$7.2 BILLION

Settlements with the health care industry netted federal and state governments $7.2 billion in 2012.

Source: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s 2012 Year-End Health Care Enforcement Update

It’s Big in Japan

Think the fax machine is about as outdated as an old-school BlackBerry? Think again. In Japan, nearly 100 percent of all businesses had a fax machine and 45 percent of all homes did too as of 2011, according to a New York Times report that cites Japan’s Cabinet Office as the source. That made us wonder:

Do you still use a fax? Tell us in the comments section below.

Say What?

“I want to be known as the man who brought to the attention of America the copyright issues. That’s what I would like my legacy to be, to have turned people on to the fact that they need to fight for their rights to their music.”

—George Clinton, Flashlight 2013
press conference, Feb. 12

Approximately 88,000 inmates were released from the New York City Department of Correction in its 2012 fiscal year. 42% of all released adult inmates returned to jail within a year. 69% of all released high-risk adult inmates returned to jail within a year.

Source: Office of the Mayor of New York City

Did You Know?

Say goodbye to your Social Security check. As of March 1, the Social Security Administration is going green. The federal government expects to send all payments for Social Security and other benefits via direct deposit or debit cards.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes was cited 541 times by lower courts in 2012.

Source: Seyfarth Shaw’s 2013 Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report

48,674 applicants submitted 336,122 applications to U.S. law schools for this fall, a 21.5% decline in applications from 2012. In Canada, 7,086 applicants submitted 27,859 applications for law school for fall 2013, a 0.4% decline in applications from 2012.

Source: Law School Admission Council, March 2013