Newsletters

10.20.16

Third Circuit Reverses Hospital Merger Loss

On September 27, 2016, the Third Circuit handed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a significant victory in its campaign against hospital consolidation, reversing a District Court decision that denied a preliminary injunction against the merger of Penn State Hershey Medical Center (Hershey) and ...


10.20.16

How Will AB 72 (and Similar Laws) Impact Provider/Payer Disputes?

Recently, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law “surprise medical bill legislation,” seeking to curb out-of-network medical bills. This law, designated AB 72, amends California’s Health and Safety Code to limit the ability of out-of-network physicians who provide ...


10.18.16

New Record Deal Reached in TCPA Settlement

In what could be the largest Telephone Consumer Protection Act settlement yet, a federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois signed off on a deal requiring three cruise marketing companies to pay up to $76 million to two classes of call recipients.


10.10.16

Employers Can’t Arbitrate Any Issues Related to PAGA Claim

The California Supreme Court’s decision in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles forecloses an employer’s ability to require a worker to arbitrate a threshold issue of standing to bring a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claim, a state appellate panel recently ruled.


09.27.16

California Appellate Court Moves Associational Disability Claims Forward

Recognizing associational disability claims, a California appellate panel ruled that an employee's claim for disability discrimination in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) can move forward.


09.22.16

Can Antitrust Prevent Excessive Drug Price Increases?

The antitrust agencies are often asked to intervene in markets where pricing appears to be excessive to help protect consumers and stabilize markets. In the drug arena, healthcare providers, consumers and politicians have been extremely vocal in criticizing some companies, such as Mylan, Valeant ...


09.20.16

SPECIAL FOCUS: Responses to Retail Webinar Attendee Questions

During our hugely successful “Avoiding TCPA Pitfalls: Essential Guidance for Retailers” webinar this summer, we received dozens of questions from attendees, most of which we were not able to address during the closing minutes of the presentation. But, we held on to the questions and ...


09.08.16

Ninth Circuit Sides With NLRB on Class Waivers

Siding with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals pushed the question of whether it violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to require employees to sign agreements precluding them from bringing concerted legal claims in any forum one step closer to ...


09.01.16

The FCPA Pilot Program: A Tale of Two Cases

This month, we review a recent Ninth Circuit case that allowed a qui tam relator’s action against various Medicare Advantage organizations to proceed, holding that the relator had adequately stated a “cognizable legal theory” of liability under the False Claims Act (FCA) in ...


08.26.16

Arbitrator Or Judge? California Supreme Court Weighs in

Yet again, the California Supreme Court considered arbitration in the context of an employment agreement, this time reflecting on whether a judge or an arbitrator should decide whether class arbitration is available where the agreement is silent on the matter.