Both regulators and financial litigators can expect to see cases moving rapidly through the courts in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kokesh v. Securities and Exchange Commission, observers say.

“It's going to change the way the SEC approaches complicated, long-running investigations,” said Kara Novaco Brockmeyer, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and a former SEC attorney.

The high court earlier this month limited the SEC's ability to pursue disgorgement to five years, landing another blow to the commission's remedy options in the wake of 2013's Gabelli v. Securities and Exchange Commission.