A divided federal appeals court panel has ruled that BP PLC should have been allowed to temporarily block payment of claims from the $9.6 billion Deepwater Horizon settlement while challenging the methods by which those payments were being calculated.

A judge sided with Google in a dustup over the idea for its 'Hangouts' feature but is giving plaintiffs a chance to amend their complaint.

San Francisco U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer refused to certify a class in a slimmed-down version of the historic case, finding that the class is still too unwieldy.

Since June, class action defendants have wielded the Supreme Court's ruling in Wal-Mart v. Dukes like a cudgel, wiping out class claims in discrimination, consumer, and even toxic tort cases on the grounds that the proposed classes couldn't meet the commonality requirements set forth by the Dukes court. Now Dukes has claimed another victim: an ERISA class action against Motorola.

C'mon, you have to read this story. It's probably your only chance to consider a Second Circuit opinion that soberly addresses the use of "bullshit," "dickhead," and "kiss my ass" on TV.

Our NLJ colleague Tony Mauro was at the Supreme Court for Tuesday's historic argument. His takeaway: Counsel for the women suing Wal-Mart in the biggest-ever gender discrimination case hit some heavy turbulence.