Long-simmering litigation between Bank of America and one of the major bond insurers finally ended with a settlement this week, but observers are having a tough time making heads or tails of it. The confusion was palpable during an investor conference call with BofA CFO Bruce Thompson on Wednesday.

Bank of America announced Monday that it will pay $1.6 billion to the bond insurer MBIA Inc., bringing an end to one of the most vigorously contested disputes to grow out of the mortgage crisis.

Munger, Tolles & Olson will represent Bank of America and co-defendant Merrill Lynch, while Reed Smith will represent the various Countrywide entities named as defendants in the $10.5 billion suit that AIG and its lawyers at Quinn Emanuel filed against the bank last week over soured mortgage-backed securities.

The NYAG's $410 million settlement with J. Ezra Merkin didn't sit well with Madoff trustee Irving Picard, who's still pressing his own $500 million case against Merkin. But Picard can console himself with some welcome news from the Supreme Court, which declined to meddle with his formula for assessing Madoff customer claims.

The $2.15 billion settlement that Lee helped secure this week for Pfizer Inc. is believed to be the largest ever in a patent case. And what's more, says Lee, the deal serves as a warning to generic pharmaceutical companies looking to get a jump on introducing new drugs.

The novelty of IP litigation being "hot" wore off long ago, but never did the practice dominate headlines quite as much as in 2012.