Luxottica, Ex-Worker End Pension Suit Over Annuity Benefits

By Kellie Mejdrich

Luxottica and a former worker who challenged the company's methodology for paying annuity benefits agreed Wednesday to resolve a proposed class action, a month after the nation's highest court declined the eyewear-maker's bid to review a Second Circuit ruling keeping some of her claims out of arbitration.

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Employer Didn't Control Benefits In Death Case, 3rd Circ. Says

By Danielle Ferguson

A Third Circuit panel on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a man's lawsuit alleging his late wife's employer improperly denied life insurance benefits, finding the employer had no control over whether benefits were paid out.

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Aetna Can't Bring Its Own Claims In $20M Air Ambulance Fight

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge has agreed to throw out three Aetna entities' allegations that air ambulance operators misrepresented their services throughout an Independent Dispute Resolution award process, finding that the federal No Surprises Act bars the insurer's counterclaims.

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DOJ Deal Bars OhioHealth From Blocking Patient Steering

By Bryan Koenig

OhioHealth swore off contract language inhibiting the ability of insurers to steer patients to cheaper healthcare providers, in a settlement resolving one of two U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuits targeting alleged hospital network efforts to force insurers to cover their hospitals in all plans.

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UPS Drivers Seek Class Cert. In Colo. Sick Leave Suit

By MJ Koo

A UPS package driver asked a Colorado federal court to certify a class of over 12,000 union workers who allege the delivery giant failed to provide paid sick leave as required under state law, arguing the company's uniform statewide policies make the case well suited for class treatment.

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HHS Urges DC Court To Toss AbbVie 340B Audit Challenge

By Gianna Ferrarin

A D.C. federal court should toss a suit by AbbVie challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretation of who qualifies as a "patient" for audits under the federal 340B drug discount program, HHS said in a motion, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction.

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Opinion

Rule Of Law Requires Gov't Engagement With Bar, Not Retreat

A federal agency's absence from national and local bar conferences, most recently illustrated by the U.S. Department of Justice's withdrawal from a New York City Bar Association white collar conference, disserves the bar, the government lawyers themselves and, ultimately, the administration of justice, says Muhammad Faridi at Linklaters.

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Full Fed. Circ. To Hear Immigration Judges' Firing Challenge

By Ganesh Setty

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday agreed to conduct en banc review over the firing of two immigration judges, after the Merit Systems Protection Board ruled that they constituted inferior officers who are subject to at-will removal by the president.

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No Discipline For DOJ Atty's 'Lapse Of Judgment' In ICE Case

By Emily Sawicki

A Rhode Island federal prosecutor who knowingly withheld information about a detainee's criminal history at the behest of immigration enforcement, leading to an "unfounded attack" against a federal judge by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the detainee's release, violated his duty of candor but will not face discipline, the district's chief judge determined.

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Trump Halts Clayton Director Hearing Over Blue-Slip Dispute

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump directed Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not to appear for his confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to be director of national intelligence, in part over a blue-slip issue.

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Maya Kowalski Sues Ex-Atty Over Fees, Funding Loan

By Carolina Bolado

Maya Kowalski, the subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," filed a malpractice suit against her former attorney on Wednesday, accusing him of charging excessive fees and improperly orchestrating an advance funding loan after winning a $213 million judgment.

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Sanctioned IP Atty Tells Fed. Circ. 'Integrity' On The Line

By Elliot Weld

An attorney who was sanctioned in a trade dress infringement case due to what a judge said were his repeated misrepresentations has asked the Federal Circuit to lift the penalties against him and his client, saying his "professional and personal integrity, and my family, depends on it."

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Bosch Receives First DOJ Declination Under New Policy

By Sarah Jarvis

German technology company Bosch on Wednesday became the first company to avoid criminal prosecution under a new U.S. Department of Justice enforcement policy after it cooperated with the federal government and agreed to pay $36 million to settle allegations it improperly exported technology products to sanctioned Chinese company Huawei.

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DOJ's Pot Shift Leaves Key Questions For Cannabis Industry

By Sam Reisman

The Trump administration's recent moves to relax federal restrictions on marijuana through the administrative process will have unclear ramifications for all industry players unless Congress steps in to rewrite cannabis law, attorneys heard Wednesday.

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