A federal judge last week ordered two law firms that represent the Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System (MissPERS) in a securities class action lawsuit against Diamond Foods to provide details of their political contributions.

A specially convened court in Texas found probable cause to believe that a former Williamson County district attorney broke two state laws and committed criminal contempt of court for lying to the trial judge of Michael Morton, a man who was convicted in 1987 for murdering his first wife, according to American-Statesman.

Sheila Birnbaum, a longtime partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, who built up the firm’s product liability practice, is joining the highly profitable, litigation-only firm Quinn Emanuel Urguhart & Sullivan.