Road Map For Drafting Persuasive Discovery Motions

Best practices that can help litigators write convincing discovery motions include thinking about the audience, addressing a few key questions, and leaving out boilerplate from supporting briefs, says Tom Connally at Hogan Lovells.

How Congress Can Depoliticize The Supreme Court

Congress has multiple means to take the politics out of federal judicial nominations and restore the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court — three of which can be implemented without a constitutional amendment, says Franklin Amanat at DiCello Levitt.

5 Ways Retailers Can Mitigate Product Liability Litigation Risk

While courts sometimes hold retailers liable for injuries caused by products they sold but did not manufacture — as a California appeals court did recently in Bolger v. Amazon — retailers can implement a number of strategies to reduce product liability litigation risk, say Alexandra Cunningham and Elizabeth Reese at Hunton.

Opinion

The Case For A Nonpolitical Federal Judiciary

For the last 20 years, at the insistence of both parties, U.S. Supreme Court nominations have been fierce ideological battles — which is bad for the country and bad for the public's perception of the legitimacy of the court, say Judge Eric Moyé, Judge Craig Smith and Winston & Strawn partner Tom Melsheimer.

Trump's Drug Pricing Order Is More Bark Than Bite

President Donald Trump's new executive order addressing pricing for drugs covered by Medicare Parts B and D glosses over enormous difficulties in restructuring Medicare operations and is unlikely to lead to any imminent changes, say attorneys at Debevoise.

Key Regulatory Concerns For Cos. Making COVID-19 Products

Recent enforcement actions by federal agencies against businesses making products intended to protect against COVID-19 highlight why companies must understand which regulators they are answerable to, and what standards they must follow when producing, advertising, labeling and selling their goods, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

The Keys To A Better Privilege Logging Paradigm

Current privilege logging practices to identify what information is being withheld from discovery often lead to costly disputes, so practitioners should adopt a system based on trust and good faith, similar to the presumptions embedded in the business judgment rule for corporate directors and officers, say Kevin Brady at Volkswagen and Charles Ragan and Ted Hiser at Redgrave.

White House Due Process Memo Could Reform Enforcement

A little-noticed memo recently issued by the Trump administration in response to the pandemic, directing federal agencies to provide greater due process to individuals and companies under regulatory investigation, represents a long-overdue sea change in the way justice is carried out in enforcement proceedings, say Joan Meyer and Norman Bloch at Thompson Hine.

Law Firm Hiring Considerations In A COVID-19 Economy

Financially robust law firms are entering the recruiting market aggressively knowing that dislocations like the COVID-19 crisis present rare competitive opportunities, and firms that remain on the sidelines when it comes to strategic hiring will be especially vulnerable to having their best talent poached, says Brian Burlant at Major Lindsey.

How Pharma Cos. Can Evaluate Alliance Agreements' Validity

Alliance agreements can help pharmaceutical companies collaborate and resolve patent infringement disputes, especially during these uncertain pandemic times, but may draw questions concerning legitimacy if not properly vetted, say Louis Berneman at Texelerate, and Alan White and Anne Catherine Faye at Analysis Group.

Fed. Circ. Constraints On PTAB Expertise Are Problematic

The recent Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling in Velasco Diez v. McAllister illustrates the problem with a Federal Circuit precedent holding that the board cannot apply its technical expertise as a substitute for expert witnesses, and it offers an invitation to gamesmanship, say Charles Gholz and Daniel Pereira at Oblon McClelland.