The shareholder suits started pouring in just one day after Deutsche Boerse AG announced its proposed $9.53 billion buyout of NYSE Euronext on Feb. 15. And with NYSE shareholders poised to vote on the deal July 7, the defendants agreed to pay out more than $900 million in dividends to make the litigation go away.

The banks argued that allowing Madoff bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard to name names would amount to defamation, but Judge Lifland ruled that the defendants' fear of embarrassment doesn't trump the public's right to know.

Could Irving Picard's multibillion dollar suits against JPMorgan Chase and other banks on behalf of Madoff customers be preempted by federal law covering class actions? We'll soon find out, now that federal district court judges have begun asserting control over the cases.

Kathy Patrick of Gibbs & Bruns was forced to defend the controversial deal she negotiated against claims that it doesn't adequately protect all investors. She also took a jab at David Grais, who has emerged as challenger numero uno of this second largest settlement in U.S. history.

The U.S. Supreme Court asked Elena Kagan last June to weigh in on the precedent-setting Second Circuit ruling that limited the jurisdiction of U.S. courts to hear claims by foreign investors who bought shares of foreign companies on foreign exchanges. Will the SG's brief sway the Court against granting cert in the case?

With just days to go before the first big hearing in the Manhattan state court proceedings to approve the groundbreaking deal, David Grais of Grais & Ellsworth is once again stirring the pot on behalf of disgruntled MBS investors.