Hogan Lovells has announced that , focusing on complex international disputes involving joint ventures, international investments, service agreements, construction projects, hospitality, banking and securities.

Haridi counsels corporations and financial institutions from across the globe in proceedings under the arbitration rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA/ICDR), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

“We are thrilled to welcome Samaa to our global IA group and the New York office in particular. As the demand for international arbitration continues to grow, clients expect us not only to have a deep bench, but also the best lawyers with the unique set of skills, experiences, and know-how needed in different regions of the world and different industries,” said Daniel E. González, Global Head of Hogan Lovells’ International Arbitration practice. “Samaa, as a recognized international arbitrator and advocate, is exactly the kind of partner we want and clients expect.”

Haridi serves on the Board of Directors of the Arab Bankers Association of North America (ABANA) and JDRF (formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). She is a member of the panel of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association’s International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the panel of arbitrators of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), and the panel of arbitrators of the Dubai International Arbitration Center (DIAC). Additionally, Haridi is qualified to practice in New York, California, and England & Wales, and is trilingual in English, French, and Arabic – routinely handling work in all three languages.

“I am excited to join Hogan Lovells and to reunite with my former colleagues and friends Ollie Armas, Luis Enrique Graham, Thomas Pieper and Carlos Martinez,” said Haridi. “We all pretty much started our international arbitration careers at Thacher Proffitt &Wood. We took circuitous paths but we’re back together now and I am very excited to plug into the phenomenal platform of Hogan Lovells. I am so pleased to join a firm with such a strong reputation in New York, and worldwide.”

Haridi joins from Weil, Gotshal & Manges where she was a partner in the International Arbitration practice in Weil’s New York office.

About Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells is a leading global legal practice providing business-oriented legal advice and high-quality service across its exceptional breadth of practices to clients around the world.

“Hogan Lovells” or the “firm” is an international legal practice that includes Hogan Lovells US LLP and Hogan Lovells International LLP. For more information, see www.hoganlovells.com.

James S. Brady, Office Managing Member of Dykema’s Grand Rapids office, has received the Marion Hilligan Public Service Award from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School to reflect a lifetime of community service. He was honored earlier this month during the annual Law Day luncheon hosted by the law school and the Grand Rapids Bar Association.

The Marion Hilligan Public Service Award is given in recognition of “contributions by a lawyer in public service to area governmental bodies or community organizations, reflecting greater individual responsibility in promoting public health and welfare through law.” The award is named after the law school’s first Associate Dean of its Grand Rapids campus, who made profound contributions to the school’s development.

Brady’s practice focuses on business and commercial litigation, white collar investigations, criminal law, health care fraud and environmental and energy law. He is former United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan.

Outside of his practice, Brady’s involvement in the community and his reputation as a mentor are well-known. He serves as chair of Emmanuel Hospice, as a board member and former chair of St. Ann’s Skilled Nursing Home, and as a board member of Catholic Charities West Michigan. He previously taught at Cooley Law School and has acted as the past chair of the Western Michigan University Foundation and past president of the Grand Rapids Bar Association.

Western Michigan University and Thomas M. Cooley Law School affiliated in 2014, combining the status of a nationally-ranked, public, comprehensive research university with the commitment to practical legal education of an independent, non-profit, national law school.

Brady received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School, a B.S. from Western Michigan University , and is a graduate of Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School.

About Dykema

Dykema serves business entities worldwide on a wide range of complex legal issues. Dykema lawyers and other professionals in 15 U.S. offices work in close partnership with clients – from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies – to deliver outstanding results, unparalleled service and exceptional value in every engagement. To learn more, visit www.dykema.com and follow Dykema on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Dykema.

Farrell Fritz commercial litigation partner Peter B. Zlotnick has been selected to serve as a member of the Fourth cohort of the Berrie Fellows Leadership Program (BFLP) affiliated with the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and with the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.

The highly-selective, eighteen month Program is dedicated to developing Fellows’ leadership and organizational skills to be applied to their community, religious and professional organizations.

Zlotnick, a Tenafly, NJ, resident, earned his J.D. degree from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, his Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and his B.A. degree from Colgate College.

A federal court has upheld a jury’s nearly $500-million award to medical device firm Masimo Corp. in a win in a long-running patent dispute, reports The Los Angeles Times.

In 2009, Masimo sued Philips Electronics North American Corp. and Philips Medizin Systeme Boblingen, both subsidiaries of Royal Philips, alleging they infringed patents for non-invasive technology that monitors oxygen in patients’ blood.

A federal judge in Delaware upheld the award and denied Philips’ request for a new trial.

Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP represents Masimo. In a release, the firm said the infringement case between Masimo and Philips remains ongoing, with more trials anticipated regarding other patents Masimo contends Philips has infringed.

Read the story.

MasterCard Inc. has reported that the proposed $19 million settlement with Target Corp. over  the retailer’s 2013 data breach fell through because not enough banks accepted the deal, Reuters reports.

The agreement, announced in April, would have provided up to $19 million to banks and credit unions that sued Target in federal court in Minnesota over the breach.

The banks had argued that the settlement with MasterCard, which was not a party to the lawsuit, was an attempt to undercut their claims for damages.

But a federal judge earlier this month rejected the banks’ attempt to block the deal, though he expressed concerns about its fairness. Reuters reports.

Read the story.

A Delaware judge on May 20 approved a $275 million shareholder settlement involving videogame maker Activision Blizzard Inc. and awarded the small law firms that brought the case a $72.5 million fee, Reuters reports.

The company, which develops the “Call of Duty” game, agreed to the settlement last year, which ended a shareholder lawsuit challenging Activision’s $8 billion deal to acquire its stock held by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. The lawsuit alleged that Activision’s chief executive and co-chairman benefited unfairly from the deal, and the settlement barred them from gaining control of Activision, Reuters reports.

Four-attorney firm of Friedlander & Gorris of Wilmington, Delaware and six-lawyer firm Bragar Eagel & Squire of New York led the plaintiffs’ case.

The fee award for the small law firms works out to $9,500 an hour, according to court records.

Read the report.

A judge has approved a $200 million settlement for victims of a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012, reports Michigan Radio.

A Massachusetts pharmacy called the New England Compounding Center was accused of making massive amounts of back pain shots in a dirty lab, according to the report.

The drugs were then shipped all over the country, allegedly sickening almost 1,000 people and killing 64.

Southfield, Mich., attorney Marc Lipton worked on the settlement.

Read the report.

Transocean Ltd. has agreed to a nearly $212 million settlement with Gulf Coast individuals and business owners over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, plaintiff’s lawyers said May 20, according to a report in TheTimes-Picayune.

Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which sank after the April 20, 2010 blowout at BP’s Macondo well. The disaster killed 11 workers and set off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The newspaper quoted co-lead plaintiffs’ attorneys Stephen J. Herman and James P. Roy as saying, “We applaud Transocean for adding to the settlement funds established in the Halliburton settlement to help compensate people and businesses for their losses.”

Read the report.

Two Farrell Fritz lawyers have received appointments to the New York State Bar Association Commercial & Federal Litigation Section.

Effective June 1, 2015, James M. Wicks will begin his one-year term as chair of the NYSBA’s Commercial & Federal Litigation Section. Concurrently, Jeremy M. Corapi will become the section’s secretary.

Wicks, an East Setauket, NY, resident, is a commercial litigation partner. He also serves as co-chair of the Ethics & Professionalism Committee of the NYSBA’s Section on Commercial & Federal Litigation. He is a contributor to the firm’s New York Commercial Division Case Compendium blog. He earned his J.D. degree from St. John’s University School of Law and his B.A. degree from Wheeling College.

Corapi, a New York, NY, resident, is a commercial litigation associate. He earned his J.D. degree from Fordham University School of Law and his B.S. degree from New York University.

The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP today announced that 44 attorneys from the firm’s offices have been ranked in the 2015 edition of the esteemed Chambers USA directory.

“We are honored to have our attorneys recognized for their excellence in Chambers,” said Kimberly Leach Johnson, firm chair of Quarles & Brady. “The rankings provide an affirmation of the firm’s sustained efforts toward excellence.”

Quarles & Brady attorneys were ranked as follows:

• Jean C. Baker – Intellectual Property
• David Beyer – Franchising
• Daniel E. Conley – Litigation: General Commercial
• John F Dienelt – Franchising
• Joseph A. Drazek – Environment (including water rights)
• Robert H. Duffy – Labor & Employment
• Steven P. Emerick – Corporate/M&A
• Mary N. Fertl – Real Estate
• Michael J. Fischer – Labor & Employment
• Diane Haller – Real Estate
• Patricia M. Hutter – Corporate/M&A
• Michael A. Jaskolski – Intellectual Property
• David B. Kern – Labor & Employment
• Janine Landow-Esser – Environment: Mainly Transactional
• Paul Langer – Insurance: Dispute Resolution
• Scott L. Langlois – Real Estate
• Ely A. Leichtling – Labor & Employment
• Don P. Martin – Litigation: General Commercial
• Adrianne Mazura – Labor & Employment
• Thomas P. McElligott – Natural Resources & Environment
• Robert Messerly – Real Estate
• Brian K. Moll – Corporate/M&A
• Roger Morris – Healthcare
• David P. Olson – Labor & Employment: Employee Benefits & Compensation
• Michael J. Ostermeyer – Real Estate
• Nancy K. Peterson – Natural Resources & Environment
• Jon E. Pettibone – Labor & Employment
• Jeffrey Piell – Labor & Employment
• Pamela M. Ploor – Labor & Employment
• Joseph E. Puchner – Real Estate
• Stephanie J. Quincy – Labor & Employment
• Robert D. Rothacker – Labor & Employment: Employee Benefits & Compensation
• John A. Rothstein – Litigation: General Commercial
• James A. Ryan – Litigation: General Commercial
• Donald Schott – Litigation: General Commercial
• Sean M. Scullen – Labor & Employment
• Walter J. Skipper – Corporate/M&A
• Derek L. Sorenson – Real Estate
• Grant S. Sovern – Labor & Employment: Immigration
• Peter Tomasi – Natural Resources & Environment
• Christopher Townsend – Energy & Natural Resources: Regulatory
• Arthur A. Vogel, Jr. – Natural Resources & Environment
• Ted Yi – Real Estate
• Michael D. Zeka – Real Estate

About Chambers USA

Chambers USA ranks attorneys and law firms based on reputation. Researchers spend six months speaking with clients and lawyers across the United States and conduct thousands of in-depth telephone interviews. Law firms and individual attorneys are then ranked based on the interviews. Ranking criteria includes technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial awareness and astuteness, diligence, commitment and other qualities most valued by clients. Inclusion in the guide is based solely on the research team’s findings. No one can buy their way in.

About Quarles & Brady LLP

Quarles & Brady is a full-service law firm with more than 475 attorneys offering an array of legal services to corporate and individual clients that range from small entrepreneurial businesses to Fortune 100 companies, with practice focuses in health care and life sciences, business law, data privacy and security, and complex litigation. The firm has offices in Chicago; Indianapolis; Madison; Milwaukee; Naples, Florida; Phoenix; Scottsdale; Tampa; Tucson; and Washington, D.C. Additional information can be found online at quarles.com, as well as on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced that Gina Torielli has received the Barbara R. Smith Award from Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit for her role as a member of the Grand Bargain Mediation Team for the City of Detroit Bankruptcy. She and other team members were honored during the Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit’s Awards Luncheon on May 18, 2015 at the Detroit Athletic Club.

The Barbara R. Smith Award is given in recognition of those individuals who have made a significant community contribution to the Southeast Michigan region. The annual luncheon recognizes the volunteers, employers, trainees, leaders and businesses that are dedicated to putting Metro Detroit residents back to work.

Torielli is a Senior Counsel in Dykema’s Ann Arbor office. Her practice focuses on taxation and public finance, and in that capacity she has advised many nonprofit organizations and governmental entities on issues relating to tax exemption, tax-exempt financing and state and federal tax issues.

Beyond her practice, Torielli is very active with community organizations. Earlier this year, she was also awarded the United Way of Washtenaw County’s Volunteer of the Year award for her role serving as the organization’s volunteer site coordinator and trainer for its IRS-sanctioned Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. She is also a board member of the Solar Circle, a non-profit organization which promotes solar power in Tanzania.

Goodwill works to enhance the dignity and quality of life of individuals and families by strengthening communities, eliminating barriers to opportunity, and helping people in need reach their full potential through learning and the power of work.

About Dykema

Dykema serves business entities worldwide on a wide range of complex legal issues. Dykema lawyers and other professionals in 15 U.S. offices work in close partnership with clients – from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies – to deliver outstanding results, unparalleled service and exceptional value in every engagement. To learn more, visit www.dykema.com and follow Dykema on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Dykema.

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DLA Piper announces that Earl Adams, Jr., of counsel in the firm’s Baltimore and Washington, DC offices, has been named a member of Bowie State University Board of Visitors.

The Bowie State University Board of Visitors serves as an advisory group that assists with the advancement of the university’s mission and vision. They work directly with the university president and provide feedback on the university’s initiatives and strategic direction.

In his law practice, Adams represents national clients before all branches of federal, state and local government, including various administrative agencies, and in development transactions involving public-private partnerships. Adams is active in a range of civic organizations, serving on the boards of the Seed School of Maryland and the Parks Foundation of Prince George’s County. He was also appointed by the Governor Maryland to be a director on the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. His other activities include serving on the 2008 Obama-Biden Transition Team for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Boston College Law School National Alumni Assembly.

About DLA Piper

DLA Piper is a global law firm located in more than 30 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, positioning it to help companies with their legal needs around the world. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising.

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Bankruptcy attorney Melissa Youngman has joined Wilson Elser’s Orlando office as a partner.

Formerly a partner with regional law firm McCalla Raymer, Youngman’s practice is focused on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, representing a broad spectrum of clients including mortgage lenders, banks and financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, insurance companies, real estate entities, equipment lessors, commercial landlords, purchasers of distressed assets, investment trusts, bankruptcy trustees, and other entities, the firm said in a news release.

“Melissa’s practice bolsters the firm’s national and Florida-based Bankruptcy practices,” said Sean McDonough, regional managing partner of Wilson Elser’s Orlando office. “While the national practice has always served clients in jurisdictions throughout the country, Melissa’s experience and skill set in Orlando and the recent addition of bankruptcy partner Dan Gold in Miami further broaden the practice’s geographic footprint and provide our clients with ready access to accomplished, local attorneys.”

Certified in business bankruptcy by the American Board of Certification, Youngman serves as co-chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop Advisory Board and is a former board member of the Central Florida Bankruptcy Law Association and the New York Chapter of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation. Additionally, she has been named for inclusion in the Orlando Super Lawyers Rising Stars list.

About Wilson Elser

Wilson Elser, a full-service and leading defense litigation law firm (www.wilsonelser.com), serves its clients with nearly 800 attorneys in 27 offices in the United States and one in London and through a network of affiliates in key regions globally. Founded in 1978, it ranks among the top 200 law firms identified by The American Lawyer and is included in the top 50 of The National Law Journal’s survey of the nation’s largest law firms. Wilson Elser serves a growing, loyal base of clients with innovative thinking and an in-depth understanding of their respective businesses.

Hogan Lovells has announced that Kelly Tubman Hardy has joined its Corporate Practice in the firm’s Baltimore office focusing on corporate and securities law, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, corporate governance, securities compliance and general business law.

Hardy advises clients on cross-border transactions, including M&A and joint ventures, in established and emerging markets throughout the world.

“Kelly’s track record of success advising global clients and leading cross-border transactions makes her ideally suited to join the Hogan Lovells Corporate team. And her experience in Mexico – both practicing law and teaching at Mexican law schools – and advising Latin American clients will immediately complement Hogan Lovells’ practice in Mexico,” said David Gibbons, Global Head of Hogan Lovells’ corporate practice.

In addition to awards for her legal prowess, including recognitions by Chambers USA, Baltimore SmartCEO and Legal 500 Latin America, Hardy has been recognized by a number of regional organizations for her activities as a Baltimore community leader. The Daily Record named her one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women and the Baltimore Mayor’s Hispanic Affairs Liaison recognized her work at Education-Based Latino Outreach in Baltimore City.

“Kelly has strong roots in the Baltimore community and an international client base” said Baltimore Office Managing Partner Steve Barley. “We are thrilled she is joining Hogan Lovells. She is a talented lawyer who will offer immediate value to our clients.”

Hardy is a member of the Board of Directors of the Baltimore World Trade Center, the Board of Directors of Appleseed Mexico in Mexico City, and the Board of Trustees of the SEED School of Maryland. She received a J.D. with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law; an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland; and a B.A. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

Hardy joins from DLA Piper where she was Regional Office Head for Corporate and Securities.

About Hogan Lovells’ Corporate Practice

With 350 partners and more than 1,000 lawyers worldwide operating in 22 jurisdictions throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States, Hogan Lovells provides exceptional, high-quality trans-Atlantic transactional strength and strong local capability throughout our broad global network. We are ideally placed to advise on complex deals in highly regulated sectors, working at the intersection between government and business. We regularly advise on the most significant, complex, and sophisticated global M&A transactions, ranking in the top 10 worldwide for M&A deals in Q1 2015 (Bloomberg).

About Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells is a leading global legal practice providing business-oriented legal advice and high-quality service across its exceptional breadth of practices to clients around the world.

“Hogan Lovells” or the “firm” is an international legal practice that includes Hogan Lovells US LLP and Hogan Lovells International LLP. For more information, see www.hoganlovells.com.

An Ashland, Ky., hospital has agreed to pay $40.9 million to the federal government to settle claims that it made millions of dollars by falsely billing Medicaid and Medicare for unnecessary heart procedures, reports The Courier-Journal of Louisville.

The government’s lawsuit claimed King’s Daughters Medical Center “knew, deliberately ignored or recklessly disregarded the fact” that its cardiologists were inserting stents and performing catheritzations on patients who didn’t need them.

According to the paper’s report, “Hans Poppe, who represents the patients in the private suits against King’s Daughters — as well as most of about 400 who have sued the London hospital — said the settlement may be the largest ever in the U.S. involving unnecessary heart procedures. He said it bolsters the credibility of the claims made by his clients against King’s Daughters.”

Read the story.

The International Association for Contract and Commercial Management, in collaboration with Sage Ltd., has launched a new journal called the Journal of Strategic Contracting and Negotiation. The first edition of the publication is available free of charge.

It also addresses the impact of contracting and negotiation on trust and ethics in business. As a cross-disciplinary endeavor drawing on the social sciences, JSCAN aims to lead the wave of change concerning theory, research and the practice of strategic contracting and negotiation.

“The launch of the Journal of Strategic Contracting & Negotiation is a momentous event for anyone who cares about the field of contracting,” writes CEO Tim Cummins in the IACCM blog. “For the first time, there is a dedicated academic journal that will promote and consolidate research in this area.”

Multidisciplinary in nature, JSCAN welcomes submissions in the fields of anthropology, economics, finance, international business, law, marketing, operations, organizational behavior, organization studies, political science, project management, psychology, strategic management and sociology. Get more information about submitting articles.

Download the first edition.

Providence, R.I. law firm Mandell Schwartz & Boisclair won a $25.6 million verdict for a plaintiff who sued Rhode Island Hospital in the largest negligence verdict ever in the state.

The state’s largest hospital admitted that seven doctors and two nurses were negligent in caring for a patient who sought treatment in for a head injury in 2009. After his stay in the hospital, he left with permanent, debilitating injuries.

“The hospital conceded before trial that its staff misdiagnosed Carl Beauchamp, failed to check on him and do required exams, failed to communicate with other staff about his condition and missed signs that his condition was worsening during a span of less than 48 hours,” according to a report in The Providence Journal.

Read the story.

eTERA Consulting, an internationally recognized and award-winning leader in data and technology management, today celebrates the one year anniversary of the All1ance One Partner Program. Developed to expand the depth of eTERA’s client base, the All1ance One Partner Program has successfully accelerated the onboarding of several new clients that have experienced the benefits of eTERA’s full range of eDiscovery services throughout the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (“EDRM”), the company said in a release.

At the helm of the All1ance One Partner Program is Mary McGinness who brings nearly a decade of client relations experience to the table. “We are thrilled to celebrate the Program’s one year anniversary and look forward to expanding the Program and allowing our partners to benefit from every bit of success they help us generate,” said McGinness. “An ideal All1ance One Partner is one who has deep roots in the legal space and is interested in leveraging their contacts in order to generate additional revenue streams for their business. We look forward to several more years of success with the Program.”

Under McGinness’s leadership, the All1ance One Partner Program has attracted dozens of Partners that has led to significant revenue for eTERA and substantial referral fees. Program benefits include:

• Generous referral bonuses
• No fees or annual commitments
• Partnering with a company with financial stability, national recognition and a global footprint
• Ability to provide eDiscovery services to clients
• Dedicated Partner manager
• Ongoing training and education

“The All1ance One Partner Program is critical to our growth strategy as the demand for eDiscovery and data management services accelerate,” said Scott Holec, President of eTERA Consulting. “Together with our dedicated and well-connected Partners, we can look forward to long-standing, mutually-beneficial relationships to meet increasing market demands.”

For more information about the All1ance One Partner Program, please contact Mary McGinness at all1anceone@eteraconsulting.com.

About eTERA Consulting

eTERA Consulting, Built by the clients, for the clients™ is an award-winning leader in data and technology management providing innovative solutions to help clients overcome the high costs of managing large volumes of data, electronic discovery and content searching. As an international consultancy, eTERA offers five key services across the Electronic Discovery Reference Model including Early Information Assessment®, Forens1cs One℠, 1ntelligent One™, Rev1ew One™ and Opt1mum One.® These services help clients to proactively identify and analyze data early in the process allowing for significant data reduction, enhanced decision-making abilities, significant savings on eDiscovery costs and defensibility. eTERA Consulting provides clients with the necessary swat-team of experts needed to effectively manage litigation, government investigations and regulatory matters. eTERA Consulting utilizes software tools verified by the Gartner Group and is SSAE-16 certified to ensure the protection of client data. Headquartered in Washington, DC, and with offices in Chicago, Brussels, London and Paris, eTERA Consulting has served the legal industry since 2004. eTERA Consulting was selected by the Legal Times in 2014 as the Best End-to-End Litigation Consulting Firm and in 2013 as the Best Data and Technology Management eDiscovery Provider. eTERA Consulting has also been recognized by the National Law Journal for four consecutive years as the nation’s top End-to-End eDiscovery Company.

DaVita HealthCare Partners has announced that it will pay up to $495 million to settle a whistle-blower lawsuit accusing the Denver company of defrauding the federal Medicare program of millions of dollars, reports The Denver Post.

According to the report, the company, which said it does not admit any wrongdoing, has now settled its third whistle-blower lawsuit since 2012, with payouts totaling nearly $1 billion.

The civil suit includes a claim by Dr. Alon J. Vainer and nurse Daniel D. Barbir, who both worked for DaVita. They said they noticed that DaVita was throwing out good medicine that it then billed Medicare and Medicaid for, according to the lawsuit.

L. Lin Wood of Atlanta represents the plaintiffs.

Read the story.

Muhammad Naji of Tampa, FL, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit laundering of money that was obtained by fraudulent means, announced U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III.

Naji could face up to 20 years in federal prison, reports the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

“One of the schemes involved sending ‘phishing’ emails to law firms in the U.S. asking for legal representation for a phony contract dispute. Conspirators would mail a forged certified check to the law firm for payment, and a ‘client’ would contact the firm and ask them to wire the funds to an account,” the paper reports.

Read the story.