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: 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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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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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-Director 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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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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Approach The Bench: Judge Wilson On Trial By Zoom

By Cara Bayles and Kelley Marcano

Before she became a state court judge in Washington, Judge Coreen Wilson worked as a trial attorney litigating hundreds of cases, including the country's first binding virtual civil jury trial during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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DOJ Says Trump Adviser Needn't Answer ABA Subpoenas Yet

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Department of Justice is arguing that Trump attorney Boris Epshteyn shouldn't have to respond to subpoenas from the American Bar Association in its challenge to the Trump administration's campaign against law firms until the presiding judge rules on the administration's preexisting motion to quash them.

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Judge Questions Federal Role In Ed Martin Ethics Case

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge struggled Tuesday to see how he could preside over a state attorney ethics proceeding if U.S. pardon attorney Ed Martin gets his way and keeps the case in federal court, as the city's ethics board fought to have it sent back to state court.

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Brownstein Hyatt Faces Suit Over Flawed Cannabis Co. Deal

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado real estate developer and his company alleged that Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP negligently drafted their settlement agreement in a dispute with members of cannabis dispensary chain Native Roots over a sale of the chain's entities, resulting in a roughly $100 million arbitration award against the developer's company.

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Texas Atty Seeks Release In Cyberstalking Case

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas lawyer who is expected to plead guilty in a cyberstalking case involving BigLaw firm attorneys is asking a federal court to free her, saying circumstances are "materially different" because of mental health treatment she has received while behind bars.

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Volunteer Exits Malicious Prosecution Suit Naming DLA Piper

By Craig Clough

A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday tossed a malicious prosecution claim against a former volunteer for Breaking Code Silence on free speech grounds, even as he called the broader case against DLA Piper and the nonprofit "stronger than most."

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Ashurst Perkins ICap Suit Stayed Amid Bankruptcy Fight

By Ben Adlin

A Washington state judge has agreed to freeze a lawsuit accusing law firm Ashurst Perkins Coie of aiding and abetting a nearly $230 million Ponzi scheme, ordering the King County Superior Court litigation be put on hold pending an outcome in a related bankruptcy dispute.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of October

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Fox, Dell and LinkedIn. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from October.

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