Litigation

The tentacles from the seven states recognizing the tort of alienation of affection continue their broad reach throughout the 50 states.

Any product liability litigator who prosecutes or defends class actions should be familiar with the concept of "cy pres" ' which has been the subject of significant recent attention by the courts and commentators.

Two recent cases highlight issues of importance to practitioners. One case dealt with preemption; the other with discovery sanctions.

In-depth analysis of recent key cases.

Recent rulings of interest.

In pharmaceutical actions, most false claims qui tam actions brought by whistleblowers involve off-label promotion, kickbacks, pricing allegations, and reimbursement abuses. Although these start out as civil lawsuits, they often end with the DOJ pressing charges against the pharmaceuticals manufacturer.

A recent opinion from the Southern District of New York indicates that lawyers will typically be prohibited from bringing qui tam actions against their former clients. And the new Dodd-Frank regulations expressly limit when an attorney can reap a whistleblower reward.

The crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege allows the government, often ex parte, to obtain a court order demanding the production of what were once thought to be privileged communications.