A few years back, German car maker Porsche hired Robert Giuffra of Sullivan & Cromwell to defend the company against fraud suits by hedge funds that alleged they lost more than $US3 billion ($A4.06 billion) shorting Volkswagen shares. The hedge funds accused Porsche of lying about its 2008 accumulation of VW shares and options, squeezing short-sellers when Porsche revealed that it controlled virtually all of VW's publicly sold stock. Porsche denied the claims and litigated the cases aggressively in both state and federal court - a strategy that looked very smart after appellate judges in both jurisdictions tossed...