3 States Ask High Court To Block Abortion Shield Laws

By Dan McKay

Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to strike down shield laws for reproductive care in New York, California and Massachusetts, alleging they illegally allow the mailing of abortion medication into states that restrict or ban abortion.

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Relator Must Seek Part Of $4.7B Opioid Deal In State Courts

By Gianna Ferrarin

A whistleblower must turn to state courts to pursue his bid for a portion of a $4.7 billion settlement between Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and a group of states resolving opioid-related claims against the retail pharmacy chain, an Illinois federal judge ruled.

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23andMe Beats Calif.'s Bankruptcy Sale Privacy Challenge

By Dorothy Atkins

A Missouri federal judge on Tuesday denied California's bid to undo the $305 million bankruptcy sale of 23andMe over concerns that the sale sidestepped state consumer data protections, ruling that the state lacks standing to challenge the sale and that the court's "good-faith" findings aren't clearly erroneous.  

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Judge Backs CMS' Contested Organ Procurement Metrics

By Mark Payne

Federal health officials didn't violate federal law when they implemented a competitive rule that will alter how organ procurers are rated by decertifying low performers, a Florida federal judge ruled, a holding that could bring wide changes to the organ donor network. 

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Texas Court Revives Suit Over Sponge Left In Surgery Patient

By Y. Peter Kang

A Texas appellate court on Wednesday revived a medical malpractice suit accusing three radiologists of failing to identify a surgical sponge left inside a patient after open-heart surgery, saying there is a factual dispute over whether the plaintiffs acted with sufficient diligence to overcome a statute-of-limitations defense.

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Ex-Budget Official Sentenced To 7 Years After Fleeing US

By Aaron Keller

Former Connecticut budget official Konstantinos Diamantis, who fled to Greece before learning his fate on federal corruption charges, was sentenced while absent on Wednesday to seven years in prison, if extradition efforts are successful, and immediately faced new litigation over his state government pension.

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Independence Blue Cross Will Pay $22.5M To End FCA Case

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Pennsylvania health insurer Independence Blue Cross has agreed to pay $22.5 million to resolve allegations from the federal government that the company violated the False Claims Act by submitting inaccurate and untruthful diagnosis codes for its Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees, the U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia said Wednesday.

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Aetna Escapes Zelis Repricing Tool Antitrust Case

By Craig Clough

A Massachusetts federal judge granted Aetna's bid Wednesday to dismiss claims against it in consolidated antitrust litigation accusing insurance companies of using Zelis Healthcare's repricing tools to reduce reimbursements paid to healthcare providers, finding an amended complaint failed to plausibly allege that Aetna used the tools.

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FTC Asks Texas Court To Keep Trans Health Suit Intact

By Spencer Brewer

The Federal Trade Commission asked a Texas federal court to keep intact its lawsuit against World Professional Association for Transgender Health, saying Tuesday that it adequately pled that the organization published medically dubious, self-serving trans guidelines that push "dangerous and experimental treatments."

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Tow Co. Can't Nix $27M Default Judgment, Texas Court Rules

By Jonathan Capriel

The father of a U.S. Postal Service worker who was totally incapacitated following a collision with a tow truck will get a second shot at securing a $27 million default judgment against the repossession company, a Texas appeals court ruled, saying the company was properly served.

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Health Co. Wins Initial Toss Of Retirement Forfeiture Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

An Oregon federal judge agreed Wednesday to toss a proposed class action alleging a health company misspent forfeitures from two employee retirement plans by putting assets toward employer-side contribution obligations instead of lowering administrative costs, holding that allegations failed to state a claim for violating federal benefits law.

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NJ Co. Says PPE Stockpiling Was Chinese Sovereign Activity

By Carolina Bolado

A New Jersey company accused of helping China hoard personal protective equipment to create a monopoly at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic told the Eleventh Circuit that a lower court erred in finding that the allegations fall within the commercial activity exception to sovereign immunity.

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Mallinckrodt Must Face Painkiller Contract Breach Claims

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge maintained a drugmaker's contract violation claims against a pharmaceutical ingredient company for allegedly failing to provide the materials needed to make two kinds of painkillers, but held that the drugmaker's claims of market monopolization fell short.

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Verano, Dispensary Failed To Protect Patient Info, Suit Says

By Mike Curley

An Illinois woman is alleging that nationwide cannabis operator Verano Holdings Corp. and a St. Charles dispensary failed to properly protect patient data, allowing 2.4 million lines of database information to be put on the internet.

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Cigna, Fla. Atty Resolve $21M Claim In Ch. 7 Case

By David Minsky

A Florida federal bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved a settlement between a lawyer and Cigna in a Chapter 7 lawsuit, resolving a $21 million claim the health insurer once disputed as nondischargeable for only a fraction of the amount. 

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Navigating A Key Inflection Point In Biosimilar Sector M&A

As biosimilar mergers and acquisitions gain notice amid U.S. Food and Drug Administration reforms, a maturing patent framework and a looming patent cliff, companies diversifying into the higher-growth biologics space should align their regulatory, intellectual property and transactional strategies, say attorneys at Skadden.

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3rd Circ. Ruling Shows ADA Limits Amid Worker Misconduct

In Hileman v. West Penn Allegheny Health System, the Third Circuit recently rejected a wrongful termination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, illustrating that disability and leave laws don't automatically insulate employees from the consequences of prior workplace misconduct, say attorneys at Bond Schoeneck.

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AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

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The Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders: A Look At The Top Firms

Today's most prestigious firms attract top talent and marquee clients while posting record profits. Here's a look at the top 10 firms in this year's Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders, a ranking of the firms that stand out for their prominence, power and distinction.

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DOJ Accuses Judges Of Ethics Violations With Press Remarks

By Jack Karp

Several Minnesota federal judges ran afoul of their ethical obligations when they commented on President Donald Trump's immigration policies in a recent news article, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a judicial misconduct complaint filed Wednesday.

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Federal Bar Discussion Looks At Courts' Role In Regulating AI

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Federal Bar Association discussion Wednesday in California about AI and how it will be regulated in the United States prompted the Northern District's new chief judge to ask whether Congress' "inability to pass laws" will leave it to the courts "to figure out how we're going to do this."

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DOJ Atty Picked For Judgeship Probed On Fulton County Raid

By Courtney Bublé

A top U.S. Department of Justice official tapped for a federal judgeship faced questions from Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday about the department's investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, over Trump's allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.

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Texas AG Says ABA Stifling Law School Competition

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Attorney General announced an investigation into the American Bar Association relating to alleged anticompetitive conduct in the association's accreditation of law schools, claiming Wednesday that the ABA "weaponized its accreditation authority" to push "unconstitutional racial and gender preference requirements."

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Sen. Blackburn Sues Smith For Seizing Phone Records

By James Boyle

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn alleges in a federal complaint filed Wednesday that Jack Smith illegally subpoenaed her phone records as part of an investigation into alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

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3rd Circ. Calls Westlaw AI Fight 'Ordinary Copyright Case'

By Ivan Moreno

The Third Circuit said the first appellate fight over artificial intelligence training and fair use ultimately came down to an "ordinary copyright case," affirming that Ross Intelligence infringed Thomson Reuters' Westlaw headnotes when it used them to train a competing legal research platform.

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Blank Rome Seeks Time To Exit LIV Golf's Fla. Office

By Ben Zigterman

Blank Rome LLP on Wednesday filed a limited objection to LIV Golf's motion to reject its sublease at an office building in West Palm Beach, Florida, saying it didn't receive any advance notice and would like until the end of October to transition to a new office.

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Roundup

Defamation Litigation Roundup: Candace Owens, Firm DQ

By Theresa Schliep

In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 highlights a new suit over right-wing media personality Candace Owens and her conspiracy theories about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as well as Quinn Emanuel's disqualification from a suit against a former client.

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Tort Report: Uber Owes $40M In Abandoned Rider Death Case

By Y. Peter Kang

A $40 million arbitration award in a case over an Uber incident and looming litigation against the federal government over a highly publicized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Roundup

Hub Hires: Mintz, Foley Hoag, Barclay Damon

By Chris Villani

Boston saw several significant moves across its legal landscape as the summer wound down, with Foley Hoag adding an experienced debt finance attorney from Goodwin Procter, a boutique white collar firm snagging a longtime federal prosecutor, and Mintz getting new leadership for the first time in nearly two decades.

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