Two new California state court suits filed by Grais were the subject of a Sunday New York Times column that noted his strategy of steering clear of hard-to-prove fraud allegations. But there are still a raft of defense firms standing between Grais and a big payday.

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.

Thanks to the Massachusetts secretary of state and his detailed allegations about the Fairfield Greenwich Group, counsel for the investors whose $7 billion was funneled to Bernie Madoff are claiming the group's recklessness amounted to fraud.