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.

Gibson Dunn's Daniel Kolkey, who argued for the merchants, told the California Supreme Court a 1971 law that says personal information can't be recorded can't possibly apply to Internet transactions.

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.

California courts have had a lot to say in recent years about class certification and mandatory arbitration—but they've skirted questions that would put state policy in direct conflict with evolving federal law.