John Oliver Dodges Defamation Suit Over Medicaid Segment

By Y. Peter Kang

A physician highlighted in a "Last Week Tonight" segment on Medicaid who sued host John Oliver for defamation lost his case Tuesday, after a New York federal judge found the challenged statements were protected speech.

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FTC Orders Ascension Divestiture To Complete $3.9B Deal

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Nonprofit health system Ascension Health Alliance must divest several of its surgery center facilities in order to complete its proposed $3.9 billion acquisition of AmSurg LLC, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.

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Generics Makers Tell 3rd Circ. Buyers Too Few For Class

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Two pharmaceutical companies embroiled in decadelong litigation over the alleged price-fixing of generic drugs told a Third Circuit panel on Tuesday that groups of drug buyers either didn't have the numbers necessary to support class certification or were not clearly identifiable.

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Lawmakers Seek IRS Tax Guidance For Cannabis Businesses

By Jonathan Capriel

A group of seven House Democrats is pressing the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of the Treasury to issue tax guidance for state-licensed medical cannabis businesses, warning that delay could leave taxpayers unable to claim deductions they might be eligible for after the Trump administration loosened federal restrictions.

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NC Doctor Says 'Acquitted' Conduct Skews Sentencing

By Elizabeth Daley

A doctor convicted of making false statements in connection with an $11 million Medicare fraud scheme is urging a North Carolina federal court to exclude conduct she says she was acquitted of from her sentencing calculation, while the government argues she's mischaracterizing the outcome of the case. 

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NJ Sues GEO Group Over Denial Of Detention Center Access

By Madeline Lyskawa

New Jersey sued the owner and operator of immigration detention center Delaney Hall in state court on Tuesday, accusing the contractor of violating state law by blocking health officials from inspecting the center.

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R1 Deal Defendants Urge Chancery To Toss Investor Suit

By Jarek Rutz

Counsel for TowerBrook Capital Partners LP and Ascension Health Alliance urged the Delaware Chancery Court on Tuesday to dismiss a stockholder suit over medical company R1 RCM Inc.'s $8.9 billion take-private deal, arguing that the investors did not control the company under Delaware law.

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Costco Wants Sanctions Over Missing Devices In Pixel Suit

By Joyce Hanson

Costco has asked a federal judge in Seattle to sanction a group of customers leading a proposed class action that accuses it of disclosing their personal health information by installing Meta Pixel and other Facebook web analytics tools on its pharmacy website.

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Pharma Co. Inks $7M Deal To End Investor's Cancer Study Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

A Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. investor has asked a New York federal court to approve a $7 million deal resolving class action claims alleging the drugmaker overstated its regulatory prospects for winning approval for a cancer treatment.

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Judge Surprised By Second Phone In Abortion Pill Spike Row

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas federal judge said Tuesday that a second phone belonging to a woman who accused her boyfriend of spiking her drink with abortion pills should be produced for discovery, but noted that limits on who may review the phone data and when will apply.

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Turning To The Courts When PBM Reform Falls Short

The effectiveness of state laws intended to regulate pharmacy benefit managers remains uncertain, but litigation — utilizing tried-and-true theories like breach of contract and fair dealing — offers another mechanism through which stakeholders may seek relief from PBMs, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

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2 'Rocket Dockets' And The Rules That Propel Them

The fastest civil trial courts in the country are currently in the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Florida, and their chief judges provide insights into the court rules that keep them ahead, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Dardarian Ho's Linda Dardarian

By Lynn LaRowe

Despite being on the other side of a disability rights case that will cost his municipality at least $150 million, Kevin McLaughlin, city attorney for Oakland, California, believes that if more lawyers were like Linda Dardarian, there would be far less lamenting about civility in the legal profession.

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Hueston Hennigan Follows Milbank's Lead In Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

The race to match Milbank LLP's attorney pay hikes is officially on, with trial firm Hueston Hennigan the latest to announce it will increase associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually.

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Graham Pushes Federal Tort Path After DOJ Drops $1.8B Fund

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Department of Justice seemed, at least briefly, to support a Republican senator's alternative solution to the "anti-weaponization" $1.8 billion fund that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday the department is abandoning.

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Crowell Unveils DC Office In Revamped Former Metro HQ

By Alison Knezevich

Crowell & Moring LLP has a new home in the nation's capital, with the firm announcing Wednesday it has moved its D.C. office to the redeveloped former Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority headquarters.

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BigLaw Insider Trading Defendants Have Big-Name Legal Help

By Chris Villani

An insider trading case involving nonpublic information prosecutors say was stolen from some of the largest law firms in the U.S. has ensnared more than two dozen defendants, many of whom have turned to lawyers with notable clients including Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and Luigi Mangione.

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Rocade Capital Buys LFG To Create Combined $2B Lit Funder

By Ryan Boysen

Rocade Capital LLC has acquired fellow litigation funder Law Finance Group LLC, creating a combined platform that has deployed more than $2.3 billion and specializes in $10 to $50 million deals, including post-judgment financing, portfolio deals and lending to plaintiff's firms.

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DOJ Sets New Healthcare Fraud Convictions Record

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that its Health Care Fraud Unit secured six jury trial convictions across the country in less than three weeks, with the cases involving more than $1.1 billion in fraud losses.

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'Read The Cases': Conn. Judge Offers AI Advice To Attys

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge told a gathering of attorneys Tuesday that his law clerks are not allowed to use generative artificial intelligence for any purpose involving legal research, his interns are barred from using it at all, and lawyers must be careful when relying on the material that the tools produce.

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Court Reporter Shortage A 'Crisis,' Calif. Supreme Court Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

Two legal nonprofits urged the California Supreme Court to issue an order entitling low-income civil litigants to electronic recording if a live court reporter is not available, saying at a hearing Wednesday that a court reporter shortage in the Golden State has created a "crisis."

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Colo. Firm Accused Of Giving Bad Immigration Filing Advice

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado personal injury law firm gave faulty legal advice to two clients regarding the filing of their immigration documents and caused them to lose their ability to lawfully work in the United States, the former clients alleged in Colorado state court.

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Analysis

The Plaintiffs Atty Now 5-0 At Supreme Court With No Dissents

By Jeff Overley

It's true that Jennifer Bennett is undefeated at the U.S. Supreme Court, but it's also an understatement. Bennett's five wins, including two recent ones, were all unanimous decisions. They showed that the plaintiffs bar can still persuade a conservative supermajority. And they turned the tide after a spree of decisions keeping workers and consumers out of court.

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