Medical Practices Bring Clout to Legal Battles Over Virus Orders

Here are the day’s top coronavirus stories from the team at Bloomberg Law:

• EMERGENCY ORDERS: The decision by three health-care practices in Michigan to join the ranks of businesses fighting against their state’s Covid-19 restrictions may bring added heft to a growing tide of litigation that is testing the bounds of executive power. The case filed this week appears to be the first brought by health-care practitioners and a patient.
• PATENT RACE: Life sciences companies and researchers are accelerating their patent applications, hoping to lay claim to virus-related discoveries. The attention on the health crisis and information sharing could make patenting treatments difficult, and create thorny legal questions about what inventions are obvious.
• MERCURY FEARS: With around-the-clock cremations now allowed in some parts of the country to handle the death toll, a different kind of toll is threatening the living in the low-income communities where those facilities are often clustered. The increased pace of cremations is likely to increase releases of chemicals from crematory smokestacks, especially mercury, a toxin that can even be fatal.

Editor’s Top Picks

Firms That Left U.S. for Tax Reasons Could Qualify for Aid
American companies that moved their official headquarters offshore to avoid U.S. taxes could qualify for virus aid from the Federal Reserve, tax lawyers say, raising new questions about which firms should get access to public money.

CEOs Are Cutting Millions of Jobs Yet Keep Their Lofty Bonuses
So far, top executives of many major U.S. corporations — including some at the very epicenter of the crisis — have mostly held on to their outsize pay packages after giving up some of their salaries.

House Calendar May Expose More Trump Rules to Rollbacks
The deadline for Trump administration rules that could be rolled back under the Congressional Review Act is in flux as the outbreak disrupts the House schedule.

Xperi Board Sued for Keeping TiVo Merger on Track Despite Virus
Xperi Corp.'s directors were hit with a Delaware lawsuit Friday for keeping its proposed all-stock $2.4 billion merger-of-equals with TiVo Corp. on track without determining if the pandemic undermined its logic. The suit appears to be the first by a shareholder seeking to stop a company from going through with a deal that may no longer make sense in light of the outbreak.

Purell’s Claim to Combat Disease Spurs Demand and Lawsuits
A trio of lawsuits has hit Purell’s maker, Gojo Industries Inc., claiming the coveted alcohol gel doesn’t live up to its promises. The litigation is brewing as states begin to ease their lockdowns and as employers are desperate for the germ-killing liquid.

3M Settles With Mask Merchant That Called Claims a Distraction
3M Co. settled a trademark case against Geftico LLC for alleged unauthorized sales of 3M’s N95 respirator masks at inflated prices, according to a filing in Florida federal court.

Uber Drivers Lose Virus Sick Pay Bid, Must Arbitrate Claims
A group of Massachusetts-based Uber Technologies Inc. drivers failed to convince a federal judge in California to immediately reclassify them as employees with paid sick leave due to the pandemic, and must now arbitrate their claims.

Venable, New York Law School Offer ‘Virtual’ Summer Firm Program
New York Law School and Venable have teamed up to create a simulated summer associate experience at a “virtual” law firm, an antidote to dwindling job and internship prospects for students caused by the pandemic.

How Pandemic Vacations Can Turn Into Tax Nightmares (Podcast)
Many people are now working and living away from their usual homes or offices, either by choice or otherwise, as they wait out the spread of the coronavirus. In which jurisdiction do these people pay taxes?

INSIGHT: You Got Millions in PPP Loans From the Government—Is That Good?
Recipients of Payroll Protection Program loans under the CARES Act will soon need to face another difficult question: Should they seek loan forgiveness? Morgan Lewis attorneys discuss how to mitigate False Claims Act risk and offer ideas for deciding to do so in the weeks and months to come.

INSIGHT: Denied Business Interruption Claims Could Spur Boom in Captive Insurance
Many businesses are discovering that their business interruption policy doesn’t cover pandemics. This may spur a boom in captive insurance, writes Christopher Hanewald of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs.

Coming Up Next Week

New York starts its phased reopening today, but there are still many questions about how that will work. Bloomberg Law reporter Keshia Clukey will be answering questions about what to expect in an AMA at 2pm ET on Monday, May 18 in Reddit’s r/iAmA.

Click here for updates on how federal courts are operating during the pandemic.

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Editor’s Note: The Bloomberg Law news team has been closely covering the legal, regulatory, business, and tax implications of the coronavirus pandemic. This daily email highlights the top stories of the day, across practice areas. To unsubscribe, please adjust your Bloomberg Law newsletter settings. For assistance, contact our help desk at 888-560-2529 or help@bloomberglaw.com.