CMS To Keep $1.3B From Calif., Halt New Hospice Enrollment

By Gianna Ferrarin

The federal government on Wednesday announced it will defer more than $1.3 billion in Medicaid funds from California and halt new Medicare enrollments for hospices and home health agencies, saying it was part of an effort to crack down on fraudulent activity.

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HealthSplash CEO Found Guilty In $450M Medicare Fraud Trial

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida federal jury found a former healthcare company executive guilty on Wednesday of swindling Medicare out of $450 million with software that created false prescriptions for orthotic braces.

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DOJ Fraud Division Set To Shake Up White-Collar Enforcement

By Phillip Bantz

President Donald Trump's administration created the U.S. Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division with a narrow focus on combating government program fraud, but a move to retain federal prosecutors focused on other types of fraud could signal a wider scope with potential ripple effects across white-collar enforcement.

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Walgreens Investors' Opioid Suit Is Time-Barred, Judge Says

By Emilie Ruscoe

Pharmacy giant Walgreens no longer faces a proposed class action alleging it hurt investors when it disclosed opioid-related litigation losses after a Chicago federal judge found the claims were time-barred.

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Provider Says NY Is On The Hook For $3.3M Medicaid Shortfall

By Gianna Ferrarin

The New York State Department of Health's refusal to enforce payment obligations by Medicaid managed care organizations has cost a Queens-based safety net provider at least $3.3 million in underpayments for behavioral health services, according to a suit filed in New York federal court.

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Conn. Doctor Asked To Pay $880K In IVF Fraud Dispute

By Hope Patti

Two people who accused a reproductive endocrinologist of using his own sperm to impregnate their mothers have proposed that the doctor settle their suit against him for a total of $880,000, according to separate offers filed in Connecticut state court.

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Bayer, Buyers Get Final OK Of $4.85M Benzene Settlement

By Mike Curley

A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday gave final approval to a $4.85 million settlement to end claims against Bayer Healthcare LLC and others alleging that antifungal products were contaminated with benzene.

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Washington Hits Providence Health With Pregnancy Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

Washington slapped Providence Health & Services with a lawsuit Wednesday claiming the health system routinely rejected accommodation requests from pregnant employees, denying them spaces to pump breast milk, seating and schedule flexibility to attend doctor appointments.

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Becton Hernia Mesh Antitrust Case Survives Dismissal

By Matthew Perlman

A Pennsylvania federal court has refused to toss an antitrust case from Tela Bio Inc. accusing Becton Dickinson & Co. of abusing its dominant position in the hernia mesh market to block competing products.

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Brief

3 NJ Employers Accused Of Pregnancy Discrimination

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey hospital system, a laboratory company and a cleaning business must answer to allegations that they engaged in pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, state enforcers said this week.

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Crowell & Moring Opens Minneapolis Office With 8 Lawyers

By Tracey Read

Crowell & Moring LLP announced Wednesday that it is deepening its commitment to Minnesota by opening a new office in Minneapolis with a team of eight attorneys and said it's expecting more growth in the near future.

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Opinion

5th Circ.'s Abortion Pill Order Is Shaky On Multiple Grounds

The Fifth Circuit's recent order in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, seems to turn federalism upside-down, and is also questionable for several other reasons, says Gregory Curtner at Curtner Law.

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5 Takeaways From Justices' Subpoena Fight Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in First Choice v. Davenport fortifies a line of First Amendment associational privacy cases stretching back nearly 70 years, and ensures that organizations subject to government demands for donor information have a meaningful federal forum in which to defend their constitutional rights, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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Series

The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

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Blank Rome Adds Husch Blackwell's Dallas Leader

By Lynn LaRowe

Blank Rome LLP has added a former Husch Blackwell LLP lawyer to its finance, restructuring and bankruptcy practice in Dallas as the firm continues to strengthen its investment in the north Texas market.

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Trump's 8th Circuit Pick Clears Senate Panel Vote

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's nominee for the Eighth Circuit, who represented the president in the cases brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, advanced to the full Senate on Thursday.

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Lover's Ex-Wife Fights Sinema's Request For Therapy Notes

By Abigail Harrison

A bid by former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to unearth notes and communications from a therapist working with her lover's ex-wife should be summarily denied, as the ex-wife, Heather Ammel, told a North Carolina federal court Thursday that the request is a clear overreach.

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Fenwick Hit With FTX Suit In DC Over $525M Losses

By Emily Lever

A group of former FTX customers has sued Fenwick & West LLP in federal court in Washington over its work representing FTX from 2018 to 2022, seeking to recover more than $525 million for losses stemming from the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse.

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NJ Lawmakers Slam Attacks On Judiciary At State Bar Panel

By George Woolston

A bipartisan panel of New Jersey lawmakers condemned partisan attacks on judges and the judiciary on Wednesday, urging Garden State attorneys to uphold their oath to the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law and to "step back from the keyboard."

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NYC Bar Endorses Random Audits For Law Firm Accounts

By Emily Sawicki

The New York City Bar Association's Professional Discipline Committee on Thursday threw its support behind a statewide bill to institute a random audit program for law firm financial accounts.

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Ogletree Fights Atty's Discovery Bid For DQ Push In Bias Suit

By Lynn LaRowe

A Georgia federal court should deny a bid for discovery aimed at disqualifying Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC from defending a security company against discrimination claims because the request stems from the plaintiff's lawyer's "personal grievances," the company said Thursday.

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Exclusive

Ballard Spahr Chair Elected To Second Term

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Peter V. Michaud has been elected to a second three-year term as chair of Ballard Spahr LLP and will steer the firm through the end of 2029, Law360 Pulse has learned.

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DOJ Asserts Broad Power In BigLaw Executive Order Appeal

By Jared Foretek

A Trump administration attorney told the D.C. Circuit on Thursday that the courts have no authority to review the president's decision to revoke someone's security clearance for any reason, including race, religion, or even refusal to pay a $1 million bribe.

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Analysis

Insider Trading Case Shows BigLaw Associate Vetting Gaps

By Chris Villani

A BigLaw attorney who was able to move through three major firms while allegedly orchestrating a massive insider trading scheme may have been aided by relatively loose hiring practices for associates that firms may consider strengthening moving forward, recruiting experts told Law360.

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Insurer Says Denver Law Firm Let $825K Deal Go To Scammer

By Gianna Ferrarin

An insurance defense law firm negligently allowed a $825,000 workers' compensation settlement to be sent to an impostor, forcing Chubb unit Federal Insurance Co. to replace the misdirected funds, according to a complaint filed in Colorado state court.

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Foster Garvey Names New CEO, CFO In Pacific Northwest

By Ben Adlin

Foster Garvey PC promoted two leaders in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, the law firm announced Thursday, naming Scott Flichtbeil as CEO and Andrew Randles as chief financial officer.

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