General Counsel Keep Billable Hour Hanging On

As much ink as has been spilled about alternative fee arrangements, the notion that general counsel really want to see the billable hour become extinct remains in doubt, complicating things for firms trying to figure out how to please this all-important constituency.

TD Bank Ordered To Hand Over Rothstein Records

A federal judge has ordered TD Bank NA to turn over all account records for South Florida law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler PA, whose equity partner Scott W. Rothstein is accused of misappropriating millions of dollars in investor funds.

Antitrust Concerns Revived As CVS Reveals FTC Probe

The Federal Trade Commission has launched a probe of CVS Caremark Corp., raising questions about the focus of the investigation given recent complaints from lawmakers, unions and community drugstores that the 2007 merger of the drugstore giant with a pharmacy benefits manager has curbed competition.

9th Circ. To Hear Catholic League Case En Banc

A federal appeals court has agreed to hear en banc a case the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights brought over a nonbinding San Francisco resolution condemning a church leader who opposed adoption by same-sex couples.

Boston Scientific To Pay $296M To Settle Probe

Boston Scientific Corp. subsidiary Guidant Corp. will plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges and pay $296 million to end a U.S. Department of Justice probe into cardiac defibrillator product advisories it issued.

FCC Clears Way For $944M AT&T, Centennial Deal

AT&T Inc. has completed its $944 million acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp. following conditional approval of the deal by the Federal Communications Commission, which demanded certain divestitures over competition concerns.

$1.7B Centocor Patent Award Against Abbott Stands

A federal judge has upheld a jury verdict awarding Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc. and New York University a record $1.67 billion for their claims that Abbott Laboratories' flagship arthritis drug Humira infringed their patent.

Tobacco Cos. Lose Bid To Block Labeling Law

A federal judge on Thursday denied several major tobacco companies' request to freeze implementation of a newly enacted measure that would ban the sale of any “modified risk tobacco product” — including cigarettes labeled “light” or “low-tar” — without prior U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.