Class lawyers for settling dairy farmers have asked a federal judge in Tennessee for $55.7 million in fees and expenses for their work on the case against Dean Foods and a marketing co-op; most of that money would cover work performed by lawyers at defunct Howrey LLP who jumped to Baker & Hostetler last year.

For any class action plaintiffs lawyer, winning tens of millions of dollars in fees is a big deal. But the litigation Robert Abrams of Baker & Hostetler spearheaded for a group of southeast U.S. dairy farmers isn't your average case--not for Abrams, his firm, or the bankruptcy trustee and creditors of Howrey LLP.

For the second time in a month, Manhattan federal district court judge Lewis Kaplan has ruled that a shareholder case against a Parmalat auditor can proceed, despite the auditor's claims that it should not be held responsible for the failings of one affiliated office. This time, the firm getting the bad news is Grant Thornton.