A group of hedge funds suffered a huge blow in 2010, when a federal judge ruled that they couldn’t bring billions of dollars in securities claims against Porsche in the U.S.

The Tennis Channel has won a case against Comcast, marking the first time an independent programming network has won a discrimination case against a cable or satellite company. The ruling by FCC Chief Administrative Law Judge Richard Sippel opens the door to future court challenges to claims of discrimination.

For the second time in two months, a federal judge has refused to certify a class action alleging Countrywide engaged in misleading sales and marketing practices in the run-up to the housing crash. In October, the judge rejected a proposed plaintiff class of 500,000 borrowers; this time it was a class of 60,000.

A judge whose widely publicized decision to cancel a homeowner’s mortgage was overturned has now recused himself from the case, with public records showing he holds a mortgage through the same lender.

A bankruptcy judge has allowed a $137 million suit filed by the trustee handling the bankruptcy estate of imprisoned ex-lawyer Marc Dreier to go forward against hedge fund Westford Asset Management, a net winner in Dreier’s Ponzi scheme. However, the judge has limited the scope of the recovery the trustee can seek.