U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Tuesday appointed Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein as lead plaintiff counsel in the hotly contested and potentially lucrative securities class action against Network Associates Inc.

It was the latest and probably last twist in the battle for lead plaintiff and lead plaintiffs counsel in the suit against the Santa Clara-based antivirus software maker, which is accused of lying about its financial health to improperly inflate its stock price.