| 2015 Midyear Conference and CLE Seminar | June 3-5, Austin. TWO new CLE programs, plus Advanced Med Mal course, Board meeting, Women's Caucus Luncheon, Advocates Board meeting, PAC Eagles reception and more. Earn up to 15 hrs. MCLE credit. Click on the headline to register.
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Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| Supreme Court Rules on Whistle-Blower Case |  | In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that a whistle-blower suit accusing KBR Inc. and Halliburton Company of fraudulent billing had been filed too late. The suit was brought under the False Claims Act by Benjamin Carter, who had worked for KBR in Iraq in early 2005 as a water-purification operator. The law lets whistle-blowers sue on behalf of the federal government and collect part of any recovery.
ADAM LIPTAK, The New York Times 05/27/2015    | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Supreme Court Rules on Bankruptcy Judges | | By a 6-to-3 vote, the US Supreme Crt ruled that bankruptcy judges may hear claims they are ordinarily powerless to consider if the parties consent. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. filed a sharp dissent, saying that the majority had committed a major constitutional misstep and had allowed a stark violation of the separation of powers. 'The court today declines to resist encroachment by the Legislature,' he wrote. 'Instead it holds that a single federal judge, for reasons adequate to him, may assign away our hard-won constitutional birthright so long as two private parties agree.'
ADAM LIPTAK, The New York Times 05/27/2015 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| St. Louis Jury Awards $15M in Damages in Depakote Lawsuit | | A St. Louis jury awarded a Minnesota girl $15 million in damages for birth defects that they found were caused by the anti-epileptic drug Depakote her mother took while pregnant. The jury came back with a unanimous verdict Tuesday after beginning deliberations Friday. Jurors are now deciding whether to award punitive damages. The lawsuit argued drugmaker Abbott downplayed the dangers of the Depakote.
Samantha Liss, St. Louis Post Dispatch 05/27/2015 | | Read Article: St. Louis Post Dispatch |
| Scope Maker Olympus Expects to Settle U.S. Claims Over Marketing | | The manufacturer of endoscopes at the center of a string of deadly superbug outbreaks has set aside nearly $450 million for an expected settlement of a U.S. investigation into its marketing of medical products. Olympus Corp. of Japan did not disclose the details of what federal officials have been investigating other than saying the focus is on possible violations of laws that ban companies from paying kickbacks to doctors and other potential customers.
MELODY PETERSEN, LA Times 05/27/2015 | | Read Article: LA Times |
| Texas Priest Sexually Abused Boy, Church Covered it Up, Lawsuit Says | | A lawsuit has been filed accusing two Texas priests of sexually abusing an orphan in the 1980s. The lawsuit was filed by the victim who alleges that he was sexually abused by the priests when he was a child, and that the church leaders conspired to cover up the abuse. The lawsuit contends that the priest earned the boy's trust with clothes, food and trips to the movies. The lawsuit also accuses another priest of sexual abuse in the lawsuit. The Archdiocese of San Antonio has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
Doyle Murphy, New York Daily News 05/26/2015 | | Read Article: New York Daily News |
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