Since April, the Federal Trade Commission has been fighting to block Phoebe Putney Health Systems from acquiring a rival hospital in southwest Georgia, on the grounds that the merger would create a monopoly on hospital care in the region. On Friday the Eleventh Circuit agreed that the deal was anticompetitive, but the panel also agreed with PPHS's lawyers at Baker & McKenzie and Weil Gotshal that the courts can't do anything to stop it.

An anonymous tipster with apparent inside knowledge of the agency's negotiations with Citi raised the allegations in an unsigned fax to Sen. Charles Grassley. True or not, the fax makes for compelling reading--and we've got a link to it.

As chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Banking Committee in the mid-1990s, Giuffra helped draft the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and hobble stock-drop suits. Since the financial crisis the PSLRA has gotten a vigorous workout; last Friday it gave Giuffra the ammunition he needed to knock out what remained of a class action against UBS over more than $100 billion in losses.

A jury might really sink its teeth into Norex Petroleum's claims against a collection of Russian billionaires and oil companies. But unfortunately for Norex, over the span of 10 years Pell has led the way in convincing three different courts in Manhattan to dismiss the case without ever reaching the merits.

The SEC nominee and her husband have amassed assets of at least $16 million, according to a financial disclosure form filed by the Debevoise & Plimpton partner. White also revealed that her husband, John White, plans to convert from equity to nonequity status at Cravath, Swaine & Moore upon her confirmation.