The Week at Ropes & Gray

This week, Ropes & Gray advised on the partnership of two radiology groups, produced commentary on key legal developments in health care, life sciences and intellectual property, and announced a new pro bono initiative. The firm also launched a new quarterly publication containing news and insights of interest to private equity industry professionals, in addition to releasing a podcast on CFIUS developments. Our attorneys were recognized for their excellence in bankruptcy and insolvency law, as well as for pro bono service. Here’s a summary of the week’s highlights:

• US Radiology Specialists announced its partnership with Radiology Ltd., a Tucson, Arizona-based private practice radiology group and outpatient imaging operator. Ropes & Gray advised US Radiology Specialists on the partnership.
• Ropes & Gray launched a quarterly newsletter featuring news, trends and legal developments in the private equity industry. The inaugural edition includes articles on retail investments in private funds, digital health partnerships and the growing SPAC market in Asia, as well as an overview of market data.
• The September 2018 Columbia Gas explosions in Lawrence, Massachusetts devastated families, lives and businesses. This week, Ropes & Gray and Lawyers for Civil Rights launched a pro bono partnership to provide free legal assistance to small businesses affected by the explosions.
• In a new podcast focusing on CFIUS review, anti-corruption & international risk attorneys Ama Adams and Brendan Hanifin discuss the implications of FIRRMA for U.S. and non-U.S. investors, as well as U.S. businesses that seek foreign investment.
• A recent report by Ropes & Gray and Crain’s examined roadblocks for companies considering digital health partnerships. Health care partner Christine Moundas discussed these findings and other key takeaways from the report in Managed Healthcare Executive.
• In Kisor v. Wilkie, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the doctrine of Auer deference, a principle of judicial review that requires federal courts to yield to an agency's interpretation of its own regulations. A team of Washington, D.C.-based attorneys—including appellate & Supreme Court partner Doug Hallward-Driemeier, life sciences partner Greg Levine, life sciences counsel Beth Weinman, corporate associate Rebecca Williams, and litigation & enforcement associate Emerson Siegle—authored a Law360 article examining the potential impact of the decision on firms regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other agencies that rely heavily on scientific and technical expertise.
• The U.S. Congress could pass legislation in the coming months to fix a constitutional defect in the structure of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). IP litigation partner and PTAB chair Scott McKeown examines how Congress can amend existing statutes to fix the defect in Reuters.
• The New England Innocence Project honored a pro bono Ropes & Gray litigation team with its inaugural ARC OF JUSTICE Award at the “Voices of the Innocent: Still We Rise” storytelling event. The award recognizes the firm’s role in helping to free Gary Cifizzari, a Massachusetts man wrongly convicted of a crime he did not commit, after serving 35 years in prison.
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