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Good morning. A key part of Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement will go under the microscope at the U.S. Supreme Court this year. Plus, New Jersey’s getting a steep discount for its King & Spalding legal team; a trade group is suing Missouri over its anti-ESG efforts; and a U.S. appeals court said Goldman Sachs shareholders can’t pursue crisis-era claims as a class. We made it to Friday.
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The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a challenge from the Biden administration to the legality of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement, John Kruzel and Andrew Chung report. The justices’ move puts on hold a deal that would shield its wealthy Sackler family owners from lawsuits over their role in the country’s opioid epidemic. The court will hear arguments in December.
Purdue’s owners under the settlement would receive immunity in exchange for paying up to $6 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits filed by states, hospitals, people who had become addicted and others who have sued the company over its misleading marketing of the powerful pain medication OxyContin. The 2nd Circuit upheld the settlement, concluding that federal bankruptcy law allows legal protections for non-bankrupt parties like the Sacklers in extraordinary circumstances.
Members of the Sackler family have denied wrongdoing but expressed regret that OxyContin “unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis.” In a statement, Purdue said it was “confident in the legality of our nearly universally supported plan of reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court will agree.” Roy Englert Jr of Kramer Levin, represents Purdue’s creditors, and Latham appellate chair Gregory Garre is chief counsel to Purdue. Garre and lawyers from Davis Polk in a filing at the Supreme Court said the DOJ’s bid to stay the settlement will “needlessly delay the distribution of billions of dollars to abate the opioid crisis.”
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- Rosemary Pooler, a long-serving judge on the 2nd Circuit and member of the New York-based court’s liberal block, has died at the age of 85. Pooler had assumed senior status, a form of semi-retirement, last year after President Joe Biden secured the confirmation of Judge Alison Nathan to fill her seat. (Reuters)
- More than half of the nearly 20,000 aspiring lawyers registered for this month’s LSAT have opted to complete it remotely, while 39% wanted to take it in-person at test centers, according to the Law School Admission Council. The August test, which will take place today and Saturday, is the first to allow examinees to choose between remote or in-person formats. (Reuters)
- Justice Clarence Thomas has been treated to far more luxury vacations and exclusive perks from wealthy patrons than previously known, news organization ProPublica reported, raising more questions about the lack of binding ethical standards at the court. Since 1991, when Thomas was appointed, he has received gifts from benefactors, including at least 38 destination vacations and 34 flights by private jet or helicopter. Thomas did not respond to questions from ProPublica. (Reuters)
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REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
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It’s safe to say that corporations have never faced more risk than they do right now of legal challenges to their efforts to promote diversity. Does that mean they’re obliged to warn investors about conservative blowback? Alison Frankel posed that question to three law profs who specialize in corporate and securities law. Read on for their views.
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“We are not scared. We are fearless.“
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—Arian Simone, the chief executive and co-founder of the Fearless Fund, who told reporters the venture capital fund will fight a lawsuit filed by Edward Blum, the anti-affirmative action activist. Blum, the activist behind the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down affirmative action in higher education, has accused the fund of unlawfully allowing only Black women small business owners to be eligible for a competition that awards grants and other resources.The Fearless Fund is represented by a team of lawyers led by Gibson Dunn and civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
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What to catch up on this weekend
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- In D.C. federal court, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan will hold a hearing to help determine how evidence can be used and shared in the criminal prosecution of Donald Trump on charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The hearing comes after Trump’s defense team on Monday opposed a request from prosecutors for Chutkan to impose a protective order to ensure confidential evidence is not shared publicly by Trump, suggesting he could use the information to intimidate witnesses. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
- U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan will hear more arguments on U.S. prosecutors’ effort to jail indicted FTX cryptocurrency founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Prosecutors have accused Bankman-Fried of witness tampering while free on bail pending trial. He has denied the allegation. Kaplan said Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty to fraud and other charges, must attend the hearing.
- Lawyers for the DOJ and for Google will appear before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta for a pretrial status conference in advance of the government’s upcoming antitrust trial. Mehta, in a ruling unsealed this week, mostly ruled against Google’s effort to end the litigation. Mehta granted Google’s request on some matters but allowed the remainder of the claims to stand. The DOJ sued Google in 2020, accusing it of illegally using its market muscle to hobble rivals. Google has denied wrongdoing.
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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- The California Institute of Technology has reached a “potential settlement” in a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple and Broadcom over Wi-Fi chips, according to a court filing. Caltech previously won a verdict of more than $1.1 billion from Apple and Broadcom in the case that was later overturned. (Reuters)
- The estate of Henrietta Lacks filed a lawsuit against Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in Maryland federal court, accusing the biopharmaceutical company of unlawfully profiting from the “HeLa” cell line, just days after it settled similar claims against Thermo Fisher. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Ben Crump, said that Ultragenyx, which develops treatments for rare genetic diseases, treats the “stolen” HeLa cells “like a dairy farm treats cows” to mass-produce materials for gene therapy. (Reuters)
- China-based tutoring company iTutorGroup agreed to settle an EEOC lawsuit claiming it used hiring software powered by artificial intelligence to illegally weed out older job applicants, the first from the agency involving a company’s use of AI to make employment decisions. The EEOC launched an initiative in 2021 to ensure that AI software used by U.S. employers complies with anti-discrimination laws, and the commission has warned that it will focus enforcement efforts on companies that misuse AI. (Reuters)
- Data analytics firm MultiPlan was sued in Manhattan federal court for alleged price-fixing, in a complaint filed by Florida-based nonprofit system AdventHealth. Lawyers at Vinson & Elkins accused MultiPlan of running a conspiracy that suppressed billions of dollars in reimbursements to hospitals and others for out-of-network care. (Reuters)
- Robinhood Markets defeated an 11th Circuit appeal by investors over the stock trading platform’s decision to restrict purchases of 13 “meme stocks” during a January 2021 frenzy that squeezed hedge funds. A panel said Robinhood’s customer agreement authorized the restrictions and did not suggest that Robinhood would accept all trade orders. (Reuters)
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- Greenberg Traurig added commercial litigation partner Craig Waugh in the firm’s Phoenix office. Waugh was previously at DLA Piper. (Greenberg Traurig)
- Partner Andrew Lichtenstein joined Epstein Becker Green’s Los Angeles office, as part of the firm’s employment, labor and workforce management practice. Lichtenstein was previously at O’Melveny. (Epstein Becker Green)
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