Insurer Rips Sanctions Bid In Opioid Coverage Dispute

By Hope Patti

An insurer asked an Illinois federal court to reject a drug wholesaler's bid for sanctions in a dispute over coverage for underlying opioid litigation, saying the accusations that it intentionally destroyed pertinent evidence are, "at best, based on half-truths and misstatements of fact."

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NY Diocese, Abuse Claimants Reach $148M Ch. 11 Deal

By Clara Geoghegan

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, New York, has agreed to pay $148 million as part of a settlement reached with a committee of sexual abuse claimants in its Chapter 11, it announced Friday.

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Atty Sanctioned For AI Hallucinations In Workers' Comp Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey appellate court on Friday ordered an attorney to pay $1,000 in sanctions for failing to rectify AI-hallucinated case citations pointed out to him in an appeal concerning reimbursement sought by a workers' compensation carrier.

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States Suspect ICE Obtained Medicaid Data Despite Order

By Julie Manganis

A coalition of states told a federal judge that the Trump administration appears to have ignored an order limiting the types of Medicaid data that can be shared with immigration officials, potentially handing over reams of "off limits" data on citizens and green card holders.

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Elizabeth Holmes Gets 11-Year Prison Sentence Cut By A Year

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has shaved off a year from convicted ex-Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes' 11-year-and-three-month prison sentence for securities fraud due to recent sentencing guideline amendments, reducing her time behind bars by one year, instead of the two years she requested, amid objections by prosecutors.

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Berkshire Hathaway Unit Must Face Suit Over $3M Verdict

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Berkshire Hathaway unit serving as primary insurer for a commercial property owner can't escape an excess insurer's allegations that it mismanaged settlement discussions preceding and following a $3 million jury verdict in a worker injury dispute, a Florida federal court ruled Friday.

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State Farm Inks $15.6M Deal In Totaled Car Payout Class Action

By Gina Kim

State Farm policyholders scored preliminary approval of a $15.6 million settlement in Arkansas federal court Friday, resolving claims the insurer systematically undervalued totaled vehicles, almost a year after a civil jury found State Farm violated its contract to pay "actual cash value" of the cars by applying typical negotiation adjustments.

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Eye Clinic's Hurricane Damage Suit Sent To Territorial Court

By Joyce Hanson

A federal judge in the U.S. Virgin Islands has sent back to territorial court an ophthalmology clinic's lawsuit seeking punitive damages from its insurers that allegedly underpaid claims resulting from Hurricane Maria, which swept through the Caribbean in 2017 and caused about $1 million of lost income and damage to its property.

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High Court Asked To Review $168M Trade Secret Award

By Ivan Moreno

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit ruling that upheld a $168 million judgment in a trade secret case, arguing the decision allowed an unjust enrichment award without proof that an IT competitor suffered any monetary harm.

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Jack In The Box Says Buyer Breached Del Taco Deal

By Jarek Rutz

Jack in the Box Inc. has sued the buyer of its Del Taco business in the Delaware Chancery Court, accusing the purchaser and its affiliates of breaching key post-sale obligations tied to insurance coverage and transition services.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Apple hit back at a tech company's wireless charging patent claim, a flurry of businesses bring COVID-19 pandemic insurance claims as a key deadline draws closer and Ipulse Partners LLP file a claim against a luxury yacht company it represented in a trademark dispute. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Series

Watching Hallmark Movies Makes Me A Better Lawyer

I realize you may be judging me for watching, and actually enjoying, Hallmark Channel movies, but the escapism and storylines actually demonstrate qualities and actions that lead to an efficient, productive and positive legal practice, says Karen Ross at Tucker Ellis.

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Pillsbury Asks To Toss Suit Over Nonclient Data Breach

By Matt Perez

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP sought dismissal of a consolidated data breach action in New York federal court Friday due to the plaintiffs' alleged lack of relationship with the firm and inability to identify any cognizable damages.

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Burford Considers Arbitration After 2nd Circ. Tosses $16B Win

By Nadia Dreid

Burford Capital Ltd. says it is contemplating taking its $16 billion fight with Argentina into international arbitration after the Second Circuit wiped out a judgment the litigation funding firm had won against the nation in New York federal court, sending its stock prices tumbling.

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'Is It Kafka?' Judge Presses Pentagon On Press Restrictions

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge requested additional briefing Monday from the Trump administration before deciding whether to toss the U.S. Department of Defense's revised rules restricting journalists' access to the Pentagon but said some new allegations from reporters read like the revisions came from a Franz Kafka novel.

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Ex-Laffey Bucci Atty Accused Of Stealing Over $1.3M

By James Boyle

Laffey Bucci D'Andrea Reich & Ryan has accused a former name partner in a Pennsylvania state court suit of misdirecting more than $1.3 million in referral and case fees through a secret agreement with another firm and misusing the plaintiffs firm's resources for personal expenses, including an affair with a client.

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Analysis

Exchanges Are First Line In CFTC Prediction Market Policing

By Aislinn Keely

As the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission insists it will be the primary cop for the growing expanse of prediction markets, experts said the agency is signaling that its first line of defense will be the internal enforcement programs of registrants like Kalshi.

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FCA Qui Tams Are Unconstitutional, Eli Lilly Tells Justices

By Mark Payne

The False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, drugmaker Eli Lilly has told the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to overturn a Seventh Circuit decision upholding a $183 million trial win for a whistleblower who claimed the drug company hid how much it charged for Medicaid-covered drugs. 

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Justices Wary Of 'Odd' Arbitration Jurisdiction Theory

By Caroline Simson

A lawyer urging the U.S. Supreme Court to find that federal courts that have sent a dispute to arbitration do not automatically have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate a subsequent award faced heavy skepticism Monday from the justices, who called his argument during oral arguments "odd" and "peculiar."

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket this past week featured disputes involving globally recognized companies, high-dollar contract fights, revived claims from the state's high court and the resolution of a closely watched de-SPAC case.

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Blumenthal Questions SEC Over Crypto Cases, Ryan Exit

By Katryna Perera

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is demanding answers from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins about the sudden resignation of the regulator's enforcement director and whether her departure was related to cryptocurrency cases, including one touching on the Trump family's ventures.

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