“Wells Fargo has reached a settlement in a pair of lawsuits brought by the US Automobile Association (USAA), after two juries found the bank liable for patent infringement,” reports Rory O’Neill in World Intellectual Property Review’s News.

“USAA filed two separate lawsuits against Wells Fargo at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas for infringing patents covering mobile deposit technologies.”

“In both cases, juries at the Texas court found Wells Fargo liable to have USAA’s IP, and the bank was found to be liable to pay a total of $300 million.”

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“Attorney General Chris Carr … announced that the office’s Prosecution Division has indicted* Paulding County District Attorney Donald Richard ‘Dick’ Donovan on four felony charges: Bribery … False Swearing, … and Violation of Oath by Public Officer, O.C.G.A. § 16-10-1. A Paulding County Grand Jury returned the indictment on February 17, 2021,” released Georgia’s Office of the Attorney General in their press releases.

“Donovan has served as the Paulding County District Attorney since his election to that position in 2010. The indictment charges that Donovan committed the offense of bribery when he submitted an order dismissing criminal charges pending in Paulding County Superior Court against a client of the Cedartown Municipal Court prosecutor with the purpose of influencing this prosecutor’s decision regarding the disposition of criminal charges then pending in the Cedartown Municipal Court against an employee of Donovan’s office. The indictment also charges Donovan made false statements in a sworn affidavit when he denied ever having said that he wanted to have sex with this same employee of his office and denied describing fantasies regarding his desire to be physical with this employee. In addition, the indictment charges that Donovan violated the terms of his oath of District Attorney by committing the offense of bribery.”

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“The first of its kind FCA case involves Roche and Medicare Advantage insurer Humana,” report Mary Inman, Esq. and Max Voldman, Esq. in RACmonitor.

“The recent settlement of a whistleblower case involving the government’s Medicare Advantage program might be a sign of things to come for litigation filed under the False Claims Act (FCA), including those initiated by whistleblowers. On Monday, it was announced that the pharmaceutical company Roche and Medicare Advantage insurer Humana have agreed to pay $12.5 million to the U.S. government to resolve allegations that the companies violated the anti-kickback statute. This is the first FCA settlement resulting from a pharmaceutical company’s alleged payment of kickbacks to a Medicare Advantage Organization.”

“Medicare Advantage, also known as Part C of the Medicare program, is a managed care model wherein the government pays Medicare Advantage Organizations (private insurance companies such as Humana) premiums to insure Medicare beneficiaries. The premium amounts are determined by the demographic makeup and the health status of the insured beneficiaries, with sicker, older members drawing a higher payment from the government than younger, healthier ones. This model contrasts with “traditional” Medicare (Parts A and B of the program), wherein the government pays for each individual healthcare service performed, in what is known as a fee-for-service model. In the Medicare Advantage program, the amounts of government payments are not directly linked to which healthcare services are performed.”

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“Jacksonville’s former public defender may lose his right to practice law for the next six months after filing a voluntary guilty plea for ethics violations committed when he held the job …,” writes Dan Scanlan from the Florida Times-Union’s News.

“The Florida Bar said Shirk agreed to the suspension in a conditional plea in an 11-page document, which will be presented to the Florida Supreme Court for a final decision. If he is suspended from practicing law, he must have “proof of rehabilitation” prior to his reinstatement. He also is required to pay for the disciplinary costs.”

“Shirk is a private attorney in Jacksonville, handling criminal defense and immigration law. He could not be reached for comment following a text message and call.”

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“Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP announced that Indianapolis-based Roche Diagnostics Corp. and Roche Diabetes Care, Inc. (‘Roche’) and Louisville-based Humana, Inc., Humana Pharmacy, Inc., and Humana Pharmacy Solutions, Inc. (‘Humana’) have agreed to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit brought by a whistleblower relator (‘Relator’) on behalf of the United States. Defendants will pay $12.5 million to settle the government’s claims, and the Relator will receive a 29% share of the settlement, totaling $3,625,000,” posts Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP in GlobeNewswire.

“Sanford Heisler Sharp represents the Relator who filed the case in 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.”

“The Relator, a former employee of Roche Diagnostics, alleged that the Defendants violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act, causing false claims to be submitted to the Medicare Advantage program and defrauding taxpayers. Medicare Advantage health plans (sometimes called Medicare Part C) are Government-funded health plans that are administered by private companies known as Medicare Advantage Organizations.”

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“Global consultancy firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to pay $573 to settle claims by more than 40 US states related to its role in the nation’s opioid epidemic,” report Michael Forsythe and Walt Bogdanich in The New York Times.

“Sources familiar with the matter said that McKinsey’s settlement is with 43 states, the District of Columbia and three territories. Several attorney generals said they planned to make announcements on the opioid epidemic on Thursday, coinciding with the filing of the settlement.”

“$478 million of the settlement must be paid within 60 days, according to the New York Times. In total, the settlement will exceed any profits the firm made from its opioid-related work with pharmaceutical companies.”

“The company will not admit wrongdoing as part of the deal.”

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“Amazon will pay $61.7 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission that it failed to pay Flex delivery drivers the full amount of tips received from customers,” reports Annie Palmer in CNBC’s Tech.

“The commission voted 4-0 in favor of the settlement, which was announced Tuesday. In the complaint, the FTC alleges that Amazon in 2016 shifted from paying drivers the promised rate of $18 to $25 per hour, plus tips, to paying drivers a lower hourly rate.”

“Amazon ‘intentionally failed’ to notify drivers of this change and used the tips to make up the difference between the promised rate and the new lower hourly rate, according to the FTC.”

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“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on businesses across the country, several companies have thrived during the pandemic in areas such as the gig economy, work from home and e-commerce, entertainment, and social media. Litigation has followed success in many of these instances. The following is a representative sample of strong-performing companies that have experienced increased federal litigation during the pandemic in each of the aforementioned categories,” reports Kirsten Errick in Law Street’s Insights.

“The ‘gig economy,’ according to Investopedia, “is based on flexible, temporary, or freelance jobs, often involving connecting with clients or customers through an online platform.” Examples include Uber and Uber Eats, Lyft, DoorDash, GrubHub, and Postmates. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these companies have faced COVID-19 related litigation, such as cases over driver misclassification and employment benefits. These companies have grown as people sought private rides over public transportation and food deliveries expanded as indoor dining shut down.”

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“A Texas judge has ordered a Houston-area lawyer and his client to be jointly sanctioned $150,000 for the client’s ‘outright lies’ in litigation and ‘a mountain of evasiveness’ in discovery,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s News.

“In a Jan. 21 order, Judge R. O’Neil Williams of the 268th District Court in Texas imposed the sanctions on solo practitioner Paul B. Rosen of Bellaire, Texas, and his client Gen Fu Zhang.”

“The case involved a dispute over a commercial lease for a fast-food restaurant.”

“Williams said the client made false statements about property used as collateral in the lease transaction. Rosen did not conduct a reasonable investigation of the law and the facts before filing the suit, then failed to correct false and misleading claims in later pleadings, Williams said.”

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“Southern California Edison will pay $2.2 billion to settle insurance claims for the Woolsey fire that tore through Malibu in 2018,” reports Catherine Traywick of Bloomberg in the Press Telegram’s News.

“The company also reached settlements with plaintiffs involving the 2017 Thomas and Koenigstein fires and the 2018 Montecito mudslides, it said in a statement. Edison, which did not admit wrongdoing or liability, last year reached a $360 million settlement with local government agencies that were harmed by the same fires.”

“Utility equipment has been tied to several devastating California wildfires in recent years, saddling the state’s power companies with billions of dollars in potential liabilities and forcing its largest, PG&E Corp., into bankruptcy in 2019.”

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“On August 24, 2020 in Ann Finch v. Covil Corp., 972 F.3d 507 (4th Cir. 2020), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a North Carolina federal district court’s decision, sustaining a $32.7 million verdict in favor of the plaintiff in an asbestos-related wrongful death lawsuit against insulation contractor Covil Corporation. On appeal, Covil argued that the district court erred in instructing the jury as to proximate cause and refused to reduce the damages award, however the three-judge panel found no fault with the district court’s jury instructions or its rationale for refusing to reduce the jury verdict,” write Deanielle Luisi and Tierra Jones in Husch Blackwell’s Toxic Tort Monitor.

“The $32.7 million verdict in Finch is reportedly the largest single-plaintiff verdict and the largest mesothelioma-related verdict in North Carolina history. Additionally, the verdict is four times larger than any other North Carolina mesothelioma verdict.”

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“Internet service provider (ISP) Cox Communications’ attempt to reduce a $1 billion award of damages for copyright infringement has failed, in a win for music companies including Sony, Universal, and Warner,” reports in World IP Preview’s News.

“The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, upheld the award of damages in a decision dated Tuesday, January 12.”

“In 2018, members of the music industry including Sony, Universal, and Warner accused American ISP Cox of contributory copyright infringement and vicarious copyright infringement. The plaintiffs claimed that a total of 10,017 copyrights were infringed on peer-to-peer networks.”

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“A federal judge denied Apple Inc’s bid to set aside or reduce a $502.8 million patent infringement verdict favoring VirnetX Holding Corp, and awarded interest and royalties that could boost Apple’s total payout in two lawsuits above $1.1 billion,” reports Jonathan Stempel in Reuters’ U.S. Legal News.

“In a decision issued on Friday, U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder in Tyler, Texas rejected Apple’s request for a new trial and several other claims.”

“These included that VirnetX’s award should not exceed $113.7 million, and that jurors should have been told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had deemed VirnetX’s claims ‘unpatentable.’”

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“Tyson Foods separately struck an agreement to settle with the group of chicken buyers to settle price-fixing claims, but did not disclose the amount … Tyson reportedly did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which is still subject to court approval, reports Lillianna Byington in Food Dive.

“Pilgrim’s Pride agreed to pay $75 million to chicken buyers to settle price-fixing claims, according to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The amount will be reflected in Pilgrim’s upcoming Q4 earnings.”

“This settlement comes just months after Pilgrim’s agreed to pay a $110.5 million fine as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division in the price-fixing investigation.”

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“In late 2012, we created the Manufacturing Law Blog with the goal of providing our manufacturing clients with a holistic approach to the unique issues facing manufacturers that operate globally. Starting in 2016, we made sure our first three posts of the year are dedicated to providing a yearly outlook from our different vantage points,” posts Jeffrey White in Robinson+Cole’s Manufacturing Law Blog.

This article addresses corporate compliance and litigation issues that manufacturers will face in 2021.

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“Boeing will pay more than $2.5 billion to settle a criminal charge related to the two 737 Max plane crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people,” reports David Schaper in NPR’s Business.

“The Justice Department has announced that it has reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing to resolve a charge of criminal conspiracy to defraud the FAA.”

“Boeing admits to criminal misconduct for misleading regulators about the safety of the troubled jetliner, but the airplane manufacturer is not pleading guilty to the charge. If Boeing complies with the terms of the settlement, in three years the government will drop the criminal charge. That’s important for Boeing, a huge federal defense contractor, because a criminal conviction would prohibit the company from getting future government contracts.”

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“The mass exodus of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top staff over accusations of bribery against their former boss has left the Republican seeking $43 million in public funds to replace some of them with outside lawyers to lead a high-profile antitrust lawsuit against Google,” reports Jake Bleiberg from the Associated Press in ABC News’ U.S. News.

“Former Paxton aides told The Associated Press that before they reported him to the FBI in September and began resigning, the lawsuit against the search engine giant was set to be handled internally by what is one of the largest state attorney general’s offices in the U.S.”

“The outside lawyers’ contracts put a price tag on the fallout from Paxton’s deputies accusing him of crimes in the service of a wealthy donor who employs a woman with whom the attorney general allegedly had an extramarital affair. It remains to be seen how much taxpayers will ultimately shell out under the complex deals.”

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“A suburban New York jewelry wholesaler pleaded guilty on Wednesday to fraud for running a $200 million Ponzi scheme targeting current and retired police officers and firefighters who were promised big profits from the resale of jewelry,” reports Jonathan Stempel in Reuters U.S. Legal News.

“Federal prosecutors said Gregory Altieri, 53, of Melville, New York, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and admitted to securities fraud at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn.”

“The defendant faces up to 20 years in prison at his scheduled March 31, 2021, sentencing.”

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“After nearly three years of legal wrangling, 23 foreign investors in the scandal-plagued Jay Peak projects have settled with their former immigration attorneys, Carroll & Scribner,” reports Anne Galloway and Alan J. Keays in VT Digger’s Crime and Justice.

“The immigrant investors sued Ed Carroll and Mark Scribner, claiming the two attorneys gave the developers of Jay Peak the legal tools to hoodwink them.”

“The Burlington based firm had a built-in conflict of interest: Carroll & Scribner served both as corporate attorneys for Jay Peak and as immigration attorneys for the investors.”

“In a lawsuit filed in 2018, investors alleged negligence, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.”

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“Eight acrobats severely injured when the rigging suspending them by their hair plummeted to the floor during a circus performance in Rhode Island in 2014 have reached a $52.5 million settlement with the ownership and management of the arena where the circus was held, their lawyer confirmed Monday,” posted in AP News.

“A metal clip that held the acrobats 20 feet (6 meters) above the floor of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center snapped during the May 2014 performance, causing the women to suffer broken bones and spinal injuries. A ninth worker on the ground was also hurt.”

“Some of the women still suffer from ‘life-altering’ injuries, according to Mandell, who said he could not get into specifics because of medical privacy laws.”

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