As Sullivan & Cromwell's Robert Giuffra Jr. promised immediately after his loss to MBIA Inc. earlier this month, Bank of America and Société Genéralé are taking their fight with the bond insurer back up to a New York state appellate court.

In one of the few "bank-on-bank" cases arising from the financial crisis, JP Morgan Chase & Co. has emerged the winner in a $3 billion battle with Bank of America. Manhattan U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan issued summary judgment for Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc., which is owned by J.P. Morgan, in a dispute over an enormous failed collateralized debt obligation.

A federal judge in Manhattan certified a global class of investors who sank billions into Fairfield Greenwich funds that fed Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. But the judge excluded investors in 25 countries, singling out nations ranging from France, Switzerland, Israel, and China to the tiny islands of Picairn and Tokelau.

With Jones in the lead for Merck in the second bellwether Fosamax trial, it took a Manhattan jury only 25 minutes to decide that the osteoporosis drug didn't cause Louise Maley's jaw problems.

Court-appointed trustees in big-ticket bankruptcies are taking bold steps to recover billions from alleged malefactors on Wall Street and beyond.