Introduction

If you have ever telephoned a customer support hotline to be greeted with an explanation that “this call may be monitored for quality assurance,” you are familiar with the implications of various state laws governing the recording of telephone conversations. Most states have cold-war era wiretapping laws, with some states providing for two-party consent, meaning the recording party must announce to the other party it plans to record the call. Thus, the industry standard practice is to announce the call shall be recorded to avoid civil liability from such wiretapping statutes that provide private rights of action.

On May 4, 2023, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act 7 (SEA 7), which further restricts physician noncompete agreements between employers and physician employees and becomes effective July 1, 2023.

As discussed in further detail below, SEA 7 (i) makes primary care physician noncompete agreements unenforceable; (ii) makes existing noncompete…

Comvest Partners has announced it has acquired Your Behavioral Health (YBH).

YBH, based in Torrance, Calif., is a provider of mental health and addiction treatment services for adults and teens. The company operates 17 facilities throughout Southern California, providing clinical inpatient, outpatient, interventional psychiatry and residential care across its family of brands.

Comvest,…

In early 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Commerce launched the Disruptive Technology Strike Force to target illicit actors, strengthen supply chains and protect critical technology assets from theft by nation-state adversaries.

Read on to learn about recent federal prosecutions initiated by the Strike Force, targeting theft of trade secrets and…

On June 23, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, No. 22-105, 2023 WL 4138983 (U.S. June 23, 2023), that will provide further protection for parties seeking arbitration. The issue presented to the Court was whether a district court must stay its proceedings while an interlocutory appeal on the question of arbitrability is ongoing. The Court held that a district court must stay its proceedings pending such an appeal.

Warburg Pincus has invested in ParetoHealth, according to a news release.

ParetoHealth, based in Philadelphia, is a health benefits captive. Founded in 2011, the company provides employer healthcare benefits solutions designed to enable small and midsized businesses to self-fund their health benefits.

Warburg Pincus, based in New York, is a global private…

A Kansas federal court recently ruled against the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in litigation arising out of a discovery dispute brought by the relator and defendant in a separate, pending FCA action.  See Schroeder v. United States Department of Veterans Affairs, No. 22-2209-DCC-KGG, 2023 WL 3478052 (D. Kan.). This relatively unique case is based on Plaintiff Thomas Schroeder filing suit against the VA, a non-party to his qui tam action alleging violations of the FCA, after the department declined to produce certain documentation within its sole possession during the FCA case’s discovery phase. Subsequently, Medtronic, Inc., defendant in the qui tam action filed by Schroeder, filed an intervenor complaint in Schroeder’s lawsuit after the VA similarly declined its discovery request too. Not only does this case serve as a unique example of opposing FCA litigants joining together as temporary allies in a separate discovery dispute, this case further suggests that while courts give agencies broad discretion, courts will – absent a rational justification – side with the parties bringing suit, even if orders to compel discovery onto an agency may be rare.