Bank of America won (was awarded) a significant victory in federal court by a judge who has a reputation of being pro-BofA in her decisions and awards.  In Monday's case, U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer combined 8 mortgage securities lawsuits against Countrywide into a single case.  Judge Pfaelzer, who was assigned to the cases by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, has thrown out a number of claims in similar cases against the bank.

Back on 11/4/10, the judge lowered the potential recovery by investors in Countrywide mortgage-backed securities cases, ruling that some investors had not sufficiently demonstrated they suffered an injury for the securities they bought and that others waited too long to sue.  After plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, Pfaelzer granted Bank of America's request to dismiss various claims, stating it cannot be held liable for actions of a unit.  The bank claimed these rulings reduced the amount of securities at issue from $352 billion to $31 billion - a ten-fold drop. 

The lawsuits are separate and apart from BofA's $8.5bn June settlement with other mortgage securities investors.  Many of those investors, as well as regulators, are preparing to challenge that agreement. [Reuters, 8/15/11]