2nd Circ. Backs Anti-Abortion Groups' Free Speech Rights

By Bonnie Eslinger

New York Attorney General Letitia James can't sue faith-based groups promoting a so-called treatment to reverse medication-induced abortions, finding the groups are likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment challenge, the Second Circuit said Monday.

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Mangione Murder Evidence Tested In NY Hearing

By Frank G. Runyeon

New York prosecutors Monday previewed evidence in the state murder case against Luigi Mangione as his attorneys seek to exclude both his early statements to police and the contents of his backpack — including a gun, a silencer and a notebook.

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1st Circ. Tosses Omni's Medicare Fraud Suit Over UTI Tests

By Hannah Albarazi

A First Circuit panel declined to revive Omni Healthcare's False Claims Act suit accusing MD Labs of billing Medicare for unnecessary urinary tract infection tests, explaining in a published opinion Monday that Omni Healthcare's own staff ordered each test — sometimes even replacing doctors' orders for cheaper tests with the pricier ones.

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Feature

Meet The Attys Arguing Gov't Subpoena Power At High Court

By Mark Payne

Law360 introduces the lawyers appearing at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in a case focused on an anti-abortion crisis center and a state attorney general's attempt to subpoena details on its donors.

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Judge Upholds Mich. MedMal Cap, Cuts $8.5M Verdict

By Danielle Ferguson

A Michigan federal judge has slashed the $8.5 million a jury awarded to the estate of a cancer patient suing over his doctor's treatment decisions to about $615,000, ruling that a state law limiting noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases is constitutional. 

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Analysis

What MDL Judges Can Get Done With A New Civil Rule

By Cara Salvatore

As the first federal procedure rule geared toward multidistrict litigation goes into effect, judges will have a new buffet of best practices to guide them, but little in the way of hand-tying mandates.

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UK To Raise Pharma Spending For US Tariff Protection

By Dylan Moroses

The United States and United Kingdom announced a deal Monday that includes a commitment to exclude U.K. pharmaceutical imports from any future U.S. tariff actions while the U.K. will pay higher costs for certain drugs.

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Meta Can't Block 'Disgruntled' Researcher's Depo Responses

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge overseeing discovery in litigation against social media giants over their impact on youth mental health rejected Meta's bid Monday to block a "disgruntled" former researcher from sharing information it deems attorney-client privileged in an upcoming deposition.

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Hospitals Slam HHS' Move From Drug Discounts To Rebates

By Lauren Berg

The American Hospital Association is leading litigation challenging the Trump administration's abrupt changes to a decades-old program governing the distribution of discounted prescriptions to low-income patients, telling a Maine federal court Monday that the government is unlawfully ignoring the costly impacts a rebate system will have on hospitals.

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Judge-Shopping Sanctions Order Must Stand, 11th Circ. Told

By Ryan Boysen

The Alabama federal judges who sanctioned a trio of civil rights attorneys for allegedly judge shopping are defending that outcome, telling the Eleventh Circuit the controversial process was above board and rejecting the "scheming" attorneys' claims that they simply wanted to ensure they received a randomly assigned judge.

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J&J Narrows Ex-Employees' Prescription Benefits Suit

By Patrick Hoff

Johnson & Johnson narrowed a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully overcharged employees through a prescription drug benefits program, with a New Jersey federal judge ruling workers leading the suit failed to show how allegedly excessive fees the company paid to a benefits manager caused participants' costs to rise.

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Libertarian Orgs. Tell Justices Cannabis Ban Is Outdated

By Sam Reisman

A pair of libertarian advocacy groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case challenging the federal prohibition on marijuana, arguing that a 20-year-old precedent wrongly expanded Congress' power to regulate intrastate commerce.

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Med Mal Judge DQ Sought Over Conflict Of 'Epic Proportions'

By Emily Johnson

A Florida couple say their medical malpractice suit against a Georgia healthcare provider shouldn't have been dismissed by a Georgia federal judge, arguing the judge has a conflict of interest of "epic proportions" through her brother and sister-in-law.

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Nurses Collective, Class In OT Row Can Proceed

By Irene Spezzamonte

Nurses who accused an insurer of misclassifying them as overtime-exempt can keep their collective in place and proceed as a class, a North Carolina federal judge said in an order entered Monday, keeping in place a magistrate judge's recommendation.

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Mulling Differing Circuit Rulings On Gender-Affirming Care

Despite the Eleventh Circuit's recent holding in Lange v. Houston County that a health plan's exclusion for gender-affirming surgery did not violate Title VII, employers should be mindful of other court decisions suggesting that different legal challenges may still apply to blanket exclusions for such care, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: How To Build On Cultural Fit

Law firm mergers should start with people, then move to strategy: A two-level screening that puts finding a cultural fit at the pinnacle of the process can unearth shared values that are instrumental to deciding to move forward with a combination, says Matthew Madsen at Harrison.

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Ex-Immigration Judge Accuses DOJ Of Political Retaliation

By Dorothy Atkins

A former Ohio immigration judge sued the U.S. Department of Justice in D.C. federal court Monday, alleging she was discriminated against and unconstitutionally fired for her liberal political beliefs while slamming the Trump administration's recent "unprecedented assault" against longstanding civil service laws that protect millions of federal employees.

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3rd Circ. Says Habba Barred From Serving As Acting US Atty

By Carla Baranauckas

President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer cannot serve as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, the Third Circuit ruled Monday in a precedential opinion holding that her appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and undermined the constitutional safeguards of Senate confirmation.

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Calif. Ban On Fee-Sharing With 'Alternative' Firms Challenged

By Jack Karp

A new law barring California lawyers and firms from sharing fees with out-of-state law firms owned by nonlawyers is unconstitutional and will harm the state's mass tort lawyers and their clients, according to a lawsuit filed last week.

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White House Crypto Czar Hired Clare Locke Amid NYT Probe

By Aislinn Keely

The tech founder-turned-White House crypto and artificial intelligence czar David Sacks has hired defamation specialists at Clare Locke LLP to combat a New York Times investigation into potential conflicts of interest arising from his personal tech investments and role as a White House policy adviser.

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Suit Against Erika Girardi's Atty Tossed As 'Shotgun Pleading'

By Madison Arnold

A Florida federal court has dismissed a clothing company's abuse of process suit against an attorney of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne for being a shotgun pleading.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court saw a slate of corporate law clashes this past week, from fast-moving injunction fights in consumer product and real estate markets to multibillion-dollar oversight claims against crypto executives and fresh battles over control for two sports teams.

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