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Expert Analysis

• No Surprises Act Gives Plan Sponsors Savings Opportunities

  

  Under the No Surprises Act, the potential savings for an ERISA group health plan and its participants are significant, and sponsors should focus on the negotiation of third-party administrator service agreements to avoid exposure to breach of fiduciary claims for payment of excessive fees, say attorneys at Hall Benefits.

• Cos. Need Clarity On Divergent FCA Pleading Standard

  

  With the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent denial of certiorari in three cases concerning False Claims Act pleading standards, potential FCA defendants remain subject to forum shopping, greater prosecutorial scrutiny in more lenient circuits and ambiguity that makes crafting multijurisdictional compliance policies nearly impossible, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• Time Is Ticking For Callers To Address Complex TCPA Rules

  

  The recently published Telephone Consumer Protection Act amendments will be effective in July, giving previously exempt entities only a short time to comply with technical and onerous requirements for prerecorded, nonmarketing calls to landlines, say attorneys at Wiley.

• What Cannabis Cos. Must Know About Strict Product Liability

  

  To evaluate the traditional product liability risks of their products, cannabis companies should understand the common tests used by courts to determine strict liability, as well as how marijuana consumers are educated about product risks, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.

• FCA Knowledge Element: NY Already Got It Right

  

  In April, when the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in U.S. v. Supervalu and U.S. v. Safeway concerning the federal False Claims Act's knowledge component, it should consider the reasoning of a New York state court ruling that already reached the correct understanding, says Randall Fox at Kirby McInerney.

• Evaluating Workplace Accommodations For Service Animals

  

  In Bennett v. Hurley Medical Center, a Michigan federal court ruled in favor of the hospital after a nursing intern filed a disability discrimination lawsuit regarding her service dog, highlighting the importance of engaging in interactive processes and individualized actions in workplace accommodation decisions, say Keith Anderson and Anne Yuengert at Bradley Arant.

• Fla. Bill Would Rein In Personal Injury Litigation Excesses

  

  A recently proposed bill in the Florida House that would change bad-faith laws and the admissibility of medical bills for services performed under a letter of protection would provide reasonable checks on practices that are far too common in personal injury cases in the Sunshine State, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

• Bankruptcy Ruling Affirms High 9th Circ. Evidentiary Standard

  

  The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel's recent ruling in Groves demonstrates that Section 363 — which allows a debtor-in-possession to sell their property in order to generate cash — fails as a tool when it’s used to turn a nondebtor entities' property into property of a debtor's bankruptcy estate, says Brian Shaw at Cozen O'Connor.

• Absent Federal Action, Tribal Cannabis Laws Remain In Limbo

  

  Many Native American tribes have proceeded with cannabis legalization efforts despite inconsistent federal enforcement and a confusing jurisdictional landscape, but until the federal government takes action, tribal sovereignty on this issue will remain ad-hoc and uncertain, says Anna Wills at Duane Morris.

• J&J Ch. 11 Dismissal Ignores Mass Tort Bankruptcy Principles

  

  The Third Circuit's recent dismissal of LTL Management's Chapter 11 petition due to insufficient financial distress — even as the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary defends thousands of tort claims — runs contrary to decades of precedent in mass tort bankruptcies, says Douglas Smith at Aurelius Law.

• Don't Assume AI Is Smart Enough To Avoid Unintended Bias

  

  As companies increasingly incorporate artificial intelligence decision models into their business practices, they should consider using statistical and qualitative analyses to evaluate and reduce inadvertent discrimination, or disparate impact, induced by AI, say Christine Polek and Shastri Sandy at The Brattle Group.

• Circuit Split Complicates US Discovery In Foreign Tribunals

  

  Differences between the Second and Fourth Circuits' interpretations of when litigants in foreign tribunals may obtain discovery in U.S. courts are substantial, making companies' decisions about where to file a Section 1782 application complex, say attorneys at Finnegan.

• State, Federal Disconnect Sows Confusion For CBD Industry

  

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s renewed focus on CBD-infused foods, and its recent announcement that it would not develop rules for hemp-derived CBD, exposes a divide between state and federal regulation, resulting in market confusion that will need to be resolved by Congress, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa.