Judge Rejects Extra Hurdle For Medicaid Frailty Exemption

By Chris Villani

A Trump administration bid to create additional barriers to Medicaid eligibility was rejected Thursday by a Massachusetts federal judge, who ruled that Congress did not delegate to the executive branch the task of deciding who is too medically frail to meet work requirements.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Supreme Court OKs Cancer Misdiagnosis Retrial

By Y. Peter Kang

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday greenlighted a new trial in a suit accusing a doctor of rendering the wrong type of cancer treatment to a patient, which caused her to die more quickly, solidifying the state's risk of harm standard in medical malpractice cases.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOL Finalizes Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fee Disclosure Rule

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm unveiled a final rule Thursday that requires pharmacy benefit managers — which act as intermediaries between drugmakers, pharmacies and insurers — to make new disclosures on their fees and compensation to employer-sponsored group health plans.

Final Rule attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge 'Put Off' By Atty Fee Bid In $59.5M Menstrual App Deal

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge said Thursday that he'll give final approval to a $59.5 million settlement resolving class claims over a menstrual tracking app sharing sensitive health data with Google, but he cut the $19 million attorney fee request by 5%, saying counsel is "taking money out of consumers' pockets."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

'Why Would I Deceive You?': Fact-Checking The Holmes Doc

By Dorothy Atkins

With former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes' criminal case receiving renewed attention following the recent release of Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's documentary "You Can See Everything," Law360 answers questions about Holmes' 2022 securities fraud conviction and fact-checks some of the documentary's most talked-about moments.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Squires Grants 4 Patent Review Bids In Latest Bulk Order

By Adam Lidgett

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has greenlighted four new petitions seeking review of patents in his latest round of decisions, while turning down one on discretionary grounds.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EMT Immunity Doesn't Cover Driving, Wash. Justices Say

By Ben Adlin

Emergency medical technicians' qualified immunity from negligence claims in Washington does not extend to driving ambulances, a divided state Supreme Court held Thursday, ruling that the transportation of patients falls outside EMTs' statutory immunity for rendering emergency services.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Delaware Chancery Keeps $8.9B R1 RCM Buyout Claim Alive

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court has ruled that private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners LP and health system Ascension Health Alliance must face a stockholder claim challenging healthcare revenue management venture R1 RCM Inc.'s $8.9 billion take-private deal, finding that their joint investment vehicle qualified as a controlling stockholder despite owning less than one-third of the company's voting shares.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Rejects 'Kitchen Sink' Protest Of Optum DHA Deal

By Elaine Briseño

A Court of Federal Claims judge dismissed a protest challenging the Defense Health Agency's award of a $1.6 billion health services contract, finding the protestors spent too much time making various points instead of homing in on a winning argument.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. Justices Won't Review Hospital's Injunction Compliance

By Rachel Konieczny

The Colorado Supreme Court declined Thursday to take up transgender youth patients' challenge to a Denver judge's ruling that discharged their contempt citation against Children's Hospital Colorado for not resuming providing medical gender-affirming care to transgender adolescents.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pot Use Firing Suit Can Be Arbitrated Despite Flawed Clause

By Mike Curley

A California state judge has granted Aarris Healthcare Staffing LLC's bid to compel arbitration against a former employee alleging she was wrongly fired for off-duty cannabis use, despite finding portions of the agreement unenforceable.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Court OKs Unemployment Comp Despite Off-Duty Lie

By Matthew Santoni

A Pennsylvania nurse didn't commit "willful misconduct" by refusing to answer questions about a coworker visiting her while he was on duty and she was off duty, so the nurse remained eligible to collect unemployment benefits after she was fired, a state appellate court ruled Wednesday.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GEO Says Colo. Health Inspection Law Suit Should Survive

By Nadia Dreid

The federal contractor that runs an immigration detention center near Denver is coming out swinging against Colorado's attempt to kill its suit challenging a state law requiring extra inspections, saying its claims cannot be considered premature just because the state has not enforced the law yet.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fertility Cos. Accused Of Moving Eggs Without Consent

By Gianna Ferrarin

A national fertility clinic network has been hit with a suit in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging it jeopardized a 50-year-old woman's ability to have a biological child by transporting her frozen eggs across state lines to an automated facility without her permission.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

What Expanded CMS Authority Means For Health Compliance

A recent delegation gives the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services independent authority to impose permissive exclusions, creating a more active federal enforcement system with heightened risks for healthcare organizations, says Jose Vela at Clark Hill.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Are You Happy With Your In-House Role? Take Our Survey

Is your company giving you everything you need to succeed? What are some misconceptions about working in-house? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Satisfaction Survey.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Backs Ex-Wisconsin Judge's ICE Obstruction Conviction

By Andrea Keckley

The U.S. Department of Justice told the Seventh Circuit that the high-profile conviction of a former Wisconsin state court judge for interfering with an ICE arrest was not compromised by her position on the bench or by jury instructions.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

Hub Hires: WilmerHale, Womble Bond, Kirkland

By Chris Villani

Falling temperatures didn't bring a cooldown in the Boston legal lateral market as WilmerHale and Robinson & Cole LLP both welcomed former assistant attorneys general, Honigman LLP established its first office in the market, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP snagged a partner from Ropes & Gray LLP.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC and Smith Porsborg Schweigert Armstrong Moldenhauer & Smith lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eighth Circuit struck down the Federal Reserve's regulatory cap on the swipe fees that larger banks may collect on debit card transactions.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Cyberattack Class Action Against Fox Rothschild Dropped

By Madison Arnold

Three data breach victims have dismissed their proposed class action against Fox Rothschild LLP after ransomware group Silent Ransom Group targeted the firm.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ramona Nee, Tapped To Lead Weil, Now In Talks With Kirkland

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Ramona Nee, the co-leader of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's U.S. private equity practice who had been poised to become its leader, is engaged in talks to join Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a source with knowledge of the situation told Law360 Pulse on Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Meta reached a settlement during jury selection in the second Los Angeles bellwether trial over claims its Instagram platform harms the mental health of children, leaving Snap as the lone defendant facing trial. In the meantime, current and former in-house lawyers for Google and Meta said that the ability of AI to write patent applications is rapidly improving, and that in blind tests, experienced attorneys often deem AI-drafted patents to be superior to those from humans. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Jackson Walker Inks $500K Deal In EXCO's Ch. 11 Fee Fight

By Clara Geoghegan

Jackson Walker has agreed to pay EXCO Resources Inc. $500,000 to end litigation over fees paid to the firm while one of its partners was in an undisclosed relationship with the former bankruptcy judge who mediated in the reorganized oil and gas driller's Texas Chapter 11.

Settlement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Judge A No-Show Amid Inquiry Into Her Mental Health

By Craig Clough

U.S. District Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas failed to appear Friday before a judicial investigative committee examining allegations that she abandoned her post and concerns that a mental condition may be interfering with her ability to perform her duties.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

K&L Gates DQ'd In Trust's Mortgage Loan Agreement Dispute

By Isaac Monterose

A Washington federal judge disqualified K&L Gates LLP from a trust's dispute over a residential mortgage loan sale agreement, ruling that the law firm must leave the suit because it drafted the form agreement used in the transaction.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Cruz Counsel Returns To FCC As Space Bureau Chief

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission has named a former employee with experience in both the public and private sectors to head the agency's Space Bureau, after a stint as chief telecommunications counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Kalshi Taps Clement For High Court Sports Contracts Fight

By Elaine Briseño

Kalshi has hired appellate heavyweight Paul D. Clement of Clement & Murphy PLLC to represent the company in its potential U.S. Supreme Court battle over whether the prediction markets platform's sports wagering is subject to state or federal oversight.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »