In the wake of a complaint by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Charles Schwab has lawyered up and gone to court to seek an unprecedented declaratory judgment, asking a federal district court to block the agency’s action and to rule that its class-action waiver agreements are enforceable.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is on the rebound.

Bryan Cave is coming into its latest big merger from a position of strength. The firm, which absorbed Holme Roberts & Owen on Jan. 1, saw steady growth across financial categories last year and nearly achieved a double-digit bump in profits per equity partner for a second straight year, according to The American Lawyer.

In the face of the most comprehensive effort yet to keep Bank of America on the hook for alleged fraud in a Countrywide mortgage-backed securities case, a California federal district court judge has rejected Allstate’s successor liability claim against BofA.

The legal sector kicked off 2012 on an upbeat note by adding 1,000 jobs in January, according to the preliminary employment report released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.