Hint: What's the only firm that's had notable success representing a plaintiff with auction-rate securities claims against a bank?

Finnegan, Henderson won a rehearing for client Akamai in a case in which the Federal Circuit affirmed a trial judge's rejection of a $40 million verdict won by Akamai and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology against Limelight Networks. The case should clarify when separate parties who perform different steps of a method claim can be jointly liable.

The court clarified when a defendant can be found liable for jointly infringing a patent. Here, Kirkland client Limelight was found not liable for alleged infringment by its customers.

Merck became just the latest healthcare company to strike a major settlement with the Justice Department on Tuesday, agreeing to a $321.6 million criminal fine and a $628.3 million civil settlement to resolve claims over its marketing of the painkiller Vioxx.