The runners up for Litigator of the week are Nixon Peabody's Brian Kelly, who won total vindication for his client, Wells Fargo banker Peter Cannava.

Cannava faced a fraud suit by the SEC in connection with former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling's failed video game company. A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled from the bench to dismiss the suit on summary judgment. (See my story here.)

A cross-discipline team from Latham & Watkins led by Maggy Sullivan won dismissal of a class action against sustainable energy company Avangrid in Massachusetts federal court.

The plaintiffs—retail electricity customers in New England—alleged the company manipulated gas transportation on the Algonquin pipeline, resulting in higher prices for gas and electricity.

At Kirkland & Ellis, partners Sandra Goldstein and Stefan Atkinson scored for client Xerox in the Second Circuit, which affirmed dismissal of a securities class action.

The suit stemmed from Xerox's less than successful acquisition of ACS, including its “Health Enterprise” Medicaid administration business, which the company later spun off. The Kirkland team successfully argued that a failed business venture doesn't equal securities fraud.

Mayer Brown's Michael Scodro teamed up with City of Chicago lawyer Andrew Worseck to beat back an attempt to block the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park.

A federal judge dismissed the suit by advocacy group Protect Our Parks, which objected to what it termed a “massive giveaway” of public land to the Obama Foundation. (Sidley Austin represented the foundation, though it was not a direct party in the case.)