Cigna Wins Dismissal Of Pa. In-Network Pharmacy Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday dismissed a suit against Cigna, Evernorth and Express Scripts from Pennsylvania pharmacy customers who alleged injury because the companies designated their community pharmacy as out-of-network, holding state-law claims were preempted by federal benefits law but allowing another chance at re-pleading.

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Pa. Atty Gets 1-Year Suspension Over Mishandled Injury Case

By James Boyle

A Pittsburgh-area attorney accused of failing to communicate regularly with a former client will be unable to practice in Pennsylvania for 12 months after the state Supreme Court suspended his license.

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TitleMax Rebuffed In 4th Circ. Bid To Halt Pa. Usury Case

By Jon Hill

The Fourth Circuit has cleared Pennsylvania's banking regulator to continue its pursuit of $52.7 million in penalties from TitleMax for alleged interest-rate violations, rejecting a bid by the title lender's South Carolina arm to block the out-of-state enforcement proceeding. 

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Trump Again Targets Birthright Citizenship In 2 New Orders

By Rae Ann Varona

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed two executive orders that seek to limit automatic citizenship for babies born in the U.S., after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a previous birthright citizenship executive order as unconstitutional.

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Data Breach Case Against Allegheny Health Mostly Advances

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge cleared most of a data breach class action against Allegheny Health System to move forward, leaving the healthcare company and its information technology vendor to face allegations that they are liable for allowing patients' sensitive information stored on internal networks to be compromised by a hacker.

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Final Deal OK'd In Drexel COVID-19 Fee Refund Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge has granted final approval to a $2.2 million settlement, including $733,000 in attorney fees, to resolve claims from former Drexel University students alleging the school owed them tuition refunds for the services not provided during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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NJ Justices Say Employee UIM Needn't Match Liability Cap

By Danielle Ferguson

In answering two certified questions from the Third Circuit, the New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday said a worker injured while driving a company vehicle is not entitled to his employer's full general liability limit under a state law that requires employers to give workers the same underinsured motorist coverage. 

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Judge Sets Feb. Trial In States' Generics Price-Fixing Suit

By George Woolston

A Connecticut federal judge has set a February trial date on claims from dozens of state attorneys general that generic-drug makers conspired to artificially inflate the prices of generic topical drugs.

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QVC Ch. 11 Confirmation Shows Independent Directors' Value

QVC's recently confirmed Chapter 11 plan joins a growing body of restructuring precedent demonstrating that well-functioning independent director frameworks can create the evidentiary and governance foundation necessary to resolve complex intercompany disputes, preserve value and secure judicial approval of contested transactions, say attorneys at Choate.

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Series

Being A Sommelier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Being a sommelier has quietly shaped how I practice law by changing the way I think, communicate and connect with people, and offers a constant reminder that expertise is about making your knowledge useful and accessible to others, says Kara Du at Sheppard.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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No Simpson Thacher Malpractice In PIPE Case, Jury Finds

By Madison Arnold

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP escaped a malpractice lawsuit late Thursday over its representation of Patriot National Inc. in a private investment in public equity transaction in the years before the company's downfall.

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Dems Slam Skadden's 'Nothing To See Here' Trump Deal Reply

By Hailey Konnath

Three Democratic lawmakers on Thursday criticized Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's response to their request that the firm disclose details of its pro bono arrangement with the Trump administration, saying the firm's "three sentence letter essentially saying 'nothing to see here'" is "not going to cut it."

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New ABA Chief Seeks To 'Streamline' Org., Defend Democracy

By Emily Sawicki

The American Bar Association's new president, Barbara J. Howard, will focus on twin goals of defending democracy against expected unprecedented attacks associated with this year's midterm elections, while also reorganizing the association to run more efficiently, as she kicks off her one-year term this month.

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Richards Layton Under Fire Amid Bid To Avoid AI Sanctions

By Rose Krebs

A firm has asked a Delaware vice chancellor to allow it to submit more "factual information" regarding what it says are inconsistencies in Richards Layton & Finger PA's attempt to avoid sanctions for submitting a filing with errors generated by artificial intelligence.

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Analysis

The Dramatic Moments Set To Shape Tom Goldstein's Appeal

By Jeff Overley and Jared Foretek

Prurient revelations, brash recriminations and purportedly glaring judicial errors in Tom Goldstein's criminal case have captivated the appellate bar for nearly 19 months, and many of those moments will be center stage in the star attorney's imminent appeal.

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2nd Circ. Says Pillsbury Must Surrender $3.6M Retainer

By Jessica Corso

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP was ordered on Thursday to hand over a $3.6 million retainer it was paid to defend a client against criminal and civil fraud charges, with the Second Circuit upholding a ruling that the funds were part of an asset freeze order issued in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission case.

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Ex-GC Hijacked Accounts And Posted Klan Imagery, Suit Says

By Ben Adlin

A Washington state court granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday in a school fundraising company's lawsuit accusing its former general counsel of taking control of its social media accounts and allegedly replacing its LinkedIn photo with a manipulated image of its president in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

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Ex-Girardi Atty Gets Probation For Keeping Silent On Theft

By Lauraann Wood

A former Girardi Keese attorney was sentenced to one day time-served and two years of probation Thursday for staying quiet and failing to report disgraced plaintiff's attorney Tom Girardi's theft of millions of settlement dollars owed to Lion Air Flight 620 plane crash victims.

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Wash. Justices Offer Bar Waiver After July Exam Tech Failure

By Rachel Riley

The Washington State Supreme Court said Thursday it's offering to waive the bar exam requirement for first-time applicants who were unable to take the test last week due to an abrupt cancellation driven by technical issues at the Yakima Convention Center where it was scheduled to be administered.   

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Justices' FTC Ruling Weakens Qui Tam's Constitutional Base

The U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Trump v. Slaughter, expanding presidential control over those exercising executive power, suggests that courts may be receptive to arguments challenging the constitutional foundations of the False Claims Act’s qui tam mechanism, says Daniel Passeser at Wiggin.

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