Health Attys Talk Cooperation In Gov't Fraud Investigations

By Gianna Ferrarin

For attorneys defending healthcare clients hit with grand jury subpoenas and other enforcement actions investigating potential cases of fraud, cooperation with federal prosecutors is key.

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Analysis

Remedies, Not Suits: How FTC Approaches Health Mergers

By Yeji Jesse Lee

The Federal Trade Commission has not sued over any healthcare provider mergers since President Donald Trump's return to the White House. Attorneys at the American Health Law Association annual meeting say that's not a signal that the agency is backing off.

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Trump Public Loan Forgiveness Rule Is Unlawful, Judges Find

By Rae Ann Varona

Federal judges in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday struck down a U.S. Department of Education rule that effectively narrowed which public service workers could receive student loan forgiveness, saying the department had issued limitations on qualifying employers outside its rulemaking authority.

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Cigna, Others Fight Ohio AG's Drug Price-Fixing Suit

By Carla Baranauckas

Ohio pharmacy benefit managers and their corporate parents urged a federal judge to toss the state's drug price-fixing lawsuit, saying in a series of briefs that the state is trying to skirt federal pleading standards, collapse corporate separateness and stretch Ohio's antitrust law beyond its limits.

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Calif. Will Lock In Biz Tax Credit Limit, Halve Min. Tax For LLCs

By Maria Koklanaris

California will expand its sales and use tax base to include prewritten software, make permanent its business tax credit limit and halve the $800 minimum tax for limited liability companies, under the last budget that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed as the state's chief executive.

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GEO Still Blocking Parts Of NJ Detention Center, State Says

By Elaine Briseño

New Jersey and its Department of Health told a federal judge that despite consent from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to tour its Newark detention center, facility operator GEO Group Inc. is still barring entrance to certain areas.

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Geico, Drivers Seek Final OK Of Deal Over Injury Coverage

By Eli Flesch

Geico and a class of hundreds of drivers asked a Washington federal court Tuesday to approve a settlement in a dispute over whether the insurer improperly withheld drivers' personal injury protection coverage by asserting they reached "maximum medical improvement."

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Uber, FedEx Slam Pa. Law Firm Counterclaims In RICO Suit

By James Boyle

Philadelphia-based personal injury firm Simon & Simon PC and its founder have failed to support a counterclaim in Pennsylvania federal court saying Uber Technologies Inc. and FedEx Corp. filed a sham litigation and abused the legal process with their ongoing RICO complaint against the firm, the companies argued Monday.

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Analysis

Defamation Litigation Roundup: Tyra Banks, Carroll, ERISA

By Theresa Schliep

In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 highlights Tyra Banks' suit over a Netflix docuseries about her long-running modeling competition show, as well as a late-night television host's defeat of a case taking issue with a segment on Medicaid coverage in Iowa.

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UCHealth Workers Fight Bid To Toss Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Two former hospital workers urged a Colorado federal court to keep alive their proposed class and collective action alleging University of Colorado Health shorted hourly employees through a time-rounding policy and denied them required meal and rest breaks, saying their claims are sufficiently detailed to proceed.

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Patients Say Colo. Health Network Didn't Secure HIV Data

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado healthcare organization that operates as the state's largest source of services and programs for people impacted by HIV did not protect patients' private information in a cyberattack, according to three proposed class actions filed in state court.

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FDA Lets Zyn Market Some Pouches As Less Risky Than Cigs

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that Philip Morris may now market 20 of its Zyn nicotine pouch products as having less of a health risk than cigarettes.

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AIDS Group Says Cigna-Owned Express Scripts Hurts Patients

By Nadia Dreid

AIDS Healthcare Foundation says its nonprofit wellness centers are going to be run out of business if Cigna-owned pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts isn't stopped from using its muscle in the market to steer pharmacy patients toward specialty pharmacies it's affiliated with.

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Mental Health Nonprofit Hit With RN's Wage Suit Over Breaks

By Melanie Dorsey

A former Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services registered nurse filed a proposed collective action on Tuesday accusing the Michigan health provider of shorting hourly workers on overtime pay through automatic meal-break deductions, time-rounding practices, unpaid training and excluded bonuses. 

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Claims Full Of 'Fog' Cloud Pa. Nurse's Racial Bias Suit

By Matthew Santoni

An employment lawsuit argued Tuesday in Pittsburgh could raise questions of a joint employer's obligation to investigate and oppose alleged racial bias by another employer, but a federal judge said the claims were obscured by "a bunch of fog" and sharply challenged the plaintiff's lawyer to state the case more clearly.

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Pharma Co. Seeks Injunction Over Chinese Military Co. Label

By Madeline Lyskawa

Chinese pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec is urging a D.C. federal court judge to block the Pentagon from enforcing its designation of the company as a "Chinese military company," arguing the listing is unsupported by facts and was imposed without due process.

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Gordon Rees Adds 8 Partners In Northern California

By Tracey Read

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP has expanded its offices in Northern California with eight new partners who have expertise in multiple practice areas, a firm spokesperson told Law360 Pulse on Tuesday.

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Series

Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

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$885M IBS Drug Verdict Tests Pay-For-Delay Limits

The outcome in the Amitiza Antitrust Litigation is significant because it is the first jury trial win for private antitrust plaintiffs in a suit challenging a patent settlement reverse payment since the U.S. Supreme Court adopted the rule-of-reason legal framework in 2013, offering a blueprint for pay-for-delay claims, say attorneys at Katten.

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Key Tips For Patenting Antibody-Drug Conjugate Inventions

Recent decisions highlight the significant challenges that can arise when patenting antibody-drug conjugates, which require strategic considerations for satisfying heightened written description and enablement requirements, says Xiaoban Xin at FisherBroyles.

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Healthcare Orgs Should Prep For Greater Grant Oversight

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new Audit Enforcement and Risk Oversight initiative, and a proposed overhaul of the governmentwide framework for grants management, signal an aggressive and data-driven approach to federal grant enforcement, and could significantly expand the pathways leading to enforcement actions and private litigation, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

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2 Ex-Clifford Chance Attys Say Firm Wants To Claw Back $6M

By Jake Maher

Two former practice group leaders at Clifford Chance LLP have sued in New York federal court alleging the firm is trying to claw back nearly $6 million in total from the pair after they moved to Sidley Austin LLP early this year.

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Trump Nominates Just Confirmed La. Judge For 5th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

Judge Anna St. John has been on the federal bench for less than four months, and now she's being put forth for a higher court.

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McCarter Atty Says He Didn't Know NY Law Before $20M Deals

By Brian Steele

A onetime McCarter & English LLP partner in Hartford testified Tuesday that he did not research New York's municipal contracting laws before helping two insurers enter into doomed $20 million loan repayment agreements with a Long Island town, but contended that he was under no obligation to do so.

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NJ Assembly Passes Litigation Funding Disclosure Bill

By Jake Maher

The New Jersey Assembly passed a bill requiring the disclosure of third-party litigation funding arrangements on Tuesday by an overwhelming margin after similar pending legislation in the state Senate received pushback from trial lawyers and litigation finance representatives.

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Apple Gets High Court Review Of Epic Case Sanctions

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to take up Apple's challenge to a California federal court contempt order against it for violating a ban, won by Epic Games, on company policies that barred app developers from steering users to outside payment options.

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Analysis

Justices' Birthright Ruling Leaves Little Room For Congress

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 holding Tuesday that President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship is unconstitutional did more than invalidate the policy, it effectively foreclosed Congress from trying to implement the executive order through legislation, experts told Law360.

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High Court Scraps Caps On Coordinated Campaign Spending

By Katie Buehler and Jeff Overley

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down federal limits on political party spending in coordination with individual candidates, agreeing with a Republican-led challenge that the caps violate the First Amendment.

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NY State Bar Wants New Bar Exam Rules For Emergencies

By Kevin Penton

Following two recent incidents that drew scrutiny over their handling, the New York State Bar Association is calling for new standardized protocols to be followed should emergencies occur during the administration of the bar exam.

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