A lot of plaintiffs lawyers in the burgeoning litigation over mortgage-backed bonds have eschewed fraud claims, opting instead for contract allegations that don't require a showing of scienter. Robins Kaplan went for fraud--and on Friday its strategy was vindicated.

The "everybody else was doing it too" defense is usually a long shot. But in a False Claims Act case alleging that the company paid kickbacks to the national pharmacy Omnicare, Johnson & Johnson's lawyers at Nixon Peabody want a judge to compel the Justice Department to fork over documents to back J&J's claims that its actions amounted to business-as-usual.

In a case that filled the courtroom with Am Law 100 lawyers, Judge Richard Sullivan ruled that brokerages had no obligation to place their customers' extra cash in the highest-possible interest-bearing money market accounts, but could instead sweep it into accounts at the brokerages. It was a welcome ruling for the brokerages. The plaintiffs had alleged that $186 billion in customer accounts had been affected.

We were pretty excited that Judge Rakoff sent us his opinion explaining why he upheld a $20.6 million FINRA arbitration award against Goldman Sachs. Reading the ruling--in which Rakoff takes subtle digs at the arbitration process and those who choose it as an alternative to court proceedings--was also fun.