A New York appeals court has handed a major victory to freelance journalist Jim Edwards in a nearly four-year battle to gain access to court documents that he claims contain information about a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme involving international advertising agency Grey Global Group.

A nine-year-old products liability case produced a major victory over tobacco companies Wednesday when a Florida appeals court upheld a $24.8 million award to a man who died of cancer shortly after trial. The appellate panel offered no legal reasoning in its unsigned one-paragraph decision in John Lukacs’ case against cigarette makers Philip Morris USA, Brown & Williamson and Liggett Group.

One of India’s highest courts has banned foreign law firms from all forms of practice in India, a major victory for a trade group of Indian lawyers and a defeat for global firms that opened liaison offices in India during a brief window in the 1990s, according to the blog Legally India. Representatives of the three firms immediately affected by the ruling — Ashurst, White & Case and Chadbourne & Parke — have confirmed the nature of the decision and said they are reviewing its implications.

To change or not to change — lawyers, that is.

To change or not to change — lawyers, that is.