MARSHALL, TEX.

ON a crisp Monday morning earlier this month, about 20 lawyers from some of the country's top law firms shuffled their way into a brightly lit, wood-paneled federal courtroom in this small city in eastern Texas.

Wearing white shirts and dark suits, the lawyers congregated in small groups, leaning into one another with their arms crossed and speaking in hushed tones.

At precisely 8:30 a.m., a series of knocks on the right side of the courtroom signaled the entrance of Judge T. John Ward, a blur of black robe and white hair, who quickly took his seat and, with little preamble, began the proceedings.