Over the next month, federal appeals courts are set to hear four cases involving litigation over the new health care reform law. The 4th Circuit is the first arena, with two cases scheduled for separate arguments Tuesday.

Arbitration cases involving allegations of cybersquatting, or improper use of trademarks in Internet domain-name registrations, hit record levels last year at the two organizations that handle most of the disputes.

In cases involving financial products, it’s pretty tricky to get national class action status. But plaintiffs lawyers going up against Conseco Life Insurance framed their case on behalf of seven policyholders as a breach of contract instead. In doing so, the Gilbert law firm in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco’s Millstein & Associates succeeded in getting national class action status where “many other ‘vanishing premium’ life insurance cases have failed,” said Stephen Weisbrod, a partner with the Gilbert firm.

For the second time in three weeks, Bank of America has escaped liability in cases involving the Countrywide mortgage business it acquired in 2008. Last month, a federal judge dismissed claims by two trusts that had bought $43 million of residential mortgage-backed securities from Countrywide

Chief Justice John Roberts has sold his shares of Pfizer Inc., a move that allows him to participate in two pending Supreme Court cases involving the pharmaceutical maker. In the past, Roberts has not taken part in cases involving Pfizer because he owned less than $15,000 of the company’s stock.