Duke Energy Settles Monopoly Suit On Eve Of Jury Trial

By Hayley Fowler

Duke Energy has settled a Florida-based power provider's monopoly suit on the eve of a jury trial in North Carolina, just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a Fourth Circuit ruling that revived the antitrust claims, according to a notice filed Friday.

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Actelion Pays $65M To Settle Tracleer Antitrust Class Suit

By Bryan Koenig

Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. agreed to pay $65 million to resolve antitrust claims from a certified class accusing it of illegally denying generics companies the samples they need to produce generic versions of its hypertension drug Tracleer, according to a brief in Maryland federal court seeking preliminary approval of the settlement.

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Disney To Pay $50M To End YouTube, DirecTV Stream Claims

By Lauren Berg

The Walt Disney Co. will pay $50 million in its settlement with YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream users in antitrust litigation alleging Disney drove up the cost of streaming live pay television by forcing its pricey ESPN sports channel on streaming platforms, the plaintiffs have told a California federal judge.

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Scholars Back Rail Cos. Against Fuel Surcharge Suit Revival

By Bryan Koenig

Academics and former U.S. antitrust officials have backed Union Pacific, CSX, Norfolk Southern and BNSF against rail shippers asking the D.C. Circuit to revive their suit alleging collusion on freight fuel surcharges, arguing there was nothing collusive about the response to jumps in oil prices in the 2000s.

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Senate Dems Float Bill To Break Up 'Meatpacking Monopoly'

By Matthew Perlman

Senate Democrats have introduced a bill to break up the country's largest meatpacking conglomerates over concerns that concentration in the beef, pork and chicken sectors has contributed to higher food prices and worse deals for farmers.

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'Which' Fights To Keep Free ICloud Users In £3B Apple Claim

By Sophia Dourou

Which has urged the Competition Appeal Tribunal not to strike out iCloud users who never paid for the services from its proposed £3 billion ($4 billion) collective action claim against Apple, arguing that they have suffered a loss.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen British American Tobacco sued by more than 100 investors, the government bring a claim against a COVID-19 supplier of personal protective equipment, Annington Funding sue its new corporate trustees on the Financial List, and Piers Morgan hit with a defamation claim from a pro-Israel barrister he interviewed on his YouTube channel. 

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Express Scripts Ducks RICO Suit Over Acthar Price Hike

By Matthew Santoni

Express Scripts Inc. and its affiliates may have worked with drugmaker Mallinckrodt to hike the price of seizure medication Acthar from $40 to $40,000, but a proposed class action by third-party payors failed to allege the high prices were a result of fraud, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled.

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Constantine Cannon Defends Handling Of Sutter $75M Fee

By Dorothy Atkins

Constantine Cannon LLP pushed back against Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim LLP's allegations it unfairly reduced Schneider Wallace's share of a $75.4 million fee award in Sutter Health's $228.5 million antitrust deal, arguing in California federal court that the firm "sat on the sidelines" for most of the decadelong fight and isn't entitled to a bigger cut.

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Ex-Exec Can't Skirt Ammo Tech Secrets Suit, NC Judge Says

By Abigail Harrison

A former director and plant manager at track-and-trace company Jekson USA Inc. couldn't secure a pretrial exit, a North Carolina Business Court judge has said, ruling the company pled its trade secret and contract breach claims with enough specificity.

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Kavanaugh, Jackson Debate High Court Emergency Orders

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh pushed back Monday against critiques that the high court is ruling in favor of President Donald Trump in emergency appeals more often than it did for prior presidents, saying people who believe those allegations have "short" memories. 

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Ex-DLA Piper Atty Alleging Rape Can't Remain Anonymous

By Lauren Berg

A former Boston-based DLA Piper associate cannot use a pseudonym to pursue a lawsuit alleging she was raped by one of the firm's former partners, a Massachusetts judge ruled, noting that she already publicly revealed her identity in a related suit against the accused attorney.

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Employment Law Cases Have Rebounded Except For FLSA

By Max Kutner

Employment law cases overall have bounced back from pandemic-era lows, especially discrimination and disability accommodation suits, though a slump has continued for Fair Labor Standards Act claims, according to a report by legal analytics provider Lex Machina.

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NJ US Atty Trio Booted In 2nd Leadership Ouster

By George Woolston

A federal judge on Monday disqualified the three assistant attorneys overseeing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, finding the "byzantine" leadership structure is unconstitutional.

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Brief

SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein To Be Sentenced In June

By Emily Sawicki

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein, currently under home confinement in Washington, D.C., after a Maryland jury convicted him on tax evasion and mortgage fraud charges, will face sentencing in June.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket last week featured disputes spanning alleged forged board approvals at a telecom startup, evidence-destruction claims tied to WWE's blockbuster merger with UFC and investor scrutiny of a multibillion-dollar deal between Intel and the U.S. government.

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McGuireWoods Beats Sun Pharma's DQ Bid In NJ Suit

By George Woolston

A New Jersey federal court has denied Sun Pharmaceutical's bid to disqualify McGuireWoods LLP from representing pharmaceutical company Biofrontera in litigation over the alleged breach of a settlement agreement, ruling the firm's continued representation won't harm Sun Pharmaceutical and will avoid significant harm to Biofrontera.

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Lewis Brisbois Renews Bid To Force Paralegal To Arbitrate

By Adrian Cruz

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP asked a Florida state judge on Friday to have a former paralegal arbitrate her defamation claims that its actions tarnished her reputation and cost her a job at another firm.

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K&L Gates IP Atty Tapped For Wash. Supreme Court Seat

By Rachel Riley

A K&L Gates intellectual property litigator will become the Washington State Supreme Court's first justice of Middle Eastern descent, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said Monday, announcing his pick to replace veteran retiring Justice Barbara Madsen.

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