Given that 60 percent of the DOJ's FCPA enforcement actions last year involved alleged bribes to employees of state-owned companies, a lot was riding on Lindsey Manufacturing's argument that Congress didn't intend those employees to be considered foreign officials under FCPA. Judge Matz's ruling hewed closely to the specific facts before him, leaving open the possibility that another defendant may yet succeed in a similar challenge.

For litigators, it pays to be both tenacious and creative. For evidence, look no further than William Isaacson's long antitrust crusade against Chinese vitamin C manufacturers, which culminated this month in an historic $162 million jury verdict.