Despite the efforts of his lawyers at Cravath, a former McKinsey & Co. partner couldn't persuade a Manhattan judge that he deserved $40 million for his supposed stake in a health care fund associated with billionaire Bruce Kovner's $10 billion hedge fund.

In Chandler's hotly anticipated opinion, the Delaware Chancery Court judge concluded that, in his view, the Airgas pill had already served its defensive purpose, but that under Delaware law, it is the board's business judgment--and not his--that matters.

Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has taken a lot of lumps lately because of its heavy investment in its securitization practice. Late last month it suffered another setback when a New York state court judge refused to dismiss a malpractice suit brought by Nomura Asset Capital Corporation arising from a commercial mortgage financing that Cadwalader handled more than a decade ago. The backstory is complicated, but the litigation raises questions about whether law firms could bear some liability for soured securitizations, even if they followed common industry practices.