Fla. Hospitals Didn't Prove Opioid Conspiracy, Jurors Told

By David Minsky

Walgreens told a state court jury on Thursday that Florida hospitals haven't proven that the company conspired with Walmart, CVS and pharmaceutical manufacturers to illegally dispense opioids through their pharmacies, arguing that the corporations shouldn't be liable for $1.5 billion in damages for contributing to an epidemic of opioid-addicted patients. 

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2nd Circ. Revives Bright Health Investors' Pandemic Suit

By Katryna Perera

The Second Circuit on Thursday revived a suit alleging healthcare management services company Bright Health Group Inc. misled investors in its 2021 initial public offering about its anticipated costs during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the complaint plausibly alleged the defendants hid preexisting operational issues and risks.

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Maya Kowalski Fights Fla. Appeals Court's $213M Reversal

By Carolina Bolado

The subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya" has asked a Florida appeals court to reconsider its decision reversing a $213 million judgment, saying the court needs to clarify how far the immunity that state law grants to those who report possible child abuse extends.

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2nd Circ. Upholds NY's Ban On Selling Diet Pills To Minors

By Dorothy Atkins

The Second Circuit on Thursday rejected a trade group's bid to block a New York law that bars companies from selling weight loss and muscle-building supplements to minors, finding the group likely won't win its First Amendment challenges and retailers' "speculative predictions" of lost sales aren't enough to show irreparable harm.

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MVP: Foley & Lardner's Jason Mehta

By Dan McKay

Jason Mehta, co-chair of Foley & Lardner LLP's healthcare litigation team, helped secure a bombshell ruling declaring parts of the False Claims Act unconstitutional and successfully defended COVID-19 test kit providers facing government investigations, earning him a spot as one of the 2025 Law360 Healthcare MVPs.

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FTC Fails To Block Doctors' Testimony In $945M Merger Case

By Bryan Koenig

A D.C. federal judge refused Thursday to bar a pair of outside doctors and consultants from vouching for Edwards Lifesciences Corp.'s planned JenaValve Technology Inc. acquisition, preferring to let the Federal Trade Commission contest their testimony in cross-examination and saying from the bench that he'll "make some popcorn."

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Donor Info Subpoena Chills Speech, Anti-Abortion Org Says

By Jared Foretek

An organization that operates anti-abortion pregnancy centers told the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday that New Jersey is undermining its own subpoena power in a bid to avoid constitutional review of its request for information about the group's donors.

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Roundup

NC Biz Court Bulletin: Rulings Spotlight Coverage Clashes

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina Business Court plowed into the fourth quarter with two big decisions in insurance disputes that involved $50 million in COVID-19-related losses at a chain of outlet malls, and an industrial accident at a Nucor Corp. iron plant in Louisiana.

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Claims Firms Accused Of Misleading Plaintiffs In Pharma MDL

By James Boyle

A Pennsylvania federal judge has been asked to slow down aggressive marketing campaigns from claims recovery firms that are accused of using false and misleading advertising to attract plaintiffs in a multidistrict litigation action against pharmaceutical companies.

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Texas Court Says Landowner Doesn't Have To Sell $22M Plot

By Isaac Monterose

A Texas Business Court judge ruled that a landowner doesn't have to go forward with a previously planned $22.5 million sale of 20.8 acres of land because the buyer terminated the deal.

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Brief

Weight-Loss Drug MDL In Pa. Grows With 3 New Jersey Cases

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Three New Jersey cases were grouped into multidistrict litigation accusing Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk of downplaying alleged side effects of weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Trulicity, according to a transfer order filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

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DocGo Investors Seek OK Of $12.5M Deal Over Ex-CEO Claims

By Sydney Price

Investors of mobile medical provider DocGo have asked a New York federal court to grant preliminary approval of their $12.5 million settlement of claims that the company deceived stockholders before a $432 million contract with New York City to provide emergency migrant housing came under public scrutiny.

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Weil, Akin Defend Fee Requests In Steward Health Bankruptcy

By Lauren Berg

Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, representing Steward Health Care in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, representing the hospital operator's committee of unsecured creditors, defended their respective professional fee requests that add up to over $304 million in response to Massachusetts' objections.

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Brief

CVS Reaches Deal In 'Non-Drowsy' Labeling Class Action

By Jonathan Capriel

A woman has agreed to settle her proposed class action against CVS Pharmacy accusing it of deceptively marketing its flu medicine as "non-drowsy" when it contained a drug known to cause drowsiness.

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Brief

Virtua, Trinity Health Reach Deal Over $12M Legal Bill

By George Woolston

Virtua Health Inc. has reached a deal to settle its claims that Trinity Health Corp. backed out of an agreement to cover $12 million in counsel fees and costs incurred in a legal fight with a rival healthcare system, according to a New Jersey federal court order dismissing the suit with prejudice.

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Fenwick, WilmerHale Steer $285M Mersana Take-Private Deal

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Pediatric cancer-focused biopharmaceutical company Day One Biopharmaceuticals, led by Fenwick & West LLP, announced plans Thursday to acquire clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Mersana Therapeutics Inc., advised by WilmerHale, in a take-private deal worth up to $285 million.

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Analysis

Hemp Policy At Crossroads After Government Reopening Bill

By Sam Reisman

Hemp industry advocates are pledging to use the one-year gap between enactment and implementation of the government funding agreement, which effectively recriminalized most hemp-derived THC products, to craft new regulatory legislation that stops short of a full ban.

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Series

Building With Lego Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Building with Lego has taught me to follow directions and adapt to unexpected challenges, and in pairing discipline with imagination, allows me to stay grounded while finding new ways to make complex deals come together, says Paul Levin at Venable.

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Coalition Rips Trump Deputy AG's Claim Of 'War' With Judges

By Rose Krebs

A group of former federal judges on Thursday condemned what they called "inflammatory remarks" last week by Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche detailing the U.S. Department of Justice's "war" with "rogue activist" judges.

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Interview

Ex-Judge Worries Top Court Will Be 'Timid' In Checking Trump

By Chris Villani

A Massachusetts federal judge who recently resigned to more openly speak out against the Trump administration told Law360 on Thursday he is concerned the U.S. Supreme Court will be unwilling to provide a constitutional check on presidential overreach.

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Anthropic Judge Rips Opt-Out Law Firm As 'Quick Buck' Ploy

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Thursday blasted Arizona law firm ClaimsHero Holdings LLC for encouraging authors to opt out of Anthropic PBC's $1.5 billion deal to end copyright infringement claims, saying it looks like the firm is "trying to trick people" for a "quick buck."

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Fired Immigration Judges Share Concerns As Cases Pile Up

By Courtney Bublé

Fired immigration judges spoke on Thursday about their "crushing" backlog of cases, a buildup exacerbated by the Trump administration's elimination of their colleagues' positions.

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Judge Halts Jackson Walker Secret Romance Settlements

By Adrian Cruz

A Texas federal judge has paused a number of settlements between Jackson Walker LLP and former clients, criticizing the firm for trying to undermine the U.S. Trustee's investigation into alleged malpractice stemming from a secret romance between a former partner and a bankruptcy judge.

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Judge Casts Doubt On Legitimacy Of Halligan's Appointment

By Jared Foretek

A federal judge in Virginia said Thursday that Attorney General Pam Bondi couldn't have reviewed the full transcript of the grand jury proceedings that netted an indictment of James Comey before ratifying the charges against the former FBI director because the U.S. Department of Justice didn't have them at the time.

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Jenner & Block Resolves $8M Fee Fight With Sierra Leone

By Gina Kim

Jenner & Block LLP and its former client Sierra Leone have resolved their fight over unpaid legal fees and allegedly fraudulent overbilling in the nation's underlying dispute with its iron ore mining concessionaire Gerald International Ltd., according to a minute order issued Thursday in D.C. federal court.

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Analysis

As Backlogged SEC Reopens, Attys Jostle To 'Get In Line'

By Jessica Corso

Thousands of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission employees who were sent home last month finally returned to their offices Thursday, and experts say it will likely take at least a month for them to catch up with a backlog of casework and submissions for initial public offerings.

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Rumble Cites Judge's Longtime Friendship With Google VP

By Bryan Koenig

Rumble asked a California federal judge to consider recusal should the Ninth Circuit revive its antitrust lawsuit against Google, citing a yearslong friendship with Google's top in-house litigation chief that involved the judge officiating at her wedding and their ongoing participation in a fantasy football league.

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Pipe Maker Names 2nd Firm In Asbestos RICO Suit

By Emily Field

A Los Angeles pipe manufacturer has added Massachusetts-based Sokolove Law to its civil racketeering lawsuit in Illinois federal court accusing Simmons Hanly Conroy LLP and others of orchestrating a scheme to fill the law firms' coffers by bringing baseless asbestos claims, alleging the Sokolove firm acted to find the cases.

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NY Gov't Ethics Watchdog Called To Testify Against AG James

By Andrea Keckley

The federal government subpoenaed the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government on Wednesday to testify in its case against New York Attorney General Letitia A. James.

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Judge Denies NJ Lawmaker's Bid To Toss ICE Facility Charges

By Parker Quinlan

A New Jersey federal judge on Thursday refused to toss the criminal indictment filed against U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., following a confrontation with federal agents at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark.

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SEC's Northeast Deputy Enforcement Head To Depart Agency

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that the deputy director of the enforcement division for the Northeast will leave the agency, following stints as the regional director of the New York office and acting deputy director of the enforcement division.

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Minn. Chief Federal Judge To Take Semi-Retired Status In July

By Courtney Bublé

Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz of the District of Minnesota will take semi-retired status next summer, according to an update on Thursday from the federal judiciary.

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Del. US Atty Tapped For Acting Role After Interim Term Expires

By Jake Maher

Delaware's former interim U.S. attorney has been appointed acting U.S. attorney after the district court declined to keep her as the top federal prosecutor in the First State when her term expired.

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