In a November 10, 2014 article, The Legal Intelligencer featured Venable partner Lisa Jose Fales' arguments before a federal judge in a reverse-payment matter. The judge and thirty attorneys, including Fales, debated whether the Supreme Court introduced a new threshold for plaintiffs who challenge payments made by major pharmaceutical companies to generic drugmakers to keep cheaper versions of their products off the market.
In her argument, Fales pointed to a trial in a Boston federal court over a similar issue where the judge is treating reverse-payments as a threshold issue. "He has indicated that the plaintiffs bear the burden of proof on this issue and that they must prevail on that issue before they get to a rule of reason analysis," said Fales. She added that the Supreme Court's decision said "plaintiffs can't get to the rule of reason analysis until they establish that the reverse payment was large and unexplained."