Just as they did after officials reached similar settlements with UBS and Bank of America, plaintiffs lawyers in private multidistrict litigation against the banks may argue that the JPMorgan deal sidelines class claims in the MDL.

Boston federal district judge Nancy Gertner had reduced a $675,000 jury award, which was based on statutory damages, to $67,500 on Seventh Amendment due process grounds. The First Circuit reversed, instructing Judge Gertner to reconsider whether the award should be changed for reasons other than Constitutional grounds.

Plaintiffs achieve a big win in the first-ever securities class action trial involving U.S. and foreign shareholders who held shares in a foreign company on foreign exchanges. The one bright spot for the defense: The jury found no liability for former Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Messier or former CFO Guillaume Hannezo.

Alabama's high court found the state had no foundation for Medicaid drug-pricing fraud claims that resulted in more than $300 million in jury verdicts. The ruling completely shifts the momentum in the sprawling multistate litigation over average wholesale drug prices.

On Monday the high court vacated a pair of Third Circuit preemption rulings, sending cases against GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca back down to lower courts in the wake of last week's landmark Levine ruling. Expect lots more of the same in the weeks and months to come, as the de facto freeze on personal injury pharmaceutical suits lifts. Plus: a modest proposal for handling drug cases from the Manhattan Institute.