New Complaint Says Ex-Execs Turned Steward Into 'Zombie'

By Rick Archer

Bankrupt hospital operator Steward Health has filed hundreds of millions in new claims in Texas bankruptcy court against its former CEO and other executives, including allegations that they orchestrated a sale-leaseback deal that rendered the business an insolvent "zombie."

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Medical AI Co. Accused Of 'Smear Campaign' Against Rivals

By Julie Manganis

Two rivals of medical artificial intelligence platform OpenEvidence have told a Massachusetts federal judge the startup has used the courts in a campaign of "deceit, harassment and defamation" against competitors.

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Ariz. Court Partially Reinstates Banner Health Death Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

An Arizona appellate court has revived a wrongful death suit accusing a Banner Health hospital and a physician of causing a patient's death from drug complications, saying the statute of limitations didn't begin running until the plaintiff received the relevant medical records.

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Mich. Pharmacist Gets 46 Months For $4M Fraud Scheme

By Parker Quinlan

A former Michigan pharmacist who pled guilty to orchestrating a $4 million Medicare scam was sentenced by a federal judge to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution and forfeit property as part of a plea deal, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

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UnitedHealth Gets OptumRx Antitrust Suit Sent To Arbitration

By Rachel Riley

A group of independent pharmacies must arbitrate their proposed class claims that UnitedHealth-owned OptumRx gatekeeps its network of Medicare prescription patients by imposing unfair fees, a Washington federal judge said Tuesday, concluding the pharmacies haven't shown the arbitration clauses in question are unenforceable.

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Health System Can't Dodge Worker's Time-Rounding Claims

By Irene Spezzamonte

An Ohio county health system can avoid a nursing assistant's claim that it failed to pay semimonthly wages on time, but she can continue pursuing her claims that the company illegally rounded down workers' time, a federal judge ruled.

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Acadia Healthcare Investors Seek First OK For $179M Deal

By Katryna Perera

Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc. investors asked a Tennessee federal judge to grant the first green light to a $179 million settlement in a class action alleging the company misled them about the strength of its U.K. operations.

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Kaiser Cleared To Pay $46M For Sharing Data With Tech Cos.

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge granted preliminary approval Tuesday to a settlement of at least $46 million from three Kaiser Permanente entities to resolve claims by 13.1 million patients across the country who say it disclosed their information to Google, Microsoft, Twitter and other third parties without consent.

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Jefferson Health Sued Over Handling Of 'Mass Layoff'

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Thomas Jefferson University's healthcare division has been hit with a proposed class action alleging the institution violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act when it recently laid off over 500 workers.

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Healthcare Software Founders Sue In Del. For Sale Details

By Jeff Montgomery

A couple who sold their healthcare software business to an interest of Elevate RCM Holdings LLC before the buyer allegedly resold it for a reported $1 billion sued for company records in Delaware's Court of Chancery late Monday, seeking documents needed to confirm the deal's fairness.

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NJ Hospital Fired Doc In Bid 'To Get Younger,' Suit Says

By George Woolston

A New Jersey physician who worked in the neonatal intensive care unit at Hackensack University Medical Center was fired because of his age, according to a complaint filed this week in New Jersey state court.

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Considerations When Invoking The Common-Interest Privilege

To successfully leverage the common-interest doctrine in a multiparty transaction or complex litigation, practitioners should be able to demonstrate that the parties intended for it to apply, that an underlying privilege like attorney-client has attached, and guard against disclosures that could waive privilege and defeat its purpose, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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Bonus Spotlight

Magic Circle Firms Enchant Associates With Top-Tier Bonuses

By Tracey Read

U.S. associates at Linklaters LLP and Clifford Chance LLP have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, as the Magic Circle firms Wednesday became the latest to match the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.

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Analysis

After Big Win For 2 Trump Foes, A Third Faces 'Tougher Job'

By Phillip Bantz

The recent dismissal of federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey does little to help President Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser John Bolton, whose defense in a classified-materials case presents a thornier set of legal and factual issues, experts say.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: ISP Liability & State Subpoena Suits

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the first week of its December oral argument session, during which the justices will consider whether internet service providers can be held liable for contributing to their customers' infringing activity online and whether the subjects of state subpoenas are required to first challenge them in state court. 

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Interview

For Covington's Adrian Perry, Music Is A Family Affair

By Theresa Schliep

Despite having a famous rock star dad, Covington & Burling LLP partner Adrian J. Perry wasn't all that interested in being a musician as a young child, but he knew as early as 6 years old that he wanted to be a lawyer.

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Analysis

Calif. Privacy Agency Gaining Steam Ahead Of 5th Anniversary

By Allison Grande

California's data privacy regulator has taken several notable steps in recent months, including handing down its first penalty upward of $1 million dollars and finalizing long-awaited rules on topics such as cybersecurity audits and technologies that use artificial intelligence, and the groundbreaking agency shows no signs of slowing down as its fifth anniversary approaches. 

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Split 6th Circ. Shields Baker Donelson, Not City Councilman

By Matt Perez

In a published opinion, the Sixth Circuit has found that Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC is shielded by qualified immunity as outside counsel for the city of Nashville in litigation over the law firm's firing of a city election commission chair and member of the firm.

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Foley & Lardner Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Chancery Loss

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP has been sued in Delaware Superior Court by three officers of a now-defunct food recycling company who say the firm was negligent when representing them in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment against them and another officer.

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DOJ Asks Court If It Can Release Epstein Files Under New Law

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a New York federal court's permission to publicly release the files related to the investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, clarifying Wednesday that it wants to release search warrant results, travel and financial records, police reports, and other materials.

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Keesal Young Poaching Suit Against Stradley Ronon Trimmed

By Madison Arnold

A California state judge cleared Keesal Young & Logan to pursue most of its lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young crossed the line when it recruited 10 former Keesal Young attorneys, finding that claims such as inducing breach of contract could move forward, in part, because of conversations among the attorneys.

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DOJ Says Ex-Employees Can't Challenge Firings In Fed. Court

By Rose Krebs

The government says a D.C. federal court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and two other ex-Department of Justice employees, alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Hub Hires: Todd & Weld, Freshfields, Shipman

By Julie Manganis

It was a busy November in Boston's legal community as another firm expanded into the market, and a longtime judge traded his gavel for the ability to address his growing concerns about the Trump administration.

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