Institutional investors prevailed in their effort to keep this Article 77 proceeding from being converted into a more far-reaching "plenary" proceeding. But a group of rival objecting investors, including AIG, appeared to convince the judge to allow broader discovery.

It's not over, but the first round goes to the tech guys.

Bank of America and its lawyers at Wachtell have operated mostly behind-the-scenes as the bank's landmark $8.5 billion mortgage-backed securities settlement has been attacked by disgruntled investors and wrenched out of state court and before a federal judge. But in brief urging the Second Circuit to weigh in on the case, BofA not only contested federal jurisdiction but also threatened that the forum fight could kill the $8.5 billion deal entirely.

Few took notice last year when Gibbs & Bruns began laying the groundwork for what eventually became an $8.5 billion settlement with Bank of America over hundreds of billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities. Now the firm has picked JPMorgan as its second target, and this time it has everybody's attention.