Madoff trustee Irving Picard has taken aggressive positions in his litigation, and not all of his theories for recovery have succeeded so far. But to date, Picard has recovered or reached settlements for more than $9 billion, which is more than half of the $17.3 billion in principal lost by investors.

The National Law Journal’s first Litigation Boutiques Hot List features 10 small firms that take second place to no one in courtroom skill. These are the firms important clients turn to for state-of-the-art advocacy in bet-the-company cases.

After racking up an astounding record of high-stakes victories, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher beat out 71 other firms for the title of Litigation Department of the Year, winning the prize for the second time in a row.

The lawyers for the Native American tribes and associations that participated in a challenge of rules controlling mercury emissions from power plants are entitled to legal fees and costs for participating in the litigation, a divided D.C. Circuit said today.

The SEC on Friday charged six former top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — including their ex-CEOs — with securities fraud, alleging that they knowingly approved misleading statements about the government-sponsored entities’ holdings of risky mortgages. Both Fannie and Freddie entered into non-prosecution agreements with the SEC and agreed to cooperate with the litigation against the former executives. See related story: SEC Suits Against Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Execs May Turn on Subprime Loan Definition (Subscription access)