NJ Judge Likens Hospital's NDA Rule To Soviet Policy

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey state judge on Wednesday signaled uncertainty about whether a state-owned hospital can lawfully direct employees to keep quiet during internal investigations, at one point suggesting the nondisclosure agreement at issue looked like something written by a Cold War-era Soviet leader.

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9th Circ. Revives Doctor's Medicare Sanctions Challenge

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Ninth Circuit panel revived a doctor's constitutional due process challenge to a 10-year bar the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services imposed on his Medicare billing privileges, finding a district court wrongly concluded he had to first exhaust his administrative remedies.

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Parties Clash Over Scope Of GIPA In DNA Test-Taker's Suit

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge is weighing whether the state's genetic privacy law protects against disclosing information about people who have taken genetic tests, with a DNA testing company accused of unlawfully sharing such information with Google arguing Wednesday the statute applies only to disclosure of actual test results.

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Analysis

6th Circ. Ruling Puts Cannabis Deals In Question

By Sam Reisman

The Sixth Circuit's decision reversing a $31.8 million jury judgment against cannabis giant Curaleaf on the grounds that marijuana is federally illegal is bound to have ramifications for industry players who seek redress in federal courts, attorneys told Law360.

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Fecal Testing Startup Founders Reach $250K Deal With SEC

By Hailey Konnath

Two founders of a now-shuttered fecal testing startup have agreed to pay $125,000 each to put to rest the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations that they used a fraudulent insurance billing scheme to get $60 million from investors, according to an announcement made Wednesday.

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Okla. Mothers Contest Abortion Ban In Fatal Fetal Cases

By Gianna Ferrarin

A pair of mothers urged an Oklahoma state court Wednesday to bar the state from criminalizing abortion care for pregnant individuals who learn their fetus won't survive birth, arguing that doing so violates fundamental rights under Oklahoma's constitution.

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Express Scripts Seeks To Exit AIDS Group's Drug Rate Suit

By Rachel Riley

Express Scripts called on a Washington federal judge to toss a lawsuit accusing it of using its market power to bully the AIDS Healthcare Foundation into accepting lower reimbursement rates for life-saving drugs, contending Tuesday that the case rehashes allegations a Missouri federal court has already rejected twice.

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1st Circ. Seems Torn Over Health Plan Surcharge For Smokers

By Carolyn Muyskens

A First Circuit panel appeared divided Wednesday over whether a casino company is required to refund tobacco use fees after smokers on the company's health plan complete a tobacco cessation program.

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11th Circ. Asked To Overturn $184K ACA Employer Penalty

By Zak Kostro

A commercial laundry services company asked the Eleventh Circuit to reverse a Florida federal court's ruling that upheld a $184,000 payment to the IRS under the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility provisions, saying it didn't receive notice of the penalty soon enough to lodge an effective appeal.

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80 Hospitals End Suit Over Now Vacated HHS Payment Rule

By Matthew Santoni

A group of 80 hospitals has voluntarily ended a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over denied Medicare payment appeals after a D.C. federal court vacated a 2023 rule affecting how those payments were calculated.

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McLaren Patients' Web Tracking Privacy Claims Advance

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge has allowed patients to move forward with claims that McLaren Health Care Corp. and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute allegedly intercepted their electronic communications and benefited from sensitive health information collected through tracking technology embedded in their websites.

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2nd Circ. Tylenol MDL Ruling Clarifies Court Gatekeeper Role

The Second Circuit’s recent decision in multidistrict litigation over alleged links between Tylenol and developmental disorders, holding that the trial court improperly excluded expert witnesses, preserves meaningful judicial gatekeeping while making clear that judges may not resolve legitimate scientific disputes themselves, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

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Harvard Morgue Deal Shows Stakes Of Good Faith Immunity

Harvard's recent $53 million payment to settle lawsuits concerning body part thefts from its medical school morgue spotlights the state’s Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, which only extends good faith immunity to anatomical donation stakeholders if certain conditions are met, says Christina Strong at Dilworth Paxson.

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Ch. 11 Ruling Offers A Drafting Guide For 3rd-Party Releases

A recent Puerto Rico bankruptcy court decision in Grupo Hima San Pablo has provided important guidance and a concrete playbook for drafting consensual third-party releases following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.

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Burford Exec, Holland & Knight Adviser Open AI-Native Firm

By Andrea Keckley

Two veterans of the legal industry announced on Wednesday that they have teamed up to launch FairPlay Law, an AI-native firm based in Manhattan and focused on representing employees.

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Michael Best Combines With NY-Based Kane Kessler

By Kevin Penton

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP announced Wednesday that it is combining with New York-based firm Kane Kessler PC, adding 36 attorneys and a Big Apple presence to a firm that ranked 143rd on Law360's list of the nation's largest law firms.

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Protesters Say Feds' Fight Shows Need For Misconduct Probe

By Lauraann Wood

The U.S. government's opposition to a special investigation of prosecutorial misconduct that "poisoned" a now-dismissed criminal conspiracy case suggests Chicago prosecutors are still shielding critical details regarding the extent of official communications preceding the prosecution, underscoring the probe's necessity, protesters argued Tuesday.

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Apple Backs Its $132K Fee Ask Over 'Bad Faith' Subpoenas

By Bonnie Eslinger

Apple has urged a California federal magistrate judge to grant its $132,700 attorney fee request as a sanction against plaintiff consumers' lead lawyer in antitrust litigation claiming Google muscles out rival search engines, but said Apple's counsel doesn't want to disclose their "highly and competitively sensitive" negotiated legal rates.

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Newman Saga Prompts Bill To Limit Judicial Suspensions

By Courtney Bublé

The long-running saga over Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's fitness to remain on the court has exposed "major flaws" in the judicial accountability system, according to a Republican member of the House who introduced a bill Wednesday to reform it.

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Brief

Senate Panel Weighs 6 Trump Judicial Picks From Red States

By Courtney Bublé

Six nominees for U.S. district judge appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for their nomination hearing.

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