The infamous Morrison v. NAB ruling has curtailed the case to claims involving BP ADRs, but in the fight to be named lead plaintiff, a coalition of New York and Ohio pension funds still seems to have the largest losses.

This week hasn't been as dreadful as the last for the plaintiffs bar (although it hasn't been great, either). Meanwhile, the cascade of recent subprime-related dismissal rulings has revealed some important trends in how the litigation is going to proceed.

With more than a dozen remaining defendants in the direct purchasers' class action, the settlement is good news for the four co-lead class counsel-- especially Michael Hausfeld, who had to fight his old partners to stay on the case.

Plaintiffs lawyers pressing antitrust class action claims against Apple and the big publishing houses over e-book pricing have oozed confidence since the litigation began last year. And now that the feds are reportedly targeting the companies too, they say they like their odds even more.