Co-lead class counsel at Hagens Berman and Richardson Patrick saw their claims against McKesson shrink dramatically in March, when a federal judge in Boston refused to include states in a class of government entities that accused the drug maker of inflating average wholesale prices. But the plaintiffs lawyers still managed to coax a $82 million settlement from McKesson for the remaining cities and towns in the class.

Lawrence Powers and his tiny company SITI-Sites made bold accusations that the patent aggregator and the telecoms were teaming up to drive down the value of tech patents. There was one big problem, though: Powers wasn't harmed by the conspiracy he alleged.

A fenced-in pit sits at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street in Manhattan, where the luxury Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts tower had been slated to rise. The project's lenders had sought to hold celebrity developer Aby Rosen and his partner Michael Fuchs personally liable. But a New York state court judge dismissed the claim, possibly saving the pair $100 million.

Michael Ross had one of the bitterest splits with his former employer on record, suing the company for defamation after it blamed him for an options backdating scandal. When the company tried to settle a backdating derivative suit, Ross refused to go along and threatened to blow up the deal. The strategy worked: He's now out of the case.