5th Circ. Revives Religious Bias Suit Over DOD Vaccine Policy

By Patrick Hoff

The Fifth Circuit breathed new life into a proposed class action claiming the U.S. Department of Defense unlawfully slow-walked civilian employees' requests for religious exemptions from its COVID-19 vaccination directive, saying the mandate getting rescinded didn't nullify the lawsuit.

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6th Circ. Panel Torn On Mich. 'Conversion Therapy' Ban

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Sixth Circuit panel appeared divided Thursday about whether to block enforcement of Michigan's ban on conversion therapy for minors as the U.S. Supreme Court grapples with a nearly identical Colorado law.

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9th Circ. Calls For Evidence Hearing Over ICE Facility Access

By Rae Ann Varona

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday partially remanded the Washington State Department of Health's lawsuit accusing GEO Group of illegally blocking access to an immigration facility for safety inspections, calling for an evidentiary hearing into how the refusal for access played out.

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Freshly Launched Legal Org. Plans To Protect Abortion Docs

By Mark Payne

A new legal group launched this week aims to support telehealth doctors providing abortion pills and reproductive care, and to further strengthen shield laws protecting those providers from out-of-state prosecutions. 

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Wash. Justices Skeptical Of Debtor's Collection Notice Stance

By Rachel Riley

Washington Supreme Court justices appeared wary Thursday of second-guessing a Seattle federal judge who asked them to decide whether a hospital billing disclosure law applies to debt collectors, as the plaintiff in the underlying proposed class action pressed the court to "reformulate" the certified question.  

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SEC Being Misled In CBD Fraud Fight, CEO Claims

By Jonathan Capriel

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has "unwittingly" taken the side of a former partner with a terminated licensing agreement, a pharmaceutical CEO told a California federal court this week, asking for summary judgment on the SEC's core claims that he defrauded investors.

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Judge Dings Law Profs In Judge-Shopping Sanctions Case

By Ryan Boysen

The federal judge behind a controversial sanctions order accusing three attorneys of judge shopping while challenging an Alabama gender care law is pushing back on claims that he lacked jurisdiction, as the ruling is on appeal in the Eleventh Circuit.

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Eli Lilly Says Pharmacy Mass-Producing Weight Loss Drug

By Spencer Brewer

Drugmaker Eli Lilly is suing a compounding pharmacy in Texas federal court, alleging the pharmacy ripped off its lucrative weight loss drug, began mass-producing it, and made as much as $2 million per month last year from its misdeeds.

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McGuireWoods Asks NC Justices To Stay Defamation Case

By Andrea Keckley

McGuireWoods LLP and a former partner are asking North Carolina's highest court to halt a defamation case over statements made in connection with an investigation into the former CEO of a managed care organization, saying they risk permanently losing their immunity defense if the suit is allowed to move forward.

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Fla. Court Pauses Marijuana Patients' Gun Rights Case

By Sam Reisman

A Florida federal judge on Thursday agreed to pause a case weighing the constitutionality of a federal ban on medical marijuana patients owning guns after the U.S. Supreme Court recently said it would take up a case on a similar question.

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Mich. Hospitals Seek To Shake Patient Data-Tracking Suit

By Danielle Ferguson

Michigan healthcare facilities said a proposed class action alleging they improperly used data-tracking pixel tools to collect and share patients' private information shouldn't proceed, telling a federal judge Wednesday that the patients haven't claimed they experienced any harmful use of their information.

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Geico Avoids Atty Fees In Florida Providers' Suits

By Ganesh Setty

Geico doesn't need to pay attorney fees or costs across two dozen lawsuits from medical providers that accused the insurer of insufficiently reimbursing them for diagnostic services performed, a Florida state appeals court ruled, agreeing with the company that various county judges' awards deprived it of due process.

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Telehealth Ketamine Provider Hit With Wrongful Death Suit

By Emily Field

Online ketamine therapy provider Mindbloom was hit with a wrongful death suit in North Carolina state court by the father of a 27-year-old man who says his medical history should have disqualified him from receiving the allegedly dangerous anesthetic.

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NextGen Customers Seek Initial OK Of $19M Data Hack Deal

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia federal judge was asked Wednesday to grant preliminary approval of a settlement that would end a proposed class action against NextGen Healthcare over a 2023 data hack that allegedly affected more than 1 million people.

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Premier Healthcare, Fired Director Settle Age Bias Dispute

By Grace Elletson

Premier Healthcare has reached a deal with a former director to close his age discrimination suit claiming the company replaced him with a younger worker and failed to step in when a colleague wrote him off as a "boomer."

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Judge Orders State Farm To Restart Paying PIP Claims To Co.

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida state judge has ordered State Farm to pay out benefits for its insureds to an automobile-crash-focused healthcare company, ruling that the insurer cannot unilaterally stop paying all of its policyholders' crash medical benefits to a provider unless it convinces a court that the provider is ineligible.

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RingConn Settles With Oura After ITC Import Ban

By Adam Lidgett

Ouraring Inc. has inked a deal allowing RingConn to keep its smart rings on the U.S. market following the U.S. International Trade Commission's decision to block Ultrahuman and RingConn from importing products it held infringed a wearable computing device patent.

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Genesis Judge Blocks HHS Bid To End Nursing Home Benefits

By Alex Wittenberg

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Thursday blocked a bid by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to cut off payments for one of Genesis Healthcare's skilled nursing facilities in Alabama, entering a preliminary injunction in the Chapter 11 adversary proceeding.

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Considering Judicial Treatment Of The 2023 Merger Guidelines

Courts have so far primarily cited the 2023 merger guidelines for propositions that do not differ significantly from prior versions of the guidelines, leaving it unclear whether the antitrust agencies will test the guidelines’ more aggressive theories, and how those theories will be treated by federal judges, say attorneys at Covington.

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Series

Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

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Columbia Says Feds Must Release Info On DEI Law Firm Deals

By Grace Elletson

A free speech institute at Columbia University told a New York federal court Thursday that the Trump administration effectively denied its requests for information related to the government's demands that law firms supply details about their diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

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Judges Admit AI Missteps After Grassley's Oversight Push

By Courtney Bublé

Federal judges in New Jersey and Mississippi admitted their staff used artificial intelligence in faulty orders they had to redo over the summer, according to correspondence released Thursday by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who is investigating the matter.

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Sanctions Threats Mount For Atty Who Ignored Citation Order

By Emily Sawicki

An attorney who ignored a show cause order earlier this summer after his co-counsel included a fake case citation in a filing for their then-client, a former in-house attorney for Workday Inc., told a San Francisco federal judge Thursday that his failure to respond was a "mistake," in response to a renewed show cause order.

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5th Circ. Vacates Lewis Brisbois' $1.5M Trademark Award

By Elliot Weld

The Fifth Circuit vacated a $1.5 million damages award Thursday that Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP won against three attorneys who registered a business with the same name, saying the Texas federal judge who granted the award had not explained his reasoning under the relevant statutes.

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Baldwin Opposes 7th Circ. Pick For Her State

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., on Thursday officially opposed the nomination to the Seventh Circuit of Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin, who would serve in her state.

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Derailment Counsel Fee Provision 'Troubles' 6th Circ. Judge

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A three-judge Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday seemed skeptical that counsel representing victims of the fiery 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was blindsided by a "quick-pay" provision in the attorney fee agreement that saw class lawyers get paid before their clients.

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'Civility' A Concern As IP Atty Asks To Depose Party Suing Her

By Lauren Berg

A Florida federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in a patent licensing company executive's defamation suit against a Baker Botts LLP intellectual property litigator told the parties Thursday that she's inclined to appoint a special master to oversee depositions in the case to ensure "the appropriate decorum and civility."

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Quinn Emanuel Loses Bid To Get $1.7M Bill From Sheriff Case

By Rae Ann Varona

A California state appeals court Thursday shot down Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP's effort to recover a more than $1.7 million bill for representing a former Los Angeles County sheriff in a suit county supervisors lodged, finding that the sheriff lacked authority to retain the firm.

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Squire Patton Boggs Partner Confirmed To Kentucky Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 48-45, along party lines, on Thursday to confirm former Kentucky Solicitor General and Squire Patton Boggs LLP partner Chad Meredith to the Eastern District of Kentucky.

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Ky. Rep. Revives Attempt To Abolish PTAB, Expand Eligibility

By Dani Kass

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Thursday he's again attempting to overhaul the patent system, including abolishing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, normalizing injunctions and broadening what can be patented.

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