NY Nursing Home Hit With $6.8M Verdict In Understaffing Case

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New York state jury reached a $6.8 million verdict against a nursing home accused of understaffing its approximately 62-bed facility and causing severe patient neglect, counsel for a certified class of residents at the facility announced Friday.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

States Win 1st OK Of $400M Sandoz Generic Price-Fixing Deal

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge granted preliminary approval Friday to a $400 million settlement between a coalition of states, Sandoz Inc. and its subsidiary Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc. over allegations of generic drug price-fixing and market allocation, setting aside $280 million as restitution.

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

Brokers Sue CMS Over Moratorium On ACA Registration

By Gianna Ferrarin

A trade group for brokers and other health insurance professionals urged a Maryland federal court to halt the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' moratorium on new registrations of agents and brokers, arguing the policy and a related rule don't comply with administrative procedure.

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

Analysis

Could A Criminal Sentencing Case Upend Loper Bright?

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is concerned that a ruling instructing trial courts to defer to the U.S. Sentencing Commission's interpretation of federal sentencing guidelines could blow a "pretty big hole" in the court's recent rejection of deference doctrines. His colleagues, however, don't appear as perturbed.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Expect These Post-Midterm Probes If The Hill Changes Hands

By Phillip Bantz

The top investigative priorities of a potentially Democratic-controlled Congress are coming into sharper focus with the midterms weeks away and could impact an array of companies and individuals in technology, finance and energy, experts say.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'Defend To The End': Atty Admits Error In Gucci Glasses Suit

By Matthew Santoni

An attorney blamed a "defend to the end" attitude he'd developed while fighting foreclosures for turning a client's dispute over $399 Gucci glasses into a multiyear legal morass that landed him in front of a Pennsylvania disciplinary panel on Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Backs Florida Firm In Lender Note Verdict Appeal

By Andrea Keckley

The Eleventh Circuit in an unpublished opinion backed a law firm accused of botching several financial transactions for a Puerto Rican microcap lender, affirming the findings of a jury and a lower court that it didn't commit malpractice by failing to secure the company's assets during bankruptcy proceedings.

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

Healthcare VP Gets 18 Months In $450M Medicare Scheme

By Carolina Bolado

A former healthcare executive who cooperated with the government received an 18-month sentence Friday for his role in helping operate a $450 million scheme to swindle Medicare by using software that created false prescriptions for orthotic braces.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Hospital Operator Challenges NC AG's Power Over Merger

By Hayley Fowler

HCA Healthcare is taking another crack at throwing out the North Carolina attorney general's suit alleging HCA broke its promise to maintain a certain level of care at an Asheville hospital it purchased, saying his office lacks the power to enforce a merger between two private parties.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Conn. Doctor Settles Fraud Claims Over COVID Test Billing

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut doctor who has pursued numerous lawsuits against insurers for COVID-19 testing reimbursements, with a mixed record of success, has agreed to pay more than $850,000 to settle allegations that his companies submitted inflated bills to government programs, authorities said Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Device Co. Accused Of Shorting Co-Founder's Payments

By Zach Dupont

The co-founder of a company that sells medical devices told a Colorado state court Thursday that the company lowered the percentage he is owed of $7.7 million in outstanding receivables from a client without approval.

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

Former Connecticut Budget Boss' 2nd Bribery Trial Delayed

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge Friday rescheduled a Medicaid audit-related corruption trial for former state budget official Konstantinos Diamantis, who remains on the lam after fleeing to Greece as sentencing neared in an earlier corruption case connected to school construction bribes.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Aetna Drops Medical Billing Suit Against Acupuncture Clinic

By Hope Patti

Aetna, a Washington acupuncture clinic and a retired doctor have agreed to end the insurer's suit claiming it paid more than $800,000 because of fraudulent billing for medical services, according to a federal court filing.

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

City Therapeutics' Upsized $200M IPO Joins Biotech Wave

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Blood clot-focused biotechnology firm City Therapeutics began trading publicly Friday after raising $200 million in its upsized initial public offering steered by Goodwin Procter LLP and Cooley LLP, joining a wave of biotechnology public listings over the past few weeks.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Freshfields, Morgan Lewis

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, Penske Automotive Group Inc. agrees to be taken private by Motown Acquisition Corp., a GTCR-led group of private investment firms acquires software firm CCC Intelligent Solutions Holdings Inc. and a Steris PLC subsidiary buys specialty surgical products business Xodus Medical Inc.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mich. Panel Says PIP Opt-Out Bars State Medical Coverage

By Hope Patti

Michigan motorists who opt out of personal injury protection medical benefits cannot obtain such coverage through the state's assigned claims plan if they are injured as a non-occupant of a motor vehicle, a Michigan state appeals court ruled.

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

Mayer Brown Lands 2 Sheppard FDA Partners

By Tracey Read

Mayer Brown LLP has bolstered its life sciences capabilities with two former Sheppard partners, including that firm's former U.S. Food and Drug Administration practice leader.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

China Tightens Export Controls On AI, Biotech Technologies

By Dylan Moroses

China will add 40 new products spanning across the artificial intelligence, biotechnologies and photovoltaic sectors to a pre-export registration requirements list, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FTC Hospital Review Shows Hurdles To Failing-Firm Defense

The Federal Trade Commission's recent announcement about Fairfield Medical Center's abandoned sale to OhioHealth shows why financially distressed sellers must conduct an adequate buyer search before using the failing-firm defense to argue that enforcers should overlook competition concerns, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Womble Bond Reports Data Breach Exposing Personal Info

By Jake Maher

Womble Bond Dickinson was hit with a data breach in August that revealed personal information to an unauthorized third party, the firm said in a notice with the Massachusetts state government this week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Suing The Trump Admin Can Have Massive Impact, Attys Say

By Bonnie Eslinger

Lawyers representing clients against the federal government spoke Friday about the challenges and rewards of such litigation in the Trump era, with plaintiff-side powerhouse Elizabeth Cabraser pointing to the potential for massive impact, including one case in which she successfully got more than a billion dollars in grant funding reinstated.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dems Press Kirkland Again For Details Of $125M Trump Deal

By Courtney Bublé

A trio of congressional Democrats once again accused Kirkland & Ellis LLP of subverting their oversight requests into the $125 million deal the firm cut with the Trump administration last year.

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

Brief

Cooley Reportedly Matches Milbank Pay Scale Starting In '27

By Matt Perez

Cooley LLP will reportedly increase U.S. associate base compensation in line with the pay scale set by Milbank LLP in June beginning on Jan. 1.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Google Class Attys Get $22.7M Despite Hourly Rate Rebuke

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has approved Google's $68 million class action settlement to resolve a long-running privacy suit, including class counsel's requested $22.67 million fee award, commending the parties' hard work while also criticizing a plaintiffs attorney's "patently unreasonable" proposed $3,000 hourly rate.

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

Google Users' $85M Fee Ask Stalls Over 'Utterly Lacking' Bill

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge on Thursday rejected an $85 million attorney fee request following a $700 million settlement in a consumer-led case against Google, ruling that counsel's submitted billing records are "utterly lacking in information demonstrating what work was done and for what purpose," while granting leave to amend the request.

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

Fla. High Court Says 'COVID Brain' Can't Excuse Atty Blunder

By David Minsky

The Florida Supreme Court found an attorney guilty of misconduct over his lack of candor when questioned about an interaction with his own witness in a paternity trial, saying there's no way "COVID brain" caused him to violate a sequestration rule and lie to a judge. 

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Attys Can Still Protect Voting Rights During The Midterms

By Cara Bayles

With the midterm elections approaching, a coalition of local and national nonprofits are seeking volunteers, especially lawyers, to safeguard the vote during an election with more states in play as battlegrounds and growing anxiety about federal interference in local elections.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Survey Of Ill. Attys Reveals Mental Health Struggles, Stigma

By Celeste Bott

A survey of nearly 7,000 Illinois lawyers found roughly 20% rated their mental health as fair or poor, according to an Illinois Supreme Court commission report documenting the toll of workplace stress on the state's attorneys and judges, their alcohol and drug use, and barriers to getting them care.

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

Balancing The Scales: Criminal Appeals, Sentencing Rules

By Orlando Lorenzo

The Second Circuit has been ordered to take another look at a murder-for-hire conviction in light of the high court's new miscarriage-of-justice exception for criminal appeal waivers, and the top courts in Pennsylvania and Michigan will look at the retroactivity of new sentencing rules. Here, Law360 highlights access to justice stories arising from litigation, verdicts and judgments you may have missed.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Schlichter Bogard LLC leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the full Eleventh Circuit overturned decades-old precedent that took a strict view of when federal benefits law claims could be brought in court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The top investigative priorities of a potentially Democratic-controlled Congress are coming into sharper focus with the midterms just weeks away and could impact companies in various sectors. In the meantime, one BigLaw firm formed a board to oversee the use of artificial intelligence and evaluate proposals from its practice groups and sectors. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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 »