11th Circ. Blocks Fla. City's Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone Law

By Carolina Bolado

The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday ordered a preliminary injunction blocking a Clearwater, Florida, ordinance requiring a 5-foot buffer zone outside an abortion clinic, finding the city likely violated protesters' rights by burdening their ability to leaflet drivers.

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CDC Vaccine Committee Punts Hepatitis B Vote Again

By Yeji Jesse Lee

Federal vaccine advisers on Thursday put off a vote on changing guidelines for a long-used hepatitis B vaccine for infants, delaying again a decision expected to have wide-ranging ramifications for national childhood vaccine policy in the U.S.

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Credit Bureaus Can't Duck Suit Over Excluded Medical Debt

By Bryan Koenig

A California federal judge has found that Equifax, Experian and TransUnion must face key parts of a rejiggered proposed antitrust class action from medical practices and collection agencies targeting the credit reporting agencies' decision to exclude medical debt under $500 from consumer credit reports.

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9th Circ. Says ERISA Preempts UnitedHealth Claims Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday backed a California federal court's decision to toss a medical collector's allegations of underpaid claims and state contract law violations by a UnitedHealth Group unit, agreeing that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act preempted the collector's suit.

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Mass. Justices Unlikely To Revive Verizon Tower Suit

By Julie Manganis

Justices on Massachusetts' highest court appeared unlikely to second-guess a local health board's decision to drop an enforcement action against Verizon over perceived health effects from a cell tower after the telecom filed suit.

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Trans Defendants Deserve 'Basic Respect,' Experts Say

By Parker Quinlan

The case of Justice Brett Kavanaugh's would-be assassin, who came out as a transgender woman following her arrest, illustrates how criminal courts can be unprepared for, or even hostile to, trans defendants, and experts tell Law360 that courts can make significant inroads by showing trans people a modicum of respect.

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Prolonged FTC Review Kills $615M Healthcare Staffing Deal

By Matthew Perlman

Talent software and staffing company Aya Healthcare Inc. abandoned its planned $615 million deal for Cross Country Healthcare Inc. on Thursday, citing uncertainty from an ongoing Federal Trade Commission review that was extended by the government shutdown.

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Lawmakers Debate Higher Pay, Health Benefits For Boxers

By Alex Lawson

An effort to revamp American boxing got underway on Capitol Hill on Thursday as lawmakers deliberated over legislation to provide better pay and workplace protections for fighters, with Democrats expressing concern over the potential for corruption to flourish in the sport.

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Geico Claims Cos. Ran $2.7M Medical Device Billing Scheme

By Mark Payne

Two New York companies exploited the state's no-fault insurance laws by fraudulently billing Geico more than $2.7 million for unnecessary durable medical equipment for drivers involved in auto accidents who could receive no-fault coverage, the insurer told a New York federal court Thursday.

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Pharma Cos. Denied Early Win In States' Price-Fixing Suit

By Aaron Keller

Twenty-six pharmaceutical companies failed to secure a quick win on overarching conspiracy claims in an antitrust case by the attorneys general of Connecticut and most other states, with a federal judge finding the "substantial bulk of evidence" points toward a broad industry scheme to fix 98 dermatology drug prices.

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Temple Cancer Center Can't Escape Worker's OT Math Suit

By Irene Spezzamonte

A higher multiplier for overtime calculations for an orderly who earned both hourly pay and a flat bonus is necessary to meet the public policy requirements of Pennsylvania's minimum wage law, a federal judge ruled Thursday, rejecting a dismissal bid from the Temple University Health System's cancer center.

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Doc Defends Suit Over Bills From Brother's Former Law Firm

By P.J. D'Annunzio

An Ohio physician asked a Pennsylvania county judge to keep her brother's former law firm in her lawsuit over an alleged broken promise to represent her pro bono, urging the court to reject the firm's argument that she missed her chance to bring the claims earlier in a separate Ohio case, according to a filing made public Thursday.

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Medical Device Co. Faces Investor Suit Over IV Pump Issues

By Sydney Price

Medical device company Baxter International Inc. has been hit with a proposed investor class action accusing it of falsely claiming that it resolved issues associated with an IV pump before recalling the product this year.

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Judge Nixes Hagens Berman's Recusal Bid After DOJ Referral

By Emma Cueto

Two days after referring powerhouse plaintiffs firm Hagens Berman to the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged misconduct, a Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday dismissed the firm's request that he recuse himself from the long-running product liability suit, calling the firm's arguments "absurd."

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Analysis

Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

By Jeff Overley

Is the False Claims Act constitutional? Will Mark Zuckerberg be deposed in high-profile privacy litigation? Did a major drugmaker's shenanigans cost investors nearly $7 billion? That's a small sample of the intriguing legal questions we're exploring in this preview of December's top appellate action.

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New Drug Ad Regs Could Lead To A Less Informed Public

A federal push to mandate full safety warnings in pharmaceutical advertising could make drug ads less appealing for companies to air, which in turn could negatively affect consumers' health decisions by removing an accessible information source, say Punam Keller at Dartmouth College and Ceren Canal Aruoba at Berkeley Research Group.

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Series

Preaching Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Becoming a Gospel preacher has enhanced my success as a trial lawyer by teaching me the importance of credibility, relatability, persuasiveness and thorough preparation for my congregants, the same skills needed with judges and juries in the courtroom, says Reginald Harris at Stinson.

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Immigration Lawyers Battle Burnout Amid Deportation Surge

By Daniel Connolly

As the Trump administration carries out a mass deportation campaign across the country, immigration attorneys faced with heavy demand and changing norms are feeling the impact of burnout and stress on their practices and emotions, they told Law360.

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Calif. Agency Hires Ex-DOJ Crypto Enforcement Director

By Sarah Jarvis

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation has brought on a new general counsel who previously served in leadership positions with the U.S. Department of Justice, including director of its cryptocurrency enforcement team.

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Fla. Judge OKs Release Of Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts

By Rae Ann Varona

A Florida federal judge on Friday ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from an investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, citing a newly enacted law that the government said overrides a prohibition on disclosing the documents to the public.

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Bonus Spotlight

Katten Exceeds Market Bonus Scale, Orrick Matches

By Tracey Read

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has joined a select few law firms that have gone beyond the BigLaw norm for year-end and special bonuses.

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Brief

Holland & Knight Adds Ex-House Speaker's Adviser In DC

By Tracey Read

Holland & Knight LLP has added the former senior policy adviser and counsel to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., as a public policy and regulation practice group partner.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

An SEC panel has asked the agency to adopt regulations that could standardize the way publicly traded companies report details about AI use. Meanwhile, the FCC approved AT&T's $1 billion UScellular deal after AT&T became the latest of the big three mobile carriers to agree to do away with diversity, equity and inclusion policies. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Gupta Wessler LLP and Block & Leviton LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eleventh Circuit revived a proposed class action against NextEra Energy Inc. that seeks to hold the energy company liable for a share price drop that followed political interference allegations involving a subsidiary.

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Mass. IOLTA Panel Says It's Owed Slice Of Residual Funds

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts panel that oversees Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts asked the state's highest court Friday to at least partially unwind a $4 million class action settlement, saying a lower court didn't give it a chance to argue for a portion of what it says are "significant" residual funds.

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Judges Beat Ethics Suits For Dropping Retirement Post-Trump

By Jake Maher

A Fourth Circuit judge and two district court judges have defeated ethics complaints from a conservative legal organization alleging they improperly reversed their decisions to take senior status after President Donald Trump was elected.

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Court Staff Attys Settle Claims Of Undermining Colleague

By Julie Manganis

Six months after Massachusetts' highest court revived some of a former Appeals Court staff attorney's claims in a suit alleging two supervisors intentionally undermined him, the parties have reported reaching a settlement in the case.

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