Aetna Will Pay $117.7M To Resolve False Billing Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Aetna Inc. has agreed to pay $117.7 million to settle claims that the company violated the False Claims Act by submitting, and failing to correct, false diagnosis codes for its Medicare Advantage plan customers in order to boost cash flow from the federal insurance program, the U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia said Wednesday.

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Insurer Can Limit Coverage For Gym's Sex Misconduct Suits

By Mark Payne

A commercial general liability insurer can only owe a maximum of $100,000 in total for abuse alleged in four lawsuits against a gym for a personal trainer's sexual misconduct, a Tennessee federal court ruled, saying that the claims fell under an abuse endorsement.

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Ohio Hospital Defeats DaVita's Dialysis Discrimination Suit

By Hope Patti

An Ohio hospital and its health benefit plan did not discriminate against patients with end-stage renal disease by eliminating in-network coverage for dialysis, a federal court ruled, finding that dialysis provider DaVita Inc. failed to show the plan intended to harm participants.

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Hospital Revenue Co. Not Covered In $8M Loss Suit, AIG Says

By Hope Patti

An AIG unit said it has no duty to defend or indemnify a management company accused of causing $8 million in losses to a South Carolina nonprofit hospital system, telling a Texas federal court that the company knew about the losses before its policy's inception.

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DOL Won't Oppose Vacating ERISA Fiduciary Rule In Texas

By Kellie Mejdrich

An insurance trade group challenging the U.S. Department of Labor's regulations expanding the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act asked a Texas judge Wednesday to vacate the policies and said the DOL didn't oppose the request.

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Anthem Beats Lab's $1.9M ERISA Payment Demand

By Brian Steele

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut has prevailed in a medical laboratory's $1.9 million contract and ERISA lawsuit over allegations the insurer refused to pay for out-of-network tests.

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Allstate Says Chiropractors Ran 'Personal Injury Mill'

By Gianna Ferrarin

Allstate told a Texas federal court in a lawsuit seeking at least $25.8 million that two chiropractors and their associated healthcare entities operated a racketeering enterprise to make money from automobile accident personal injury settlements.

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Insurer Demands $3.6M Repayment From Conn. City Over Fire

By Aaron Keller

Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association Insurance Co. is asking the city of New Haven, Connecticut, to repay nearly $3.6 million for settling two lawsuits surrounding the deaths of two rooming house residents in a fire, arguing the city breached an agreement to notify the insurer of any litigation.

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Brief

El Paso Diocese Files Ch. 11 Amid Abuse Litigation

By Ben Zigterman

The Catholic Diocese of El Paso filed for Chapter 11 relief in Texas as it faces 12 pending sexual abuse lawsuits from 18 plaintiffs involving allegations from 1956 to 1982.

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Ex-DOJ Atty Who Said 'This Job Sucks' Running For Congress

By Courtney Bublé

The former federal government lawyer detailed to Minnesota to help with immigration cases who last month told a federal judge "this job sucks" says she is running for Congress in the state.

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$600M IP Award, Quinn Emanuel Contempt Faulted On Appeal

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday vacated a verdict against the maker of Norton antivirus software for infringing Columbia University patents and reversed a contempt ruling against Norton's former law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP that had caused the judgment to grow to just over $600 million.

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Feature

Exxon Cements Texas As Delaware's Emerging Rival

By Spencer Brewer

Last year, Vinson & Elkins partner Katherine Frank fielded about one call a week from companies thinking about redomiciling in Texas. Speaking to Law360 the day after ExxonMobil announced its plan to reincorporate in the Lone Star State due to its business-forward courts and policies, Frank said the callers fell into three categories.

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Firm Probed In $4B LA Sex Abuse Deal Hit With UPL Charges

By Rachel Rippetoe

A co-founder of the Los Angeles personal injury firm facing investigation for its involvement in a record $4 billion sex abuse settlement against Los Angeles County was hit with disciplinary charges by the California State Bar, alleging the firm illegally practiced law outside the state.

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Analysis

Trump Cybercrime Order Creates New Compliance To-Do List

By Phillip Bantz

President Donald Trump's recent executive order calling for a coalition of government agencies to combat cybercrime is far more forceful than efforts under prior administrations, according to white collar lawyers, who tentatively applaud the proposal while warning it could raise new compliance risks.

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3 Attys Escape Ford's 'Retaliatory' Lemon Law RICO Suit

By Linda Chiem

A California federal judge has shut down Ford Motor Co.'s revised racketeering lawsuit accusing three attorneys affiliated with Knight Law Group LLP of orchestrating a massive fraudulent legal billing scheme, saying the attorneys' underlying conduct in pursuing lemon law litigation is shielded by First Amendment protections.

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Judges, Lawmakers Urge 4th Circ. To Affirm Halligan Ruling

By Ryan Boysen

Members of Congress and former federal judges have urged the Fourth Circuit to affirm that Lindsey Halligan was not properly appointed as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, saying the episode exemplifies why there are guardrails against installing political loyalists as federal prosecutors.

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VA, DOJ Cut Deal To Make Attys Mental Health Guardians

By Mark Payne

Under a new initiative, attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice will serve as legal guardians for some homeless veterans, the Trump administration announced on Wednesday, though some veterans advocates expressed concern that the new program could involuntarily coerce veterans experiencing mental health issues into institutional care.

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