Sandwich Seller Owes $32K For Breaching Noncompete Pact

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Monday found in favor of the owners of a sandwich fundraising and catering company who accused its former owner of breaching multiple noncompete and confidentiality agreements by launching a rival business and stealing recipes and customer information.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Jury Finds For Drexel In Professor's Gender Bias Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A federal jury has sided with Drexel University in a gender discrimination case by one of its former doctors, finding the school is not liable for her claims of retaliation over reporting instances of discrimination against female doctors in the medical college, according to a verdict docketed Monday.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Rite Aid Seeks $90M Clawback From McKesson

By Ben Zigterman

Rite Aid is seeking to claw back about $90 million it paid out to prescription drug supplier McKesson Corp. over the days and months leading up to the national pharmacy chain's Chapter 11 filing in May, arguing the payments were not made as part of the ordinary course of business.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3rd Circ. Denies Tribal Lender Immunity In Payday Loan Suit

By Carla Baranauckas

The Third Circuit ruled Monday that tribal immunity doesn't shield GreatPlains Finance LLC from class claims over payday loan interest rates, reasoning that a judgment wouldn't affect the tribe's revenue.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Pa. School District Released From Suit Over Fatal Child Abuse

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Philadelphia-area school district and two officials have been released from a complaint alleging that they, along with others, were liable for the death of a 12-year-old girl who was fatally abused by her father and stepmother.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Relevance Redactions

In recent cases addressing redactions that parties sought to apply based on the relevance of information — as opposed to considerations of privilege — courts have generally limited a party’s ability to withhold nonresponsive or irrelevant material, providing a few lessons for discovery strategy, say attorneys at Sidley.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law, Medical School Orgs Face Application Fee Antitrust Suits

By Gina Kim

The Law School Admission Council and the Association of American Medical Colleges have each been hit with a proposed class action in Pennsylvania and D.C. federal courts, respectively, by candidates who said the nonprofits conspired with their member schools to charge excessive application fees that have been fixed at the same price regardless of the school.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Mulls Sanctioning Hagens Berman In Thalidomide Suits

By Lauren Berg

The Pennsylvania federal judge presiding over dozens of product liability actions against manufacturers of the morning sickness drug thalidomide Tuesday ordered Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP to explain why it shouldn't be sanctioned for allegedly conducting "grossly inadequate" pre-suit inquiries, obstructing discovery and doctoring evidence.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Tesla Verdict Could Embolden Plaintiffs With Similar Claims

By Carolina Bolado

The $329 million verdict handed down by jurors in Miami on Friday over a fatal Florida Keys crash is the first to find Tesla's autopilot defective and will likely embolden other plaintiffs with similar claims to take them to trial, personal injury attorneys told Law360.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

A Free Exercise 'Blueprint' In Colo. Abortion Reversal Order

By Mark Payne

A Colorado federal judge's decision to allow medication abortion "reversals" on free exercise grounds could serve as a model for other lawsuits meant to legitimize a practice that is outside the standard practice of medicine.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law Profs Urge 11th Circ. To Toss Judge-Shopping Sanctions

By Madison Arnold

A group of seven law school professors is urging the Eleventh Circuit to toss a sanctions ruling against three attorneys for judge shopping, arguing that federal law does not forbid the practice and citing the "potentially chilling effect the order will have on counsel, especially those involved in pro bono representation."

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

OptumRx Urges Panel To DQ Motley Rice In LA Opioid Suit

By Craig Clough

OptumRx told a California appellate panel Tuesday that Motley Rice should be disqualified from representing Los Angeles County in a lawsuit alleging it colluded with drugmakers to fuel the opioid crisis, saying the firm violated state law by using confidential information obtained in the case in other lawsuits it's handling against Optum.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feature

Meet FDA Chief Counsel Sean Keveney

By Dan McKay

The new top attorney at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, described as a "tremendous technical lawyer," rose through the ranks as a federal prosecutor before helping lead President Donald Trump's confrontation with elite universities this year.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5th Circ. Says Texas Voter ID Law Is Legally Sound

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel upheld a Texas law that requires voters to provide an identification number when voting by mail, finding the law complies with the Civil Rights Act and that the state designed it to combat mail-in ballot fraud.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-USPTO Heads, Judges Oppose Anti-Patent Thicket Bill

By Elliot Weld

A pro-innovation group composed of former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officials and former Federal Circuit judges on Tuesday asked Congress to oppose a bill introduced last month that would limit so-called patent thickets used by pharmaceutical companies to restrict the production of generic counterparts to their drugs.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Medicaid Cuts May Worsen Incarceration-Linked Death Risks

By Hannah Albarazi

A new public health investigation reveals an association between incarceration and elevated risk of early death, not only for people who have been behind bars but for entire communities. Experts caution that impending disinvestment in Medicaid could worsen outcomes in vulnerable populations.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ghislaine Maxwell Slams Feds' Bid To Unseal Grand Jury Docs

By Lauren Berg

Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking children for late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, urged a New York federal judge Tuesday to deny the government's bid to unseal grand jury transcripts, saying release of the sealed materials could jeopardize the appeal of her 2021 conviction.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Patent Examiner Fights USPTO Exclusion At High Court

By Adam Lidgett

A former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examiner wants the U.S. Supreme Court to review his exclusion from practicing before the agency, saying the justices should look at issues relating to a suspension he received and also federal civil rights protections.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Approach The Bench: Justice Wecht On Judicial Campaigns

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

If running for judicial office often requires walking the line of being a sitting jurist and a politician, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht is no stranger to that tightrope.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »