A bench trial begins on Monday in San Jose in a suit that accuses five major corporations of creating a public nuisance by manufacturing and promoting lead-based paint despite knowledge it was harmful. Ten cities and counties in California are demanding nearly $1 billion in cleanup costs.

When the American Tort Reform Association declares that it has "very good news" about a court it loves to loathe, it's sure to be bad news for the plaintiffs bar. Plaintiffs lawyers told us it's too early to gauge exactly how new changes will affect the mass torts docket at Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, but judges in New Jersey, New York, and Boston may want to clear some extra space on their calendars.

Despite the efforts of Mayer Brown's Stephen Shapiro, Amman, Jordan-based Arab Bank plc failed last week to reverse what it has called a "disastrous" ruling in its billion-dollar court battle with victims of terrorist attacks and their families.

The suit names a host of U.S. law firms as non-defendant co-conspirators in a fraudulent scheme to shake a multibillion-dollar settlement from Chevron. The oil company wants a declaratory judgment that any award against it from the Ecuadorian court is unenforceable.