3M Co. announced Tuesday that it will pay up to $7.35 billion over nine years to resolve nearly all personal injury claims related to PFAS "forever chemicals" in firefighting foam.
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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3M Inks $7.35B Deal To Settle Most PFAS Foam Claims

By Lauren Berg

3M Co. announced Tuesday that it will pay up to $7.35 billion over nine years to resolve nearly all personal injury claims related to PFAS "forever chemicals" in firefighting foam.

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Analysis

Healthcare REITs Funnel Billions Into Senior Housing In Q3

By Charlie Innis

The two biggest healthcare real estate investment trusts in the U.S., Welltower Inc. and Ventas Inc., have invested a combined $26 billion this year in buying senior housing for their respective portfolios, as new construction slows amid deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, executives said in recent earnings calls.

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Va., Mo. Voters Deliver Wins For Abortion Rights

By Dan McKay

Supporters of abortion access won key victories Tuesday in Virginia and Missouri as voters across the country took up healthcare measures that will shape state laws on reproductive and gender-affirming care, according to partial, unofficial returns.

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Mass., Idaho Voters Defeat Anti-Cannabis Ballot Measures

By Sam Reisman

Voters in Massachusetts and Idaho on Tuesday rejected efforts to repeal or restrict marijuana legalization, dealing a blow to anti-cannabis activists and lawmakers who sought to turn Election Day into a referendum on voter-led efforts to reform drug laws.

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New Calif. Governor Promises Litigation-Heavy Agenda

By Hailey Konnath

Former state attorney general and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra's projected win in the California governor's race Tuesday night tees up fresh legal battles with the Trump administration and puts immigration, insurance and artificial intelligence policy at the top of lawyers' watch lists.

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MVP

MVP: Dudensing Law's Ed Dudensing

Ed Dudensing of Dudensing Law won a $110 million verdict in a case involving a dementia victim at a private equity-backed senior housing facility and a separate $15.75 million total jury verdict in a neglected senior case, earning him a spot as one of the 2026 Law360 Healthcare MVPs.

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ENFORCEMENT & COMPLIANCE

Feds Dropping Charges Against Harvard Researcher

By Julie Manganis

The government is dropping charges against a Harvard researcher and Russian national who was found with preserved clawed frog embryo samples at Boston's Logan International Airport last year, according to a filing Tuesday evening.

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Squires Grants 4 IPRs, Denies 6 Before Handing Over Power

By Dani Kass

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires on Tuesday instituted four inter partes reviews in what could be the final petitions for which he reviews the merits.

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LITIGATION

Youth File Fresh Appeal In Colo. Hospital Gender Care Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

Transgender youth patients of Children's Hospital Colorado have brought yet another challenge to a judge's discharge of their contempt citation against the hospital for not resuming providing them medical gender-affirming care, this time asking the Colorado Court of Appeals to weigh in on whether the hospital complied with an injunction.

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PBM Says Fla. Collusion Suit Belongs In Federal Court

By Carolina Bolado

A pharmacy benefit manager accused by Florida's attorney general of colluding with a competitor to fix prescription drug reimbursement rates for pharmacies removed the state's suit to federal court, citing its work for federal and military employees.

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Birth Control Clip Maker Must Face Injury Case Trial

By Aaron Keller

Medical device importer and distributor CooperSurgical Inc. failed to secure quick wins on several claims in a bellwether product liability case alleging injuries from Filshie Clip birth control devices, with a Connecticut state judge finding that federal law does not preempt six women's failure-to-warn allegations.

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Mass. Judge Nixes Feds' Bid To Stay Grant Termination Ruling

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration's request to stay her judgment that it cannot terminate already-awarded federal grants based solely on the president's current priorities, and chided the government for intentionally slow-walking the case.

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Ga. Court Affirms Toss Of $7.5M Verdict In Patient Death Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Georgia appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a trial judge's decision to wipe out a jury's $7.5 million verdict against healthcare providers accused of negligently discharging an emergency room patient who was later hit and killed by a car, saying the plaintiffs failed to prove the providers' alleged negligence caused the death.

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1st Circ. Won't Revive Sex Bias Suit Against Benefits Co.

By Patrick Hoff

The First Circuit refused to reinstate a lawsuit from a data architect who said a health benefits company fired her because she's a woman, saying she hadn't alleged that colleagues responsible for "stray" sexist comments played a role in her termination.

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Mallinckrodt Loses $9.5M Award, Wins Delay In Airgas Drug

By Adam Lidgett

A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday threw out Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals' $9.5 million jury award it won in an infringement case and instead blocked a competitor's inhaled nitric oxide treatment patent until after a pair of Mallinckrodt's patents expire.

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Ex-Employee Calls J&J Unit's Trade Secret Suit Retaliation

By George Woolston

A former associate director sued by a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary for allegedly misappropriating confidential information hit back with her own complaint, alleging the company's lawsuit is retaliation for reporting discriminatory and retaliatory conduct by her manager.

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Choice Spine Says Polsinelli Sanctions Bid Is Premature

By Elliot Weld

Medical device company Choice Spine LLC has told a Tennessee federal judge that Polsinelli's request for sanctions was a "premature merits challenge in the guise of a sanctions request" in a case in which Choice Spine is accusing the law firm of pursuing bad faith patent infringement claims.

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Adult Daycare Pushes To Revive Suit Against Fox Rothschild

By Rose Krebs

An adult daycare company is asking a New Jersey state court to undo the toss of its suit against Fox Rothschild LLP and one of its attorneys, saying the dismissal was in error because the business had sought more time to respond to a dismissal motion.

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Hospice Provider General Counsel Joins Morgan Lewis In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP has rehired the former general counsel of Elara Caring, a hospice, home health and personal care service provider, who joins the firm as an FDA and healthcare practice partner in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Tuesday.

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Bank Health Plan Charged Unlawful Tobacco Fee, Suit Says

By Patrick Hoff

Regions Bank unlawfully charged employees who used tobacco and vapes hundreds of dollars more per year to obtain health benefits without sufficiently providing a way to avoid the surcharge, according to a proposed class action filed in Florida federal court.

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Ex-Hospital Worker Can't Get Out Of Bias Settlement

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge has ordered a former William Beaumont Hospital employee to honor a settlement resolving her pregnancy discrimination lawsuit, rejecting her attempts to narrow the agreement to exclude potential medical malpractice claims involving her minor child and allowing her attorneys to withdraw amid a breakdown in their relationship.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

FDA Classification Setback Bodes Well For Wound Care Cos.

A Georgia federal court's recent decision in MiMedx v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration constrains the FDA's analytical framework for classifying certain wound care products as biological products, carrying important ramifications for manufacturers seeking to avoid heightened regulatory requirements, say attorneys at Hyman Phelps.

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DOL Association Health Plan Rule Could Cut Employer Costs

The U.S. Department of Labor's proposed rule would redefine who may act as an employer for purposes of sponsoring a group health plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, potentially extending cost relief to many more businesses, says W. James Hamilton at Bose McKinney.

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How Cos. Using AI Agents Can Avoid Protected Data Incidents

For businesses whose deployed artificial intelligence agents could enter other companies' systems and steal protected data, deployers can take several steps before an incident to test the configured agent, such as limiting it to approved systems and destinations and requiring human escalation when tasks stall, says Steven Carlson at von Briesen & Roper.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Former DOJ Officials See Mixed Results In Midterm Races

By Chris Villani

The 2026 midterm elections included bids for office by several former U.S. Department of Justice officials and nominees for the federal bench, with one race a dead heat and several others decided as of early Wednesday.

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Gibson Dunn Set To Bring On 120 Lawyers From Weil

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson and Marialuisa Taddia

Gibson Dunn is set to hire the U.S. and London-based private funds teams from Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, bringing on 120 attorneys in the largest group move reported since Weil's management committee recommended last week that the firm wind down operations.

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Analysis

Attys Ensure Voters' 'Right To Be Heard' In Midterm Elections

By James Boyle and Lynn LaRowe

From BigLaw attorneys and solo practitioners to university professors, thousands of attorney volunteers turned out for Tuesday's midterm elections to ensure American voters' ballots would be counted.

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Analysis

Midterm Dem Wins To Scramble Lit Funding Legislative Efforts

By Ryan Boysen

Litigation funders can rest easy, for now, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will need to rethink its approach after last night's midterm elections saw Democrats rout Republicans, scrambling a yearslong effort for federal regulation of litigation finance that's so far relied on Republicans.

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State AG Race Wins Set To Give Dems Control Of Most Offices

By Madison Arnold

Democrats are poised to oversee a majority of state attorneys general offices around the country after Tuesday's elections saw the party hang on to all of its existing seats and flip control of five offices from the Republicans, according to unofficial election results.

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Vedder Will Move NYC Staff To New Manhattan Office

By Isaac Monterose

Vedder's New York City staff will move to a new downtown Manhattan office sometime in 2027 after the law firm signed a 49,000-square-foot lease in a 2.6-million-square-foot office tower, according to landlord Rockefeller Group.

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Ogletree Adds Ex-Amazon Employment Atty To Seattle Office

By Rachel Riley

A leading in-house employment attorney for Amazon has departed to join Ogletree Deakins' Seattle office, bringing expertise helping Fortune 50 companies navigate workforce challenges to the firm.

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DOJ Says Epshteyn Will Answer ABA Service Motion

By Jared Foretek

Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn will answer for himself why he has allegedly been evading subpoenas in the American Bar Association's legal challenge to the administration's law firm targeting campaign, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

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DOJ Accused Of Unlawfully Ending Crime Victim Agreement

By Tom Lotshaw

The National Crime Victim Law Institute has accused the U.S. Department of Justice in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims of unlawfully terminating a $500,000 cooperative agreement aimed at strengthening legal support for disabled crime victims in the wake of an executive order against diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

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Holland & Hart Cost Ex-Client $23M Stake In Co., Suit Says

By Zach Dupont

Holland & Hart LLP and two of its attorneys were accused of malpractice in Colorado state court Tuesday by a former client who claims the attorneys failed to inform her that a wealth transfer plan with her then-husband left her iced out of the couple's most valuable asset.

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Goldstein Ordered To Pay Trimmed $1M Forfeiture

By Nadia Dreid

Former SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein was hit with a $1 million forfeiture order Wednesday by a Maryland federal judge in the wake of his tax and mortgage fraud trial, where the appellate advocate was convicted on a dozen charges.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

3M Co.

Ace Hardware Corp.

Airgas Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

Ameris Bancorp

Apple Inc.

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc.

Biofrontera Inc.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Cable News Network Inc.

Chevron Corp.

Children's Hospital Colorado

CooperSurgical Inc.

DaVita Inc.

Elara Caring Inc.

Express Scripts Holding Co.

Google LLC

HealthEquity Inc.

International Legal Finance Association

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Johnson & Johnson

LinkedIn Corp.

Mallinckrodt PLC

Marijuana Policy Project

Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association

MiMedx Group Inc.

NVIDIA Corp.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Natural Resources Defense Council

Omni Bridgeway Ltd.

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Optiver Holding BV

Panda Restaurant Group Inc.

Prime Therapeutics LLC

Regions Home Improvement Financing

Ricoh Co. Ltd.

Rockefeller Group International Inc.

Safeco Insurance Co.

Smart Approaches to Marijuana

Stanford University

Summit Therapeutics Inc.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Teladoc Health Inc.

The Cigna Group

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

The Walsh Group

TransUnion LLC

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Voxer

Welltower Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arnold & Stafford

Ashurst Perkins

Baron & Budd

Blank Rome

Bose McKinney

Buchanan Ingersoll

Burbidge Mitchell

Clark Hill

Coleman Talley

Coles Barton

Cooley LLP

Douglas & London

Dudensing Law

Egerton McAfee

Fennemore

Fick & Marx

Foley & Lardner

Fox Rothschild

Freeman Mathis

Garnett Powell

Gibson Dunn

Goldstein & Russell

Goodwin Procter

Griffin Purnell

Halloran & Sage

Hill Ward Henderson

Holland & Hart

Holtzman Vogel

Huff Powell

Hyman Phelps

Jackson Lewis PC

Jenner & Block

Keker Van Nest & Peters

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Liles Parker

Milberg PLLC

Miller Cohen

Miller Cohen Peterson Young

Morgan Lewis

Ogletree Deakins

Phillips & Associates Attorneys at Law

Phillips McLaughlin

Polsinelli PC

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Richards Layton

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Springer & Steinberg

Sterne Kessler

Susman Godfrey

Troutman

Weil Gotshal

Weinberg Wheeler

Williams Mullen

Wocl Leydon

von Briesen & Roper

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Department of Insurance

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Colorado Supreme Court

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Executive Office of the President

Food and Drug Administration

Georgia Court of Appeals

Homeland Security Investigations

National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Security Agency

New Jersey Attorney General's Office

New York Attorney General's Office

Office of Justice Programs

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Tennessee Department of Health

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Navy

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

US Office of Management and Budget

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Montana