B. Braun Unit Inks $38.5M Deal To End FCA Knee Implant Case

By Gianna Ferrarin

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced a $38.5 million False Claims Act settlement with a subsidiary of German medical device giant B. Braun Melsungen AG resolving accusations it sold a knee replacement implant allegedly known to fail prematurely after surgery.

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Atty 'Misplaced' Trust In Par Funding Promoter, Panel Hears

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A former Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC attorney accused of ethical violations related to promoting the Par Funding merchant cash advance business told a Pennsylvania disciplinary panel Monday that all he did was zealously represent his client, who pitched the ill-fated enterprise to potential investors.

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Philly Atty Who Paid Client's Living Expenses Is Disbarred

By James Boyle

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has disbarred a Philadelphia plaintiffs attorney over years of reported misconduct at the state and federal level, including alleged botched discovery deadlines and paying for a homeless client's hotel room.

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Law School Admission Council Pushes To Toss Antitrust Suit

By Andrea Keckley

The Law School Admission Council is continuing its push to toss a proposed class action accusing it of fixing application fees with its member schools, saying in a Pennsylvania federal court filing last week that the applicant's opposition to its dismissal motion "entirely fails to engage with the incoherence at the core of his case."

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Justices Decline To Take Up Another Warrantless Entry Case

By Brandon Lowrey

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case exploring the limits of the "protective sweep doctrine," which allows law enforcement officers to conduct limited warrantless searches of homes they have lawfully entered. 

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Roundup

Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: Skill Games Top Nov. Lineup

By Matthew Santoni

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's November session will tackle the legality of the "Pennsylvania Skill" games that have popped up in gas stations and convenience stores, answering the long-simmering question of whether they should be regulated like slot machines. Here are some of the cases the state supreme court will hear during its three-day session in Harrisburg.

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UConn Health Poised To Buy Hospital In $35M Ch. 11 Deal

By Aaron Keller

Bankrupt for-profit hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. on Monday sought approval for the $35 million sale of Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut to two UConn Health units under a stalking horse bid package filed in early November.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court and Delaware Supreme Court last week had a dense slate of fiduciary duty battles, merger-process challenges, post-bankruptcy fights and a series of cases probing the limits of fraud pleading, credible-basis inspections and board-level disclosure duties.

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AGs Seek To Freeze EPA Solar Grant Funds During Challenge

By Abigail Harrison

A coalition of states asked a Washington federal judge to maintain federal money for Solar for All grants during the pendency of their lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to kill the program, arguing that they're likely to prevail on their claims that the agency can't legally claw back funds Congress already obligated.

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CORRECTED: Estate Of Slain Clerk Wins $15.3M In Gaming Co. Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Two gaming machine companies, a convenience store owner, and a convicted murderer have been hit with a $15.3 million verdict in a lawsuit filed by the family of a Pennsylvania store clerk who was fatally shot during a 2020 robbery alleged to have been prompted by the presence of skill games on the premises.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Bonus Spotlight

Cravath Unveils Associate Bonuses, Multiple Firms Follow

By Aebra Coe

Multiple firms swiftly fell in line Tuesday evening just hours after Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP announced associate bonuses in line with those offered last year, continuing a long tradition of BigLaw firms following Cravath's lead on compensation.

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Pillsbury Winthrop Latest Firm Targeted By Data Breach Suit

By Hailey Konnath

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on Tuesday was hit with a proposed class action stemming from a data breach the firm says happened in April, adding to the growing litigation firms are facing in the aftermath of cyberattacks.

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Analysis

Perkins Coie's Trump Fight Doesn't Scare Off UK Suitor

By Chris Villani

Perkins Coie LLP's ongoing fight with the Trump administration did not deter a proposed combination with British law firm Ashurst, signaling that the legal community is not worried about fallout from the president's suspension of the firm's security clearances.

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Republican Senators Seek Judge Boasberg's Suspension

By Courtney Bublé

Six Republican senators, three of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are asking that Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia be administratively suspended while Congress considers his impeachment.

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Sanctioned Atty Convinces Mo. Court Errors Not Caused By AI

By Emily Sawicki

A Missouri federal judge sanctioned former counsel for Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Co. Monday for including citation errors in a motion this fall, finding that, although the attorney likely inserted the errors herself without the use of AI software, "such carelessness, exacerbated by a lack of internal guardrails, is entirely unacceptable."

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Brief

Conn. Atty Fined $500 For AI-Generated Errors In Wage Suit

By Emily Sawicki

In an order that noted an attorney's remorse, a Connecticut federal judge sanctioned a solo practitioner $500 this week for submitting a brief packed with false, AI-generated case citations, finding the fake authorities wasted court resources, risked misleading a pro se litigant and undermined trust in the judicial system.

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Disbarred NC Atty Must Pay $5.2M For Escrow Fund Misuse

By Abigail Harrison

A disbarred attorney was ordered to pay $5.2 million in restitution and serve four years of probation during a Tuesday sentencing hearing in North Carolina federal court, after he pled guilty to a criminal wire fraud charge related to the misuse of escrow funds.

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Judge Upholds NY Law Blocking ICE Courthouse Arrests

By Andrea Keckley

New York beat back a federal lawsuit challenging the state's policy barring immigration officials from arresting people near its courthouses, after a federal judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's preemption claims.

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NY AG James Blasts 'Outrageous Conduct' Behind Indictment

By Adrian Cruz

New York Attorney General Letitia A. James has told a Virginia federal court to dismiss the U.S. government's indictment of her, calling it "patently unconstitutional" and "outrageous conduct."

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McGuireWoods Is Delaying Defamation Case, NC Justices Told

By Hayley Fowler

The former CEO of a managed care organization who alleges McGuireWoods and one of its ex-partners defamed him during a press conference more than seven years ago has told North Carolina's top court not to take up the case, panning their petition as yet another stalling tactic.

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Brief

Missouri Federal Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool of the Western District of Missouri has given notice he will take senior status upon the confirmation of state Judge Megan Benton, whose nomination to the federal bench President Donald Trump announced Friday.

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CFPB's Gradler Takes Deputy Post Amid Agency Uncertainty

By Jon Hill

Geof Gradler, a former industry lobbyist who recently joined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's front office, said that he is taking over as the agency's deputy director, a job that positions him as a potential successor to acting director Russell Vought.

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