With class certification briefing due next month, BofA may turn out to have been smart for getting out early from this sweeping MDL, which alleges that more than a dozen banks fleeced their most vulnerable depositors by charging exorbitant overdraft fees.

Plaintiff merchants in the massive Visa and Mastercard settlements faced a choice: securitizing four more years of settlement payments, or taking a lump sum offer from the credit card companies.

Carter Phillips of Sidley Austin didn't get the sweeping ruling he sought in a case involving three former executives of Purdue Frederick Company, but the result for his clients may be just as good. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed 12-year bans that kept the three men from participating in federal health care programs.