The SEC has settled insider-trading charges against Weizheng Zeng in an administrative proceeding arising from the acquisition of Chimerix, Inc. by Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc. In SEC v. Weizheng Zeng (File No. 3-22627), the agency alleged that Zeng traded Chimerix stock while participating in due diligence work connected to Jazz’s acquisition of the company, before the deal was publicly announced on March 5, 2025.

According to the SEC, those trades generated roughly $69,011 in illicit profits.

Even on a day when Supreme Court and regulatory developments drew most of the legal-news attention, federal fraud enforcement continued to move forward in a way that should not be overlooked by practitioners. A recent guilty plea in a major Ponzi-scheme prosecution brought by federal prosecutors in Georgia is a reminder that the Department of Justice remains active in pursuing large-scale investor-fraud cases, particularly those involving prolonged alleged deception, significant financial losses, and broad victim pools.

The matter centers on Todd Burkhalter and proceedings in federal district court in Georgia, where prosecutors have advanced charges tied to an alleged Ponzi scheme.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, has filed a civil antitrust suit against New York-Presbyterian, alleging the hospital system used contractual restrictions that limited access to lower-cost healthcare options. The case, United States Of America v. New York Presbyterian Hospital, is an important marker of where federal healthcare enforcement appears to be headed: closer scrutiny of contract terms that may steer patients away from cheaper alternatives and preserve market power for dominant providers.

According to the government, the challenged restrictions allegedly prevented health plans from offering or promoting more affordable options that would exclude or limit New York-Presbyterian’s participation.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has filed a new inter partes review petition at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, opening IPR2026-00337 on April 15, 2026. The proceeding places another potentially significant patent dispute on the PTAB’s docket and gives patent practitioners an early look at what may become an important validity fight involving Samsung as petitioner.

At this stage, the publicly available case caption identifies Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. as the petitioner, but practitioners should watch the docket closely for the patent owner’s formal identification, the challenged patent number, and the specific claims at issue as those details become more fully reflected in the record.

In IPR2025-01188, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board terminated the proceeding after the parties settled following institution. The decision applies the familiar framework of 35 U.S.C. § 317 and 37 C.F.R. § 42.74, which govern settlement and termination of inter partes review, but it is still a useful reminder of how the Board handles cases once trial is already underway.

The core ruling is straightforward: when the parties jointly request termination after institution and the Board has not yet decided the merits, the PTAB generally will terminate the review as to those parties.

One of the most closely watched healthcare merger disputes is still the Justice Department’s challenge to UnitedHealth Group’s proposed acquisition of Amedisys — and, just as importantly, the government’s willingness to resolve that challenge through a divestiture package rather than insisting on an all-or-nothing court fight.

The proposed settlement, reached with the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of state attorneys general from Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, would require substantial asset sales to address competitive concerns tied to home health and hospice markets.

A federal judge in California has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the proposed $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar Media Group and TEGNA, handing enforcers and private challengers a significant early win in one of the most closely watched media antitrust fights in recent years.

The court found that the plaintiffs — including multiple state attorneys general and DirecTV — were likely to succeed on claims that the transaction would lessen competition, giving the combined company greater leverage over distributors and potentially leading to higher prices or worse terms that could ultimately affect consumers.

The Department of Justice’s U.S. Trustee Program said on April 17, 2026, that it obtained a judgment requiring a national consumer bankruptcy law firm to return $196,527 in fees to clients after finding deficient legal services and violations of the Bankruptcy Code. For bankruptcy practitioners and firms operating at scale, the judgment is a pointed reminder that fee collection, client service, and compliance obligations remain subject to close court and regulator scrutiny.

Although the announcement did not identify the firm in the summary provided, the outcome itself is notable.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s April 13, 2026 scheduling order in IPR2026-00094 is procedural rather than merits-driven, but it still deserves attention from PTAB practitioners. Scheduling orders set the roadmap for an inter partes review, and in practice they can shape strategy just as much as a substantive ruling by fixing the timing for briefing, discovery, expert work, and the oral hearing.

At a high level, the Board’s order establishes the case schedule that will govern the parties through trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court on April 17, 2026 handed Chevron a significant procedural victory in long-running Louisiana coastal-damage litigation, unanimously ruling that the company may pursue removal to federal court in a major suit brought by Plaquemines Parish. The decision does not resolve the merits of the parish’s land-loss and environmental damage claims, but it strengthens a key defense strategy in a wave of cases targeting oil and gas operators for decades of coastal erosion and wetlands degradation.

The case, Chevron USA Incorporated, et al., Petitioners v. Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, et al., has been closely watched because Louisiana’s coastal suits have produced enormous exposure risk.

The U.S. Supreme Court on April 17 issued a closely watched First Amendment ruling in Kaley Chiles, Petitioner v. Patty Salazar, in Her Official Capacity as Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, et al., holding that Colorado’s law restricting licensed counselors from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity must be evaluated under strict scrutiny.

Illinois lawmakers are drawing national attention with proposed House and Senate bills that would tighten restrictions on how law firms interact with alternative business structure and management-service organization models. While the measures have not been enacted, they stand out because they go directly to some of the most contested questions in the legal industry: who can own, manage, and profit from legal services.

At a high level, the proposals would reinforce longstanding limits on nonlawyer involvement in the practice of law, including concerns about fee-sharing, ownership, and operational control.

The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, joined by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, has filed a civil antitrust case against The New York and Presbyterian Hospital, alleging the hospital used contractual restrictions that limited insurers’ ability to steer patients to lower-cost providers.

The case, United States Of America v. New York Presbyterian Hospital, is one to watch for healthcare providers, payors, and counsel advising on managed care contracting.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board terminated IPR2025-01302 after the parties settled following institution of trial, illustrating the Board’s usual approach when a dispute becomes moot before a final written decision. The order is a reminder that, even after institution, settlement can still bring an IPR to a close—though timing and procedural posture matter.

Under 35 U.S.C. § 317 and the PTAB’s trial rules, an instituted inter partes review may be terminated upon joint request of the petitioner and patent owner, unless the Office has already decided the merits.

The U.S. Supreme Court moved a major Trump-related dispute onto its docket, signaling that the justices are prepared to weigh in on one of the most legally and politically charged issues of the term: the challenge to President Donald Trump’s birthright-citizenship executive order and, just as importantly, the scope of nationwide injunctions entered against federal policy.

The case, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, et al., Applicants v. CASA, Inc., et al., arises from litigation brought by CASA and states opposing the order.