MBIA's lawyers at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Merrill Lynch's attorneys at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom filed documents on Tuesday signaling an end to a two-year conflict over $5.7 billion in credit default swap protection on collateralized debt obligations.

Former SEC enforcement chief Robert Khuzami's move to a lavishly-paid gig at Kirkland & Ellis doesn't come as any surprise. And that's a shame, says The American Lawyer's Susan Beck.

It's becoming clear that patent wars over smart phone technology are going to spread revenue to Am Law firms like manure over undernourished soil. Kirkland has filed the latest smart phone suit--Apple's infringement case against the phone-maker HTC--but it turns out that K&E has quietly been representing Apple in the Nokia case as well. Plus: a rundown of all the firms involved in the smart phone litigation to date.

The graveyard of auction-rate securities claims against Merrill Lynch got a bit more crowded this week, with two decisions in the space of two days dismissing suits by ARS investors. And judging by an appellate ruling that Foley & Lardner won Tuesday in one of the cases, most Merrill ARS claims are going to stay buried for good.