So many "blog-worthy" topics, so little time.  In the interest of clearing out some of my "To-Blog" list, I offer these quick takes on the following:

• Jan. 12, 2005:  The Washington Post reported today that the tentative settlement reached with 10 WorldCom directors is under fire from the remaining defendants (16 banks).  The article states that the banks delivered a letter on Monday to U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote arguing that "the settlement with the former directors was inappropriate because, among other reasons, it was reached too close to the scheduled trial date, could leave the remaining defendants to shoulder too much liability and could be scuttled by the insurance companies, which under certain circumstances could back out of the agreement. "
• Jan. 11, 2005:  As discussed in this article from Bloomberg, U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty of the Eastern District of Virginia announced the indictment of 4 PurchasePro.com executives and 2 AOL executives in connection with an alleged scheme to boost PurchasePro's reported sales by forging and back-dating contracts and providing false documents to company auditor Arthur Andersen LLP.  A total of 6 former AOL execs are reportedly under scrutiny by prosecutors.  For an amazing account of AOL's role in this and other alleged shenanigans, I highly recommend Alec Klein's "Stealing Time: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Collapse of AOL Time Warner."
• Jan. 11, 2005:  Interesting article in Bloomberg about how the lawyers and Hollywood celebrities involved in the two-month trial in Georgetown, Delaware involving Walt Disney/Michael Ovitz's $140 million severance are entering the final week of a trial that has "tested their ability to cope with life outside Hollywood and New York."  For instance, the article notes that "With no dry-cleaning services at the hotel where they are staying 21 miles away in Rehoboth Beach, the lawyers representing Ovitz were forced to 'ship clothes for two months,' said Mark Epstein, a partner at Los Angeles' Munger, Tolles & Olsen."
• Jan. 7, 2005:  Following closely on the heels of the WorldCom director settlement, the University of California, lead plaintiff for investors in the Enron securities litigation, announced that many of Enron's former directors had agreed back in October 2004 to a settlement in which they would collectively pay more than $13 million in personal contributions.  This was part of a larger settlement with these directors totaling $168 million, with $155 million of this amount coming from insurance proceeds.
• Dec. 23, 2004:  Adelphia Communications stated in its Form 10-K that it had "offered $300,000,000 in value to settle the SEC Civil Action and to resolve the DoJ's ongoing investigation of the Company, of which $125,000,000 would be funded from potential proceeds from litigation by or on behalf of Adelphia."  The company added that "The staff of the SEC has told our advisors that its asserted claims for disgorgement and civil penalties under various legal theories could amount to billions of dollars."