Rejecting arguments from a virtual who's who of Big Law energy firms, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that retail consumers of natural gas can pursue state law antitrust claims stemming from Enron-era price manipulation.

The court-appointed SEC receiver in Allan Stanford's alleged $8 billion Ponzi scheme can't seem to get his hands on money Stanford supposedly stashed in overseas banks. And a new ruling that concludes he has to ask Swiss courts to compel Societe Generale to produce Stanford's records won't help.

Microtune gave regulators and auditors the report on Andrews Kurth's internal investigation of its options backdating practices. So executives for a pair of former executives charged by the SEC said they should get to see it as well. And despite Microtune's claims of privilege, a Texas judge agreed.

Two years ago, a judge slapped McKool Smith and Sidley Austin with Rule 11 sanctions for bringing supposedly frivolous patent claims on behalf of their client, Allcare Health Management Systems. The firms managed to get the sanctions vacated, but their efforts to redeem their client and undo a $5 million attorney fee award haven't fared so well.

David Boies has had many victories in his career, but his win on Monday for the plaintiffs in the Halliburton securities class action has special meaning for him. Boies took over the case from his daughter Caryl Boies, who died last December from lung cancer at age 48.