The 7th Circuit has ruled that a group of black financial advisers who are suing Merrill Lynch for racial discrimination can proceed with their class action, agreeing with the plaintiffs that the Supreme Court’s Wal-Mart ruling could be used to support class certification rather than deny it.

As Chevron fights an $18 billion judgment for environmental damage in Ecuador, it also faces a federal suit in New Jersey by the plaintiffs’ lawyers. The suit, which Patton Boggs brought pro se, accuses Chevron of malicious prosecution and improperly obtaining an injunction to fend off liability.

A New Jersey state appellate court on Wednesday affirmed the setting aside of a $25 million medical malpractice verdict, partly because the plaintiffs attorney misstated an expert’s statistical testimony.

A group of plaintiffs lawyers in a shareholder derivative suit over executive pay at Cincinnati Bell managed to avoid possible sanctions and dismissal of their case late last month. But lead plaintiffs counsel is now off the case, and the rest of the plaintiffs team is still struggling to avoid dismissal.

A federal judge has approved a $35 million settlement in a class action in which plaintiffs claimed Babies “R” Us and baby product manufacturers engaged in violations of antitrust law.