Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice is the latest firm to drop John Edwards as a client, as the former Democratic presidential candidate scrambles to cobble together a defense team for his trial next month on charges he violated federal campaign finance laws.

In the latest setback in the campaign of shareholder suits over multimillion-dollar Wall Street bonuses, a New York appeal court has refused to revive a suit seeking to recover billions that Morgan Stanley paid its employees despite massive losses brought on by the subprime meltdown.

The decision by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to place its general counsel on administrative leave appears to be the latest move in an effort by the new archbishop to bring in new outside and in-house counsel. A source with knowledge of the decision said the expectation is that Timothy Coyne will not be returning.

Employees across the United States are punching out — and cashing in — on wage and hour cases.

In a recent ruling where patentability wasn’t even an issue, the Federal Circuit sparred over the subject in its order anyway, something patent lawyers in Silicon Valley found surprising and significant. It’s the latest in a string of decisions showing a deep divide on method patent eligibility.