The plaintiffs lawyers leading El Paso shareholders' assault on the company's planned $21 billion acquisition by Kinder Morgan lost their bid to enjoin the sale late Wednesday, but they sure got the judge's attention. Can they translate the opprobrium of Delaware Chancery Court chancellor Leo Strine Jr. into a big payday--and more than a little embarrassment for El Paso advisor Goldman Sachs?

It's almost impossible to exaggerate the obstacles Barclays' lawyers faced in the $13 billion Lehman 'windfall' litigation: claims by three different plaintiffs represented by three powerhouse firms; a judge openly skeptical of the bank's core argument; and a disjointed trial schedule that stretched over six months. Yet in the end the bank prevailed in upholding a deal that helped shape the unfolding of the great recession.