In the latest development in the Chapter 11 of WaMu's parent, a judge refused to appoint an examiner but told Susman Godfrey it can probe the estate's deal with JPMorgan Chase. That doesn't bode well for a settlement--and a plan of reorganization--that's already imperiled.

Nearly two years after rolling out a model order intended to get a grip on out-of-control electronic-discovery demands, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's advisory council is poised to issue new rules that ask patent litigants to make their own sacrifices.