In a statement, the groups said they would "continue to push through the Washington gridlock by advancing the litigation we have filed with nine community pharmacy companies, and we urge state attorneys general to take action to block the merger as well".
"We are reviewing defendants' answer that we received yesterday and are set to advance the litigation process," said Sam Wolfe, an attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center, who filed the suit.
Could there be further litigation?
(Mr. Pu was dealing with other legal matters around the same time: In 2006, according to court records, he was suspended from practicing law in New York state courts for "advancing a theory in litigation and for making a representation to the court that he knew was false").
His lawyer, David M. Green, said WorldCom's bylaws and articles of incorporation required the company to advance money for litigation expenses incurred by its officers and directors.
Though horrifying, the incidents detailed in the lawsuit are not as uncommon as one may think, Nicole Gon Ochi, supervising attorney of impact litigation at the Los Angeles branch of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, told HuffPost in an email.
"Unfortunately, the litigation, as it has been conducted, is interfering with, not advancing, that goal".
It is often advanced through test case litigation designed to not merely affect the outcome of a particular dispute, but to influence public policy.
Kendell leads the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.
