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June 12, 2024
House IP Panel Eyes Transparency For Litigation Funders
A congressional committee on Wednesday began discussing whether to require more transparency of third-party litigation funding agreements to stem what lawmakers say are abusive patent lawsuits and national security concerns if hostile foreign governments meddle with cases anonymously.
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June 12, 2024
FDIC Head Must Go To Change Status Quo, GOP Reps. Say
House Republicans on Wednesday criticized Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Martin Gruenberg for not immediately resigning in the wake of a probe of the agency's workplace culture, but some Democrats took issue with the scope of a report on the investigation's findings while applauding his rumored successor.
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June 12, 2024
St. Louis Atty Urges Acquittal After Tax Avoidance Conviction
A Missouri attorney who was found guilty of participating in a $4 million tax avoidance scheme alongside her father and a North Carolina insurance agent is looking to wipe out the verdict, arguing there wasn't enough evidence to convict.
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June 11, 2024
Insurer Given Early Exit From Contractor's Cost Overrun Suit
An insurance company was axed Monday from a general contractor's $8.5 million lawsuit against a developer seeking payment for its work building an apartment complex, with a North Carolina state court judge ruling it was too soon to rope in the insurer.
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June 11, 2024
JPML Consolidates GM, LexisNexis Driving Data Suits In Ga.
Drivers claiming that their auto insurance rates increased after General Motors and its OnStar unit collected driving data without consent and shared the information with LexisNexis Risk Solutions will have their suits consolidated in Georgia federal court, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled.
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June 11, 2024
Atty, Broker Look To Dismantle Guilty Verdicts In Tax Case
A St. Louis attorney convicted alongside his daughter and a North Carolina insurance agent asked Tuesday to be acquitted for their roles in a $4 million tax fraud scheme, arguing in part that the supposedly false statements they made on tax returns were actually true.
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June 10, 2024
Ex-LA Chinatown Bank CFO Gets 3 Years For Embezzlement
The former chief financial officer of a bank based in Los Angeles' Chinatown has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud for embezzling more than $700,000 from his employer.
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June 10, 2024
9th Circ. Says Choctaw's Dispute With CVS Must Be Arbitrated
A Ninth Circuit panel forced the Choctaw Nation to arbitrate a dispute over prescription drug reimbursement with CVS Health Corp. subsidiaries, affirming an Arizona federal judge's order in a published opinion Monday.
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June 07, 2024
State Farm Denies Defense Of Daycare In Nap Drugging Suits
State Farm told a Washington federal court it had no duty to defend a childcare center accused of deploying corporal punishment and nonconsensually drugging children with Benadryl to induce nap time.
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June 07, 2024
Support Co. Can't Revive Suit Blaming Lindberg For Lost Biz
A customer support company that claimed its ties to convicted insurance mogul Greg E. Lindberg cost it an important client can't revive a fraudulent concealment suit, with the Fourth Circuit ruling Friday that Lindberg wasn't obligated to disclose his criminal conduct.
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June 06, 2024
8th Circ. Affirms Cigna Noncompete Applies To CVS Hire
The Eighth Circuit has backed a lower court finding that blocked a healthcare industry executive from making a move to CVS, handing a win to Cigna in a case over trade secrets.
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June 05, 2024
Aluminum Co. Seeks Reversal Of $10M Coverage Cap
An aluminum supplier is urging the Fourth Circuit to reverse a lower court's ruling capping its damages at $10 million because of a molten material endorsement, arguing that the fire and water damage it sustained is separate and not subject to any sublimit or exclusion.
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June 05, 2024
Debevoise-Led Ambac Unveils 2 Deals Totaling $702M
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP-led Ambac Financial Group on Wednesday announced two deals totaling $702 million, as the insurance holding company said it agreed to sell its financial guarantee business for $420 million in cash and separately announced that it will purchase a majority stake in Beat Capital Partners for roughly $282 million.
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June 05, 2024
Attys For NY Life Workers Want $6.3M Cut Of $19M Deal
Current and former New York Life workers asked a New York federal court Wednesday to approve nearly $6.3 million in attorney fees in a $19 million proposed class action deal to end a suit accusing the insurance giant of unlawfully retaining shoddy proprietary investment options in their retirement plans.
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June 04, 2024
9th Circ. Backs Agency Denial Of Partnership's Crop Policy
The Federal Crop Insurance Corp. reasonably interpreted a policy that was canceled by an insurer after a farming partnership filed a claim seeking the full $1.9 million limit, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, affirming a decision backing the FCIC's conclusion that the operation didn't qualify for coverage.
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June 04, 2024
NM Cannabis Co. Says Insurers Can't Toss Medical Weed Row
A group of insurers can't escape a proposed class action demanding they cover medical marijuana costs, a cannabis company and several of its patients said, telling a New Mexico federal court that medical cannabis is a medically necessary behavioral health service that must be covered.
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May 30, 2024
Mich. Supreme Court To Hear Town Benefits Breach Case
The Michigan Supreme Court has said it will consider whether a village was entitled to coverage for damages it incurred in lawsuits from former employees who sued after the village decided to stop providing lifetime healthcare benefits, ordering oral arguments on an insurer's challenge to a state court's ruling.
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May 30, 2024
NC Insurance Mogul Chases Acquittal After Bribery Retrial
An insurance magnate besieged by litigation and twice convicted on charges of trying to bribe North Carolina's insurance commissioner is looking to undo the latest jury verdict, saying there wasn't enough evidence during the second trial to convict.
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May 29, 2024
Honeywell Ends Suit Over $8.75M Bond For Army Base Work
A Pennsylvania federal court has approved a request from Honeywell International Inc. to drop its lawsuit over an $8.75 million performance bond whose issuer allegedly balked at paying to replace a bankrupt subcontractor for a long-delayed job at the Tobyhanna Army Depot.
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May 29, 2024
Wash. Panel Ends Quest Diagnostics' COVID Coverage Quest
Quest Diagnostics' insurers don't owe the medical testing lab COVID-19-related business loss coverage, a Washington appeals court said, ruling the company failed to show that the presence of the virus resulted in physical loss or damage to its property.
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May 28, 2024
Colo. Justices To Mull Atty Advice Defense In Securities Cases
The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the advice a defendant's business attorney gave him is relevant to his state of mind in a securities fraud case, according to an order Tuesday granting the state's petition for appeal.
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May 28, 2024
OpenText Says Excess Insurer Can't Join Merger Spat
OpenText urged a Michigan federal court to keep an excess insurer out of a coverage dispute stemming from an underlying class action over the software company's merger with Covisint, arguing that the insurer's reasons behind wanting to intervene are speculative and unripe.
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May 24, 2024
Foley & Lardner Given All-Clear To Exit SEC Suit
A North Carolina federal judge permitted Foley & Lardner LLP on Friday to exit as counsel for a Malta-based registered investment adviser that is defending claims in a $75 million lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, despite the judge's previous concerns about the firm's withdrawal.
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May 22, 2024
Insurance Co. Says Ex-Underwriter 'Lured' Away Colleagues
An insurance brokerage and its affiliate have accused a former high-ranking company official of decamping for a competitor and encouraging colleagues to follow suit, according to a complaint designated Wednesday to North Carolina Business Court.
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May 21, 2024
Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023
The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.
Expert Analysis
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Unpacking NY's Revised Hospital Cybersecurity Rule Proposal
The New York State Department of Health's recently revised hospital cybersecurity rule proposal highlights increased expectations and scrutiny around cybersecurity in the healthcare sector, while adapting to both recent industry developments and public comments, say Christine Moundas and Gideon Zvi Palte at Ropes & Gray.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.
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How HHS Discrimination Rule Affects Gender-Affirming Care
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule, which reinterprets the Affordable Care Act's anti-discrimination provision, greatly clarifies protections for gender-affirming care and will require compliance considerations from sponsors and administrators of most group health plans, say attorneys at McDermott.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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6th Circ. Bias Ruling Shows Job Evaluations Are Key Defense
In Wehrly v. Allstate, the Sixth Circuit recently declined to revive a terminated employee’s federal and state religious discrimination and retaliation claims, illustrating that an employer’s strongest defense in such cases is a documented employment evaluation history that justifies an adverse action, says Michael Luchsinger at Segal Mccambridge.