Articles Tagged: Legal News

 

Veloxis to Pay $46 Million in Envarsus XR Kickback Resolution

Veloxis Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay more than $46 million to resolve criminal and civil allegations that it used kickbacks to drive prescriptions and purchases of Envarsus XR, its kidney-transplant drug. According to the Department of Justice, the resolution includes a deferred prosecution agreement tied to a criminal information filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, underscoring the government’s continued focus on pharmaceutical marketing practices that allegedly influence prescribing decisions.

The matter is significant because it combines both criminal and civil exposure in a single healthcare-fraud resolution.

Continue Reading

Judge’s Rebuke of Trump IRS Deal Keeps Rippling Through Federal Practice

The legal fallout is still building from a federal judge’s decision to throw out a settlement in President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, concluding the agreement had “no basis in law.” The ruling did more than unwind a headline-grabbing deal: it opened the door to sanctions, ethics referrals, and renewed scrutiny of how government lawyers and private counsel structure settlements in politically sensitive litigation.

In the Southern District of Florida, Judge Kathleen Williams reportedly found that the settlement could not stand because it exceeded lawful authority and appeared to use the judicial process in a way the court would not endorse.

Continue Reading

California Loses Bid to Halt Federal Order Keeping Santa Ynez Pipeline Running

A federal judge in California has sided with the federal government in a closely watched fight over the Santa Ynez pipeline system, rejecting the state’s attempt to block an order requiring Sable Offshore to keep the system operating under the Defense Production Act. The decision gives the Trump administration an early win in a dispute that sits at the intersection of emergency federal power, energy infrastructure, and state environmental oversight.

At the center of the controversy is whether California regulators can effectively countermand a federal directive issued in the name of energy security.

Continue Reading

SEC Targets Former Tricolor Executives in $1.9 Billion Collapse Case

The SEC’s new fraud case against former executives of subprime auto lender Tricolor stands out as one of the week’s most consequential enforcement developments, even though it was announced on August 18.

Continue Reading

DOJ Doubles Down on Criminal Enforcement With Antitrust Convictions and Medicaid Fraud RICO Charges

Two recent federal criminal actions show the Justice Department continuing to press aggressively in both competition and health care enforcement. In Oklahoma City, a federal jury convicted Sioux Erosion Control Inc., along with one executive and one employee, for participating in a roughly $100 million bid-rigging and price-fixing conspiracy tied to public transportation contracts. In a separate matter, prosecutors unsealed a racketeering indictment accusing four alleged members of the “War Room” of orchestrating a $12 million Medicaid fraud scheme.

Taken together, the matters are a reminder that DOJ is treating criminal antitrust and health care fraud as parallel priority areas, with consequences that extend well beyond the charged defendants.

Continue Reading

D.C. Circuit Freezes Trump White House Ballroom Plan in Separation-of-Powers Fight

A federal appeals court has blocked above-ground construction of President Donald Trump’s proposed $400 million White House ballroom, preserving a preliminary injunction that prevents the project from moving forward while the administration seeks further review. The decision puts a high-profile spotlight on a basic constitutional question: whether the executive branch can unilaterally authorize a major structural change to the White House complex, or whether Congress must expressly approve it.

The dispute, brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has quickly become more than a fight over one building project.

Continue Reading

Second Circuit Reopens Investor Claims in Signature Bank Collapse

The Second Circuit has revived investor claims arising from the 2023 collapse of Signature Bank, handing shareholders an important win in a closely watched dispute over who gets to control fraud-based claims after a bank fails.

At the center of the appeal was the FDIC’s argument that, once it became receiver for Signature Bank, it alone had the authority to pursue the securities-related claims at issue.

Continue Reading

Supreme Court Lets $5 Million Carroll Verdict Against Trump Stand

The Supreme Court has declined to review Donald Trump’s effort to undo the civil verdict in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll, leaving intact the $5 million judgment entered after a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The denial leaves the Second Circuit’s decision in place and effectively ends this round of appellate review in one of the most closely watched personal-liability cases involving a president.

The petition came in Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, Petitioner v. E. Jean Carroll, following appellate proceedings that preserved the trial result.

Continue Reading

Georgia Forced-Labor Indictment Highlights Expanding Human-Trafficking and Immigration Enforcement Risk

The Department of Justice has announced a significant federal indictment in the Northern District of Georgia charging Zhu Chen, Jiayi Chen, and Jianjun Lu with forced labor, conspiracy to commit forced labor, and alien harboring. The case, brought as United States v. Zhu Chen, Jiayi Chen, and Jianjun Lu, underscores how federal prosecutors are continuing to pair labor-exploitation allegations with immigration-related charges in high-stakes criminal enforcement actions.

According to DOJ, the indictment alleges a combination of coercive labor practices and unlawful harboring of noncitizens.

Continue Reading

FTC Backs Ohio Bid to Loosen ABA Grip on Law School Accreditation

The Federal Trade Commission has weighed in behind a proposal before the Ohio Supreme Court that would reduce the American Bar Association’s central role in determining which law schools qualify graduates for bar admission. While the change is specific to Ohio’s attorney-licensing framework, the implications are much broader: it touches the long-running debate over whether a single private organization should wield outsized influence over entry into the legal profession.

For decades, ABA accreditation has functioned as the default gatekeeper for many state bar systems.

Continue Reading

DOJ Challenges State Tuition Benefits for Undocumented Students in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a new front in federal-state immigration litigation, filing suits against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont over laws that allow certain undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition rates and, in some cases, state financial aid. The federal government’s core argument is that these state policies conflict with federal restrictions on postsecondary education benefits tied to immigration status.

At the center of the dispute is the interaction between federal immigration law and state authority over public higher education.

Continue Reading

Nevada Indictment Targets Alleged $95 Million Medicare Wound-Graft Fraud

The Department of Justice has announced a major healthcare-fraud prosecution in Nevada, where a federal grand jury indicted physician Stephen Dubin, M.D., in connection with an alleged $95 million Medicare fraud scheme involving amniotic wound allografts. According to the government, the case centers on claims that medically unnecessary grafts were billed for elderly patients, making it one of the more significant recent criminal matters tied to Medicare reimbursement and wound-care products.

The allegations are notable both for their scale and for the product category involved.

Continue Reading

Boston Judge Reaffirms Block on Trump Mail-Voting Order Ahead of 2026 Midterms

A federal judge in Boston has again ruled against President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail voting, handing the administration another setback as it pushes for Supreme Court intervention before the November 3, 2026 midterm elections. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s decision keeps in place a barrier to federal efforts that challengers say would reshape election administration by creating a federal voter list and drawing the U.S. Postal Service into election-related functions traditionally handled by states.

The ruling comes in consolidated litigation brought by voting-rights groups and Democratic state attorneys general, including League of Women Voters of Massachusetts et al v. Trump et al and State of California et al v. Trump et al in the District of Massachusetts.

Continue Reading

Judge Rejects Trump-IRS Deal, Flags Ethics Questions in Florida Federal Court

A federal judge in Miami has thrown out a proposed settlement in President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, finding the case was pursued for an improper purpose and concluding that the deal itself could not stand. In a sharp rebuke, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams also referred Trump attorney Alejandro Brito and senior Justice Department officials to bar authorities for possible professional-conduct violations.

The rejected agreement reportedly would have provided unusually broad protections for Trump and established a compensation fund approaching $1.8 billion.

Continue Reading

DOJ’s $3.2 Million Settlement With OpenAI and Statsig Signals Heightened Hiring-Discrimination Scrutiny

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has announced a $3.2 million settlement with OpenAI OpCo LLC and Statsig Inc. over allegations that the companies discriminated against U.S. workers. The resolution is notable not only because it involves a major AI company, but also because it underscores the government’s continued focus on employment practices at the intersection of immigration law, recruiting, and workforce compliance.

While the public attention around AI companies often centers on data use, intellectual property, and product liability, this matter is a reminder that hiring practices remain a significant enforcement risk.

Continue Reading
Previous Posts