American Airlines and US Airways are pushing back hard against the U.S. Department of Justice, filing court papers blasting the government’s bid to block their pending $11 billion merger.

After months of reading submissions, vetting, and interviews, The American Lawyer has announced the winners of the magazine's sixth biennial Litigation Department of the Year contest. Gibson Dunn cinched the top billing for the second time in a row, but plenty of additional firms and more than a half-dozen individual litigators shared in the spotlight.

When the American Tort Reform Association declares that it has "very good news" about a court it loves to loathe, it's sure to be bad news for the plaintiffs bar. Plaintiffs lawyers told us it's too early to gauge exactly how new changes will affect the mass torts docket at Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, but judges in New Jersey, New York, and Boston may want to clear some extra space on their calendars.

It’s the second mega-suit filed by DOJ litigators since William Baer, a former partner at Arnold & Porter, took over as head of the antitrust division in early January.

Shareholders' lawyers will get to see whatever the bank has turned over to Congress, the SEC, the New York attorney general, and other investigators--including, most likely, the communications between BofA and its lawyers that have already been turned over to the government.