After a last-minute counsel switch last October, Smith had just three days to prepare to convince the Second Circuit to revive Viacom's $1 billion copyright infringement suit against YouTube and Google. But it was enough for Smith, who along with Sims persuaded the court to pull Google back into the ring.

The inimitable Gwen Stefani and her bandmates alleged that Activision breached their contract when the video game maker permitted No Doubt's digital avatars to perform other bands' songs in the Band Hero game. Activision put up a First Amendment defense, but the state appellate court slapped it down.

Facing the prospect of Rule 11 sanctions, Milberg and two other plaintiffs firms say they had every reason to trust confidential informants who told their investigator Sony knew about problems with its televisions. They also say they withdrew the allegations as soon as they questioned that trust.

We like to compare high stakes litigation to Hollywood dramas. This one actually made it to the silver screen, but on Monday the Ninth Circuit cut the lights on the Winklevosses' battle to undo their $65 million Facebook settlement.

Following a ruling last month dismissing a mortgage-backed securities suit against Countrywide, another Manhattan federal district court judge refused to toll the three-year statue of repose for securities claims in a class action involving Lehman Brothers.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and its lawyers at Weil Gotshal & Manges may never see the end of litigation stemming from Lehman's bankruptcy, but they've scored a victory in long-running legal battle with origins that predate the bank's collapse: Lehman's $22 billion leveraged buyout of real estate investment trust Archstone four years ago.

In Joe Mullin's latest column at Corporate Counsel, he pulls out some fascinating tidbits from the record of the case between the notoriously litigious patent holding entrepreneur and the company that has vowed never to cave to the demands of trolls.

Gerald Flattmann, who specializes in representing brand-name drug makers, concedes his decision to leave Kirkland is related to the previous departures of two other Kirkland IP stars.

Plaintiffs who withdrew more money than they invested with the Ponzi king may still be victims, but a federal judge ruled they aren't covered by AIG's fraud insurance.

As usual, there was plenty of news about tech patents last week, including the latest developments in the Apple/Samsung fight. But the most interesting story was about a portfolio of patents for grape varieties that's held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.