FTC Can't Pause Novant's $320M Bid To Buy NC Hospitals

By Hayley Fowler

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday lost its bid to block Novant Health from buying two local hospitals in North Carolina for $320 million while it conducts an in-house review, with a federal judge reasoning that competition would actually fare better if the merger advanced.

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Medical Clinic Must Face Patients' Record-Snooping Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

An Indiana appeals court on Wednesday reinstated claims against a medical clinic that employed a physician who improperly accessed the medical records of female patients for personal reasons, saying whether the doctor was acting within the scope of his employment is an issue still up for debate.

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Ohio Panel Revives Cancer Scientist's Misconduct Probe Suit

By Ryan Harroff

An Ohio appellate court revived parts of a cancer research scientist's suit accusing Ohio State University of mishandling a probe into his conduct sparked by a New York Times article the scientist said defamed him, ruling his claims the school failed to follow its own policy should continue.

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House Votes To Block Vets' Access To Gender-Affirming Care

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a $147.5 billion spending bill along mostly party lines funding military construction and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which would block veterans' access to gender-affirming care and which the White House has already threatened to veto.

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Fired Team Doctor Sues Emory, Falcons For Discrimination

By Elaine Briseño

A former head medical physician for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, who is Black, has filed a defamation and civil rights lawsuit against Emory Healthcare Inc. and the team, alleging he was continuously denied leadership opportunities in favor of white colleagues before abruptly being fired.

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Medtronic Can't Pause FCA Claims For 1st Circ. Detour

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday declined to pause a long-pending False Claims Act and whistleblower retaliation case against medical device maker Medtronic so it can appeal a recent ruling, saying the court and the parties need to "get it moving."

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3rd Circ. Debates Length Of Breaks In $7M Wage Case

By Matthew Santoni

A Third Circuit panel tried on Wednesday to pin down when the U.S. Department of Labor and an in-home care agency believed that employees were off-duty or just traveling between jobs, and whether the company's lack of travel-time records left it open to a $7 million judgment based on government estimates.

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Detroit Hospital Hit With Meal-Break Lawsuit Seeking OT

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Detroit hospital network automatically deducts 30-minute unpaid meal breaks from nurses' and technicians' pay regardless of whether they were actually relieved from their work duties, a former employee said in a proposed class and collective action filed in Michigan federal court.

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AI Co., Biotech Prep IPOs Worth $602M As Novelis Delays

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Healthcare data artificial intelligence platform Tempus AI and Australian biotech Telix Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday unveiled plans for initial public offerings that will aim to raise a combined total of approximately $602 million, while sustainable aluminum solutions provider Novelis, a day prior, postponed IPO plans due to market conditions.

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Lippes Mathias Merges With Syracuse Health, Business Firm

By Andrea Keckley

Buffalo, New York-based firm Lippes Mathias LLP said this week that it had created one of the state's largest healthcare attorney teams outside New York City in combining with Syracuse business and healthcare boutique CCBLaw, a move that will ultimately add 11 lawyers and eight nonlawyer professionals to its ranks.

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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

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Judge Who Took Israel Trip Recuses Self From Gaza Case

By Jake Maher

A Ninth Circuit judge on Thursday recused himself from a case over the Biden administration's support for Israel's military efforts in Gaza, suggesting he disagreed with Palestinian rights activists' claim that a sponsored trip to Israel disqualified him but nevertheless would step aside "out of an abundance of caution."

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Analysis

'Brussels Effect' Of EU's AI Act Is Uncertain, Legal Pros Say

By Dorothy Atkins

BigLaw attorneys advising international clients on the European Union's AI Act tell Law360 there are significant uncertainties over vague terms in the 458-page statute, how its steep eight-figure fines will be enforced, and whether it will set a new standard globally as part of the "Brussels effect."

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NY Prosecutor Says DOJ Self-Disclosure Policies Are Working

By Sarah Jarvis

The proliferation of policies across the U.S. Department of Justice crediting firms and individuals for voluntarily self-disclosing misconduct indicates the approach is effective, even though instances of such disclosures aren't overwhelming, a senior federal prosecutor in New York told a gathering of compliance officers on Thursday.

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'Any Judge' Should Have DQ'd In Romance Case, Attys Told

By Catherine Marfin

A Texas federal judge was adamant Thursday that a former bankruptcy judge should have recused himself from an engineering company's Chapter 11 proceeding because of his relationship with a then-Jackson Walker LLP partner, but seemed torn over whether a lawsuit from a former shareholder over the secret relationship had a leg to stand on.

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3rd Circ. Nominee Reports Over $9M Net Worth

By Courtney Bublé

Adeel Mangi, whose nomination for the Third Circuit has stalled in the Senate, reported a net worth of over $9 million in financial forms filled out last fall.

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Former New Jersey AG Recalls 'Gross' Meeting With Menendez

By Carla Baranauckas

A U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission official took the stand in the bribery trial of Sen. Robert Menendez on Thursday, testifying that he shut down "gross" inquiries by the congressman while the official was serving as New Jersey's attorney general.

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Hallie Biden Tells Jury She 'Panicked' Finding Hunter's Gun

By Leslie A. Pappas

Hunter Biden's former sister-in-law and ex-girlfriend told a Delaware federal jury Thursday that she "panicked" when she found a gun and a box of bullets in his truck and threw the gun in a grocery store trash can because she was afraid he might hurt himself.

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In 13-Year Trademark Fight, Chicago Judge Says No More

By Andrew Karpan

A Chicago federal judge brought to a close a trademark fight between two vaping companies surrounding the phrase "21st Century Smoking" that has stretched on for over a decade and led to millions of dollars in sanctions over thousands of deleted emails and long-hidden documents.

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Ex-CFO Says McElroy Deutsch's $7M Relief Bid Is A Reach

By Andrea Keckley

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP's former chief financial officer said Thursday that his old firm's motion for partial summary judgment in a theft suit against him "seeks relief that far exceeds the scope" of his recent criminal guilty plea, defending his request that the New Jersey state court hold off ruling on the bid.

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