Trump Orders 100% Pharma Tariff, Modifies Metals Duties

By Dylan Moroses

Later this year, the U.S. will impose 100% tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals, but drug companies could qualify for reduced tariff rates as low as zero if they agree to invest domestically and enter most-favored-nation drug-pricing agreements with the government, according to an executive order President Donald Trump signed Thursday.

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Alexion Beats Trade Secret Claims In Amyndas Suit

By Adam Lidgett

Amyndas Pharmaceuticals failed to specifically identify the trade secrets it claimed pharmaceutical company Alexion learned of during early partnership talks and improperly used to launch a business collaboration with another competitor, a Massachusetts federal judge has found.

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Georgia Midwifery Laws Violate State Constitution, Suit Says

By Kelcey Caulder

A trio of midwives are challenging Georgia laws that restrict their ability to practice, arguing that the statutes exacerbate an ongoing maternal health crisis and conflict with the Peach State's constitution. 

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Petition To Repeal Legal Pot Mobilizes A Showdown In Mass.

By Sam Reisman

A campaign to repeal the legalization of retail cannabis in Massachusetts via ballot initiative — the first campaign of its kind in the country — is uniting legalization advocates, entrepreneurs and industry players in a coordinated response to defeat the effort before it spreads to other states.

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Squires Gives Go-Ahead To 5 Patent Reviews, Denies 8

By Ryan Davis

In the latest order summarizing his decisions on requests for America Invents Act patent reviews, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has granted five petitions and turned down eight others.

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Vape Sellers, Makers Evade Ga. Woman's RICO Scheme Suit

By Mike Curley

A Georgia federal judge has tossed a suit against numerous vape sellers and makers alleging they conspired to sell vapes with illegal levels of delta-9 THC, saying her complaint fails to allege any kind of scheme, but rather amounts to describing the normal supply chain.

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Ex-Pharma Exec Hit With $5.3M Fee Award In Del.

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court has ordered a former pharmaceutical executive to pay more than $5.3 million in attorney fees following years of litigation over alleged disloyal conduct and trade secret misuse, concluding that the award is reasonable despite objections that the amount was excessive.

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Brief

Teva $35M Delayed Generic Inhalers Deal Gets Initial OK

By Kellie Mejdrich

A Massachusetts federal judge Thursday granted initial approval to a $35 million deal that Teva Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay to resolve claims from a coalition of union healthcare funds that say the company schemed to delay generic competition for its QVAR asthma inhalers.

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Snell & Wilmer Names Life Sciences Pro As San Diego Leader

By James Mills

Snell & Wilmer LLP has tapped a longtime corporate attorney who specializes in the life sciences industry to be the new head of its San Diego office.

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FDA's Crackdown On Drug Ads Conflicts With Precedent

Recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning letters to drug manufacturers targeting direct-to-consumer advertising raise significant constitutional concerns, and directly clash with prior FDA stances, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Series

Ultramarathons Make Me A Better Lawyer

Completing a 100-mile ultramarathon was tougher, more humbling and more rewarding than I ever imagined, and the experience highlighted how long-distance running has sharpened my ability to adapt to the evolving nature of antitrust law and strengthened my resolve to handle demanding, unforeseen challenges, says Dan Oakes at Axinn.

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ABA, Ex-Judges And Many More Back BigLaw In EO Appeal

By Dorothy Atkins

Numerous bar associations, 239 former judges, 21 states, lawmakers and dozens of other amici curiae have thrown their weight behind BigLaw firms in the Trump administration's consolidated D.C. Circuit appeal seeking to revive executive orders targeting the firms, broadly arguing that the orders are an affront to foundational constitutional rights.

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Legal Sector Lost 700 Jobs In March, Ending Hiring Streak

By Tracey Read

The legal sector began to slow down in March after a year and a half straight of gains, with 700 fewer people employed in lawyer, paralegal and other law-related professional roles last month than in February, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Progressive Org. Rolls Out $3M Anti-Trump High Court Push

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump does not have any vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court, but a progressive court advocacy organization is not waiting for a justice's departure to launch a multimillion-dollar campaign opposing a possible Trump pick.

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Brief

Justice Alito Treated For Dehydration After Federalist Event

By Courtney Buble

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito felt ill during a Federalist Society event last month and was seen by a doctor "out of an abundance of caution," the high court announced on Friday.

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6th Circ. Axes Atty For 'Inexcusable' AI 'Transgressions'

By Rae Ann Varona

An attorney committed "inexcusable transgressions" by relying on Westlaw's internal CoCounsel artificial intelligence platform for appellate filings and by failing to catch erroneous AI-generated content, the Sixth Circuit said Friday and removed the lawyer from further representing a man who pled guilty to drug trafficking charges.

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Analysis

'Political' Deals Pit DOJ Against State AGs, And Not Just Dems

By Bryan Koenig

Controversial U.S. Department of Justice settlements with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Live Nation, along with the approval of Nexstar's purchase of Tegna, are increasingly inspiring state attorneys general to strike out on their own as antitrust enforcers, often in direct challenge to a federal government that Democrats have cast as "corrupt."

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Florida Gov., AG Face Criticism For Judge Impeachment Push

By Rose Krebs

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier faced pushback this week from some in the state's legal community for calling for the impeachment of a judge for releasing a man who went on to allegedly kill his five-year-old stepdaughter, with critics blasting those calls as being politically motivated and "unethical."

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Analysis

DOJ's New Corporate Enforcement Policy May Eclipse SDNY's

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice has put to use for the first time its new corporate enforcement policy of declining prosecutions when companies self-report potential criminal violations, but experts say the new, department-wide initiative has rendered a more business-friendly approach by the Southern District of New York moot.

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Ex-DOJ Official Wants Epstein-Talk Suit Kept In District Court

By Emily Sawicki

A former U.S. Department of Justice acting deputy chief who was fired last year after a hidden-camera video of him discussing the Epstein files was posted online has told a D.C. federal judge his due process case must survive in district court because the Trump administration now controls federal oversight agencies.

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Trump Seeks 13% Boost In DOJ Funding

By Courtney Bublé

The White House budget request for fiscal 2027, released on Friday, seeks $40.8 billion in discretionary funds for the U.S. Department of Justice, a 13% increase from the current year level.

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Judge Stands By Block Of DOJ Subpoenas In Powell Probe

By Jon Hill

A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Friday rejected a U.S. Department of Justice attempt to revive subpoenas from its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, saying the government hadn't "come close" to giving him a reason to rethink blocking them.

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Schneider Wallace Loses Bid For Bigger Piece Of $75M Fee

By Lauren Berg

A California federal magistrate judge on Friday rejected Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim LLP's bid to increase its cut of a $75.4 million fee award for representing plaintiffs in a $228.5 million Sutter Health antitrust deal, saying lead counsel Constantine Cannon LLP's allocation of $1.4 million to Schneider Wallace was fair.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

PayPal was hit with a proposed investor class action that claims the payments giant hid slowing growth for its critical branded checkout business. In the meantime, a Shopify lawyer encouraged his peers during a webinar to make sure their outside counsel have "met the moment" by leveraging artificial intelligence in smart ways. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Alliance Defending Freedom, Pearman Law Firm PC and attorney Barry Arrington lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Colorado ban on therapy intended to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity amounts to viewpoint discrimination against a Christian therapist.

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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.

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