A dispute pitting Pacific Rim Mining Co. against the government of El Salvador will be arbitrated on the merits, following a ruling issued on Friday by the International Centre for Settlement of Investments Disputes. Weil is representing Vancouver-based Pacific Rim, while El Salvador has turned to Foley Hoag.

Campaign battles between Democrats and Republicans spill over into litigation pretty frequently, but it's rare for a reelection team to go after its own candidate's supporters in court. Is the Obama campaign doing just that in a trademark suit against an online retailer? Or, as the campaign's lawyers at Perkins Coie claim, is the defendant just after "pure profit"?