The COVID-19 pandemic has foisted ten years of technological advances on the legal sector in a period of ten months. In June of 2020, when the novel Coronavirus was truly novel, we blogged (here) about whether virtual jury trials would be part of the “new normal” and discussed some of the potential pitfalls associated with remote courtroom proceedings. What seemed revolutionary just a few short months ago, does, indeed, appear to be the…

Commercial Litigation Update

Leadership Q&A with William O. Stein: An Account of a Jury Trial During COVID-19

By Brian L. Friedman

December 23, 2020

EBG attorney William O. Stein recently obtained a complete defense verdict in one of the few jury trials to be tried during the pandemic. I recently sat down with him for a Q&A regarding his experience trying a “socially distanced” jury trial during the pandemic and how it differed from a regular jury trial. Q: What was it like trying a “socially distanced” jury trial case during the pandemic? Jury trials always have their own…

Commercial Litigation Update

Missouri Court Denies Business Interruption Claim and Questions Prior Decisions

By Brian L. Friedman

December 22, 2020

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Following up on our prior discussion of Studio 417, Inc., et al. v. The Cincinnati Ins. Comp., a different federal judge in the Western District of Missouri recently ruled in Zwillo V, Corp. v. Lexington Insurance Co. that a Kansas City restaurant could not recover for COVID-19 business interruption losses under an insurance policy and, in the process, questioned the reasoning of Studio 417, Inc. and other recent decisions. The owner of a restaurant in…

Commercial Litigation Update

Restrictions on Venue in Hatch-Waxman Litigation

By Theodora McCormick

December 21, 2020

Since the enactment of the Hatch-Waxman Act in 1984, courts have held that brand companies can sue generics wherever they plan on making sales, which is everywhere in the U.S. In practice, most suits have been filed in Delaware and New Jersey, with suits against multiple generic companies over the same drug consolidated in one proceeding. In November 2020, the Federal Circuit upended this settled practice when it issued its opinion in Valeant Pharmaceuticals v.…

Commercial Litigation Update

What Good Will the “Due Process Protections Act” Do?

By Edward J. Loya, Jr.

December 17, 2020

On October 21, 2020, President Trump signed into law the “Due Process Protections Act” (“DPPA”), P.L. No. 116-182, 134 Stat. Ann. 894, which was effective upon enactment. Receiving rare bi-partisan support in both houses of Congress, the new law seeks to bring balance to the power dynamic between the prosecution and the defense by requiring federal courts at the outset of a case to put the government on notice of its constitutional discovery obligations and…

Commercial Litigation Update

California Court of Appeals: Employees Cannot Opt Out of PAGA Settlement

By Jonathan Assia

November 24, 2020

Richard Robinson was a truck driver who tried to sue his former employer for civil penalties pursuant to the California Private Attorney’s General Act (“PAGA”). Unfortunately for him, his employer settled another PAGA action while his case was still pending, and despite opting out of the other settlement, the Court of Appeals dismissed the case because he no longer had standing to bring his own PAGA claim once the other had settled. Mr. Robinson worked…

Commercial Litigation Update

Federal Judges Parody Hamilton in Musical Lament to (Renewed) Jury Trial Delay

By Thomas Kane

November 20, 2020

To constitutional scholars, the line between Alexander Hamilton and the federal judiciary will always connect through The Federalist No. 78, wherein Hamilton anticipated the doctrine of judicial review by concluding that federal courts would have the “duty…to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the constitution void.” But surely Hamilton never anticipated that two-and-half centuries later the federal judiciary he helped create and define would parody a Broadway musical about him to discuss…

Commercial Litigation Update

States Shut Down Jury Trials as COVID-19 Cases Spike Again

By Thomas Kane

November 18, 2020

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We have previously discussed (here and here) the complex issues surrounding the resumption of jury trials during the COVID-19 pandemic. We cautioned that the various experimental efforts to resume jury trials taking place in courts around the country were likely to meet with a host of practical and jurisprudential problems. A few weeks later, it appears that our assessment was, if anything, too optimistic. Many of the states that had been taking first…

Commercial Litigation Update

Tavern’s COVID-19 Coverage Complaint Survives Preliminary Objection

By Robert M. Travisano

November 17, 2020

In what can be considered a victory for the drinking classes (see Taps & Bourbon on Terrace, LLC v. Underwriters at Lloyds London, et al.), a Philadelphia judge recently ruled that a tavern’s lawsuit for business interruption coverage for losses caused by COVID-19 will survive for another round. Taps & Bourbon on Terrace (“Taps & Bourbon”) alleged that it sustained business losses resulting from “the COVID-19 pandemic and [] state and local orders mandating…

Commercial Litigation Update

Opioids, Sober Homes, and “Telefraud”: An Overview of the DOJ 2020 Healthcare Fraud Takedown

By Melissa L. Jampol

November 16, 2020

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In September 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) announced its annual healthcare-related “takedown.” The takedown, which involved enforcement actions that actually occurred over numerous months preceding the press event (and as such, the reference to a “takedown” is a misnomer”) targeted alleged schemes that related to opioid distribution, substance abuse treatment facilities (“sober homes”), and telehealth providers,…

Commercial Litigation Update

Insights on Business Disputes, Government Investigations, Enforcement, and More

Blog Authors

New Jersey Authorizes Remote Civil Jury Trials as the COVID-19 Pandemic Continues

Leadership Q&A with William O. Stein: An Account of a Jury Trial During COVID-19

Missouri Court Denies Business Interruption Claim and Questions Prior Decisions

Restrictions on Venue in Hatch-Waxman Litigation

What Good Will the “Due Process Protections Act” Do?

California Court of Appeals: Employees Cannot Opt Out of PAGA Settlement

Federal Judges Parody Hamilton in Musical Lament to (Renewed) Jury Trial Delay

States Shut Down Jury Trials as COVID-19 Cases Spike Again

Tavern’s COVID-19 Coverage Complaint Survives Preliminary Objection

Opioids, Sober Homes, and “Telefraud”: An Overview of the DOJ 2020 Healthcare Fraud Takedown

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