News from February 2020
PEPPER HAMILTON LLP: Investment Management and Private Funds: What's Happening Now? - February 27, 2020
Join your host, Pepper partner Gregory J. Nowak, for a series of candid, interactive discussions on what is going on now in the investment management world, including issues that affect private funds and their managers.
FOLEY & LARDNER LLP: Foley/Deloitte Compliance and Privacy Officer Roundtable
Foley & Lardner LLP and Deloitte Risk and Financial Advisory invite you to join us for the 2020 Compliance and Privacy Officer Roundtable.
FOLEY & LARDNER LLP: Former SEC Official and Prominent Securities Enforcement Attorney Joins Foley in Denver
Foley & Lardner LLP announced that Thomas Krysa has joined the firm’s Denver office as a partner in its Litigation Department and Securities Enforcement & Litigation Practice Group.
PEPPER HAMILTON LLP: Lend360's Online Lending Legal and Policy Issues Forum
Pepper Hamilton is proud to sponsor LEND360's first annual Online Lending Legal and Policy Issues Forum.
Court: Post-9/11 Port Authority raises don't count for pensions
ALBANY, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - Raises given to Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executives after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks can’t count toward their pension benefits, New York’s highest court has ruled.
RICO lawsuit filed against Mormon church
At issue: a $100 billion, tax free investment account controlled by the church. Three former members say the church diverted their offerings illegally to amass wealth.
Lawsuit against hand sanitizer complains that killing 99.99% of germs won't prevent disease
The maker of Purell hand sanitizer is misleading the public about the benefits of the product in protecting against the spread of illness, according to a consumer class-action federal lawsuit.
Maker of cholesterol drug escapes shareholder lawsuit over stock drop
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - Delaware’s Chancery Court has dismissed a shareholder lawsuit that alleged executives and board members of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. misled investors about the development of a new drug to treat high cholesterol.
Media groups support lawsuit that says PACER is too expensive
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – A federal program that's supposed to provide public access to court records at the lowest cost necessary but instead hides them behind pay walls and charges more than required is acting illegally, according to a recent amicus brief filed in a class action to stop it.
Iowa legislation targets asbestos lawyers who blame more defendants than they can prove
DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) – Plaintiffs claiming injuries from asbestos and silica would have to establish a basis for suing each defendant under a bill the Senate Judiciary Committee passed on Feb. 18.
Supreme Court says tort reform law doesn't apply to asbestos lawsuits
HARRISBURG – According to a new ruling from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the state’s Fair Share Act is not supposed to apply strict liability lawsuits such as asbestos cases, so verdicts will be evenly divided among multiple defendants rather than split according to the percentage each defendant is found liable.
Menards facing lawsuit alleging reduced or non-existent rebates
MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) — A home improvement store is being sued by people in six states for allegedly violating the terms and conditions of rebates the company offered.
Sports bettors sue MLB, Astros over sign-stealing scheme
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) — A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball, the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox claiming he and others were victimized while betting on fantasy baseball by the sign-stealing scheme that involved using technology and trash cans.
Judge rejects Hawaii's opioid lawsuit; State plans to try again
HONOLULU (Legal Newsline) - In an order issued quietly late last year, a Hawaii judge dismissed the state’s lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors - at least the third time in two years a judge has rejected theories the pharmaceutical industry is responsible for the crisis of addiction and overdose deaths caused by legal and illegal drugs.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fails to respond to FOIA request
Three months ago, a vendor for Legal Newsline submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for copies of the communications between Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) staff members and the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC).
State AGs ask Sixth Circuit for control of opioid settlement talks
CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) – The top legal officials in several states are complaining that their powers have been stolen by the federal judge overseeing more than 2,000 opioid lawsuits.
Inside asbestos bankruptcy: Insurers brand Fraser's as ‘greasing the wheels to get lawyers paid’
WILMINGTON, Del. – David Gordon of California, who filed a bankruptcy plan as owner of defunct asbestos defendant Owens-Illinois in January, triggered a mighty battle among insurers the last time he filed one.
San Diego rental car fee at center of class action lawsuit
A class action lawsuit filed in federal court for the Southern District of California alleges several rental car companies have improperly charged customers a fee, claiming it was required by the Port of San Diego.
DEA again cuts opioid production as companies facing addiction lawsuits put blame on feds
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The Drug Enforcement Administration has slashed oxycodone production quotas by almost 60% from the peak in 2013, including a 9% cut for this year, demonstrating the government’s firm control over narcotics distribution even as plaintiffs in opioid litigation blame pharmacies and drug distributors for causing addiction and overdose deaths by selling too many pills.
Iowa Supreme Court reinstates dram shop lawsuit despite plaintiff using wrong name
DES MOINES, Iowa – A dramshop action filed by a man allegedly injured at a bar in late 2015 is back in a Polk County court after a split Iowa Supreme Court ruled the man had given enough notice that he intended to sue.