Full 4th Circ. To Rethink W.Va., Md. 340B Drug Discount Laws

By Mark Payne

The full Fourth Circuit will revisit two panel decisions that created a circuit split when they temporarily blocked a pair of state laws that barred drugmakers from prohibiting federally funded hospitals from contracting with an unlimited number of pharmacies to dispense discounted drugs in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. 

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UnitedHealthcare Defrauded Mass. Of $100M, AG Says

By Julie Manganis

UnitedHealthcare's "growth at all costs strategy" led the insurer's Massachusetts subsidiary to overcharge the state by more than $100 million by exaggerating the medical conditions and needs of seniors, the state's attorney general said in a Friday lawsuit.

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Texas Justices Deny Review Of Heartbeat Act Procedure

By Spencer Brewer

Texas Supreme Court Justices on Friday denied a bid by the Texas Equal Access Fund to revive a challenge to the state's so-called Texas Heartbeat Act, granting a victory to a woman who previously sought to investigate the fund under the law.

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Analysis

Cuts To Benefits Come With Risks For Employers, Attys Say

By Kellie Mejdrich

Some employers have been reducing employee benefits, attorneys say, a move that brings both legal and reputational risks. Here's a look at three areas where practitioners are seeing cutbacks and the pitfalls they present. 

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Blood Test Lab Owner Gets 4 Years For $11M Tax Evasion

By Asha Glover

The owner of a blood-testing laboratory was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison after evading $11.2 million in taxes by using an accomplice to illegally collect Medicare reimbursements made to the company, California federal prosecutors said.

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Ohio AG Says Cigna Can't Use Sherman Act To Ax State Case

By Bryan Koenig

The Ohio attorney general has urged a federal judge not to dismiss prescription drug price-fixing claims against Express Scripts, its Cigna parent and fellow pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics, arguing the companies are trying to fight his state law antitrust claims by invoking federal law standards that do not apply.

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Joint Venture Can't Claim Small Biz Status, Judge Finds

By Madeline Lyskawa

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge said a joint venture can't upend the U.S. Small Business Administration's determination that it didn't qualify as a small business for a defense contract solicitation because its mentor-protégé agreement fizzled before the final proposal deadline. 

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DOJ Final Rule On Medical Pot Comes Under New Challenge

By Sam Reisman

A Trump administration rule loosening federal restrictions on state-sanctioned medical marijuana has been hit with another legal challenge in D.C. Circuit Court, initiated Thursday by a coalition of interests alleging they will be adversely impacted by the policy shift.

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Fla. Panel Upholds Reduced $4M Car Crash Verdict

By Y. Peter Kang

A Florida appeals court Friday affirmed the reduction of a $2 million medical expenses award as part of a $4.7 million verdict in an auto collision case to about $1.3 million, saying the cost of certain future medical procedures was based on speculation rather than sufficient evidence.

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U. Of Mich. Surgeon Sues Over Teaching Suspension

By Melanie Dorsey

A University of Michigan surgeon has sued the school's Board of Regents and a department chair, claiming they suspended him from teaching over protected classroom speech and retaliated against him for prior lawsuits claiming age discrimination and other misconduct.

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Illumina Ducks DNA Sequence Rival's Antitrust Suit, For Now

By Bryan Koenig

A DNA sequencing startup will have to rejigger its antitrust lawsuit against Illumina after a California federal judge said it hasn't shown that the industry giant has entered exclusive agreements and hasn't adequately asserted that Illumina priced its offerings below cost, among other failings.

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Telehealth Co. Hims Likely To Get Suicide Suit Trimmed

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state judge indicated Friday that he'll narrow a family's lawsuit blaming a 19-year-old's suicide on allegedly subpar mental health treatment he received through telehealth company Hims & Hers and its partner businesses, saying he'll nix corporate negligence claims and free online pharmacy XeCare from the case.

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Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen the billionaire who donated £5 million ($6.7 million) to Nigel Farage sue Ben Habib, the leader of far-right party Advance UK, for defamation; Mashreqbank bring claims against three subsidiaries of dissolved private equity giant Abraaj Group for commercial fraud; and the property and investment vehicle of the State of Kuwait be targeted by four real estate figures who filed a miscellaneous claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Latham, White & Case, Vischer

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, Fertitta Entertainment acquires Caesars Entertainment, Eli Lilly and Co. buys three companies involved in vaccine development, and nuclear energy company Newcleo Ltd. says it plans to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, NewHold Investment Corp. III.

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Recent Actions Signal Increased NYDFS Health Cyber Focus

The New York Department of Financial Services' recent $2.25 million settlement with Delta Dental indicates that it views cybersecurity enforcement in the healthcare and insurance sectors as an ongoing priority, and serves as a road map for the compliance gaps regulators are most likely to target, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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Teva Ruling Offers Patentees New Support For Genus Claims

The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Teva v. Eli Lilly, finding that the Teva patents at issue are not invalid, offers an interesting counterexample against the recent trend of courts invalidating patents claiming a broad, functionally defined class of compounds, say attorneys at Cooley.

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Your Next Litigation Hold Should Cover AI Chat Logs

The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision in Fortis Advisors v. Krafton to treat a CEO’s artificial intelligence chats as substantive evidence is being read as a discovery warning to litigators, but there is a second duty-to-preserve lesson that is especially pertinent to in-house counsel, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

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Double Shooting Renews Courthouse Safety Fears In NC

By Hayley Fowler

The shooting of two Fox Rothschild LLP attorneys outside a courthouse in Raleigh, North Carolina, ahead of Memorial Day weekend has renewed calls to protect the safety of judges and lawyers in an increasingly volatile justice system.

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Baker McKenzie Asks Judge Not To Toss Suit Against Ex-Atty

By Alison Knezevich

A lawyer for Baker McKenzie on Friday urged a Washington, D.C., judge not to dismiss the BigLaw firm's defamation suit against a former tax associate who accused a firm office leader of sexual assault, telling the court the accusations were false and made with "malice."

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Bonus Spotlight

Selendy Gay Doles Out Spring Associate Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

New York litigation boutique Selendy Gay PLLC paid its associates spring bonuses of as much as $25,000 this week, according to the firm.

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Akin Gump Owes Fees For Winebow's 'Self-Indulgent' Appeal

By Dorothy Atkins

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday ordered an importer's Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to pay a European winemaker fees for having to defend against the importer's "spurious objections" to the winemaker's valid arbitral award, ruling that the importer's "self-indulgent" appeal warrants sanctions in the form of fees.

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Calif. Panel Reverses Order For Citing Atty's Bogus Case Law

By Dorothy Atkins

A California appellate panel on Thursday reversed a judgment in favor of a man accused of abusing his son, finding that "without doubt" the trial judge abused her discretion by incorporating the man's bogus legal citations into her ruling, despite being alerted to the mistakes in advance.

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NY Judge Doubts Nussbaum-Linked Firms Belong In Ch. 11

By Emily Lever

A New York bankruptcy judge on Friday questioned whether his court was the proper venue to wind down two commercial real estate law firms headed by Mark J. Nussbaum as the debtors sought to ditch an assignment for the benefit of creditors process in New York state court.

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Dems Say DOJ Blocked Bondi On Trump Questions

By Courtney Bublé

Democrats were incensed on Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys who accompanied former Attorney General Pam Bondi to her committee interview stopped her from answering questions about President Donald Trump.

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Civil Rights Icon Clarence B. Jones Dies At 95

By Andrea Keckley

Civil rights icon Clarence B. Jones, a speechwriter and personal attorney to Martin Luther King Jr., died May 22 at an assisted living facility in the Santa Clara County city of Cupertino, California, his family confirmed earlier this week. He was 95.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Kirkland & Ellis says it's investing a half billion dollars into developing its own artificial intelligence platform to better serve clients. And Law360 looks at the general counsel who is guiding BP through its latest leadership crisis after the company abruptly dismissed its board chair.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Phillips Black Inc., Hogan Lovells and Watkins & Eager PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Black Mississippi death row prisoner who argued racial discrimination tainted his jury selection is entitled to habeas corpus relief.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Boies Schiller's Matthew Schwartz

By Sarah Jarvis

Matthew L. Schwartz oscillated among many career aspirations as a kid, from astronaut to mayor of New York. When it was time to head off to college, the man who would go on to handle the prosecution of employees tied to Bernie Madoff and become chair of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP set his sights on science, earning an undergraduate degree in physics.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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