Providence Health Inks $43M Deal In 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Grace Elletson

Providence Health & Services has struck a nearly $43 million deal to end a suit claiming the company used forfeited cash from its retirement plan to fund its employer contributions instead of plan expenses covered by workers, an agreement that stands to benefit 200,000 class members.

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Ex-Federal Workers Say Reductions Were 'Political' Firings

By Rose Krebs

A group of more than 140 ex-federal employees has sued the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies in Maryland federal court, challenging the Trump administration's use of "reductions in force" to make what they contend are politically motivated firings.

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Conn. Judge Says Attys 'Unprepared' At Pretrial Conference

By Mike Curley

A Connecticut state judge on Tuesday chastised the parties in a medical malpractice case where the plaintiffs have sought more than $12 million, saying they were "completely unprepared" and "utterly ignored" a previous scheduling order.

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Judge Rips Drugmakers' Borderline 'Disingenuous' Appeal Bid

By Dorothy Atkins

A Connecticut federal judge has rejected generic-drug makers' request for a quick appeal of his ruling denying them summary judgment on states' claims they engaged in an "overarching conspiracy" to fix prices, slamming the request for being borderline "disingenuous," mischaracterizing his reasoning and ignoring direct evidence of alleged wrongdoing.

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Colo. Judge Allows Hospital To Pause Gender-Affirming Care

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado state judge declined to reinstate gender-affirming care for transgender youth patients of Children's Hospital Colorado, ruling that ordering the hospital to resume providing the care could risk the hospital's ability to provide pediatric care to other patients.

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Chancery Disallows Arbitration In No Surprises Act Cases

By Jeff Montgomery

In a "narrow" first impression ruling, a Delaware magistrate in Chancery has rejected claims that the federal No Surprises Act provides for a narrow private right to seek the enforcement of an arbitration award in litigation over medical bills involving the act.

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Home Health Co. Nurses Are Employees, Judge Rules

By Irene Spezzamonte

A home healthcare company misclassified its licensed practical nurses as independent contractors, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled in a suit brought by the U.S. Department of Labor, saying a jury should decide how much overtime the workers are owed.

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Nurse, Staffing Cos. Settle 'Indentured Servitude' Suit For $1M

By Benjamin Morse

Two healthcare staffing companies will pay $1 million to end a proposed class and collective action claiming they engaged in "indentured servitude" by forcing nurses to repay visa-related costs, according to an Ohio federal court filing.

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Union Says Express Scripts Diverted Billions In Kickback Fees

By Mark Payne

A Chicago plumbers union healthcare fund told an Illinois federal court Tuesday that the nation's largest pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, violated federal criminal law when it used a Switzerland-based company to hide kickbacks it generated by charging drug companies fees for key placement on prescription plan drug lists.  

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Edwards Sued In Chancery Over $300M Heart Valve Earn-Out

By Jarek Rutz

The former shareholders of Valtech Cardio Ltd. have sued the company and its parent Edwards Lifesciences Corp. in the Delaware Chancery Court, accusing the medical device giant of deliberately stalling development of a heart valve repair system to avoid paying up to $300 million in earn-out consideration tied to the 2016 acquisition.

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$500M Medical Glove Feud Must Be Arbitrated, Court Hears

By Caroline Simson

A medical gloves supplier is arguing that a Malaysian exporter must arbitrate its $500 million fraud and breach of contract suit after the two had a falling out stemming from a massive COVID-19-era pact aimed at supplying repackaged nitrile gloves to Walmart.

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Brief

Squires Ends IPR After ITC Judge Rejects Validity Challenge

By Elliot Weld

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires ended a Patent Trial and Appeal Board review of a Hydrafacial LLC skin treatment patent since the same issue had already been adjudicated in the U.S. International Trade Commission.

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3 Firms Advise On $9.9B Danaher, Masimo Diagnostics Deal

By Al Barbarino

Danaher Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Masimo Corp. in a deal valued at about $9.9 billion, including debt, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP advising Danaher and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and White & Case LLP representing Masimo. 

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McGuireWoods Adds Sidley Private Equity Pro In Los Angeles

By James Mills

McGuireWoods LLP is expanding its transactional team, announcing Tuesday that it is bringing in a Sidley Austin LLP private equity expert as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

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Law Professors Sue EEOC For Firm DEI Letter Records

By Craig Clough

Two professors at law schools in Michigan and Florida have sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in D.C. federal court, seeking documents related to 20 letters the agency sent to law firms over their purported diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

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Goldstein Tax Trial Heads To Closing Args As Defense Rests

By Jared Foretek

Jurors in SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's tax fraud trial will hear closing arguments Wednesday, after the final two witnesses in the monthlong proceeding took the stand, and new emails regarding Goldstein's efforts to conceal poker debts came to light Tuesday.

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Flat Fee Or Contingency? Firm, Ex-Client Fight Over IP Spoils

By Ben Adlin

A 3D printing technology company has urged a Washington federal court to toss a breach of contract lawsuit brought by its former law firm, Lee & Hayes PC, arguing it agreed to a flat fee ahead of a patent settlement, while Lee & Hayes says it only waived a contingency fee because of its onetime client's "underhanded misrepresentations."

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J&J Fights Beasley Allen's Bid To Pause Talc DQ Ruling

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey state court lacks standing to block an appellate panel's removal of Beasley Allen from representing hundreds of women with ovarian cancer pursuing claims against Johnson & Johnson over talcum powder, the pharmaceutical company has argued in an opposition brief.

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Valve Jury Says Rothschild, Atty Broke Anti-Patent Troll Law

By Rachel Riley

Inventor Leigh Rothschild, his companies and his former attorney broke Washington state's anti-patent trolling law by making a bad faith assertion of patent infringement against video game developer Valve Corp., and Rothschild and his companies breached an intellectual property licensing deal in the process, a Seattle federal jury found on Tuesday. 

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Supreme Court Adopts Rule To Suss Out Stock Conflicts

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Tuesday that litigants will soon be required to include companies' stock ticker symbols in court documents as part of new rules aimed at helping the justices identify potential conflicts of interest.

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Sens. Concerned About Live Nation Case After DOJ 'Ousting'

By Matthew Perlman

A group of Senate Democrats is raising concerns about potential political influence at the U.S. Department of Justice, following the abrupt departure of the agency's top antitrust enforcer weeks before Live Nation is set to face trial in the government's monopolization case.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

Cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence disputes continued their slow weave into Delaware Court of Chancery and state Supreme Court dockets last week, with jurists and litigants grappling over how — or if — the courts' old-school equity jurisdiction and fiduciary duty hooks apply to new kinds of deals.

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