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TOP NEWS Massachusetts Top Court Suspends Judge After Sex Scandal
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday suspended state court Judge Thomas Estes indefinitely without pay, paving the way for removal proceedings before the state Legislature and the governor, saying he can no longer command a courtroom after a secret affair with a court clinician.
Pfizer Pays $24M To End Medicare Copay Kickback Claims
Pfizer Inc. will pay $23.8 million to resolve allegations that it used a charitable organization to provide kickbacks to Medicare patients who took certain drugs manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Boston Jury Awards Nurse $28M In Hospital Retaliation Suit
A 70-year-old Haitian-American nurse won a $28 million retaliation jury verdict on Wednesday in a suit against a renowned Boston hospital after claiming the hospital wrongly started investigating her for allegedly poor patient care after she came to the aid of another nurse she believed was being verbally abused.
Power Cos. Press FERC To Nix Mass. Gas Plant Rescue Bid
A coalition of New England power producers on Wednesday urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject regional grid operator ISO New England's bid to keep an Exelon Corp. gas-fired plant near Boston open, claiming among other things that it would suppress electricity auction prices by as much as $642 million.
Lawmakers Ramp Up Push To Expand Privacy Rules For Kids
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday renewed a long-running push to update the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act to extend certain restrictions on the collection and use of personal information to cover children as old as 15 and to place limits on the sale of internet-connected devices marketed to children.
Mass. Police Can't Escape Background Check Racial Bias Suit
The Massachusetts State Police were denied a quick win Thursday by a federal judge in a suit claiming racial bias led to an African-American man being denied a spot as a trainee after one of its troopers said he lied during a background interview.
Latham, Goodwin Lead 2 Biotech IPOs Raising $227M
Venture-backed biotechnology companies Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Scholar Rock Holding Corp. debuted in public markets Thursday to strong investor receptions after completing initial public offerings that raised a combined $227 million, represented respectively by Latham & Watkins LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP.
DraftKings To Launch New Platform After High Court Ruling
Boston-based fantasy sports platform DraftKings said Thursday it will soon roll out a new sports betting platform as it moves to capitalize on the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision earlier this month legalizing sports gambling.
States Need Realistic Expectations For Sports Betting
In the run-up to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Murphy v. NCAA, many state officials viewed legalized sports betting as the answer to their budgetary problems. But states will soon learn, if they haven’t already, that sports betting is a complicated and low-margin business. Nevada’s results are sobering, say A.G. Burnett and Rick Trachok of McDonald Carano LLP.
When Defendants Invoke ‘Necessity’ In Pipeline Sabotage
In recent years, a number of anti-pipeline protests involving trespass and vandalism have been prosecuted as criminal acts. Some defendants have raised a “necessity defense” for their actions, and two courts have now allowed that defense to proceed. But these actions themselves present significant risks to human life and health and the environment, say attorneys with Troutman Sanders LLP.
With States' Crypto Regulation, Problems Multiply
State securities agencies are increasingly regulating the cryptocurrency space through administrative proceedings and summary cease-and-desist orders. But the uncertainties and ambiguities in current cryptocurrency regulation mean that multistate action — even if coordinated — will create a real risk of splintered authority, says Jason Gottlieb of Morrison Cohen LLP.
Feature 3 Things You Need To Know When Starting Out In BigLaw
There are numerous opportunities and pitfalls that lie in store for new associates as they enter BigLaw, yet many of the intricacies of navigating the inner workings of a large law firm are not taught in school, leaving many lawyers to fend for themselves to learn by trial and error. Here, BigLaw veterans reflect on some of the actions incoming attorneys can take to make the best of their early days at a firm. Ex-BigLaw Atty Convicted Of Wife's Murder Faces Civil Suit
The former Fisher Phillips employment partner sentenced to life in prison earlier this week for the shooting death of his wife has been hit with a civil lawsuit in Georgia state court by the administrator of his wife’s estate. Feature GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week
The European Union’s new data protection regime went into effect, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to loosen regulations for thousands of community banks and regional lenders, and the U.S. Supreme Court sided with employers in class action arbitration cases. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week. 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. Getting The Snaps And Tweets Into Evidence
Litigants who proffer data obtained from social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram must authenticate that data before it will be admitted as evidence. Attorneys with Pepper Hamilton LLP examine decisions from Pennsylvania and other jurisdictions to determine whether courts are imposing a more demanding standard for social media data than other documentary evidence.
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